Made! - Butterick 6301

This jacket is the last of my maternity projects.  I started it in my last month of pregnancy and finished it in Robin's first weeks at home.  Things are settling down but the home uniform is still a bath robe, which is why you're getting only dress form photos. :) 

Butterick 6301 is a super practical jacket pattern with a center insert that transforms the jacket into a maternity or baby carrier option.  Though I never needed to purchase a maternity coat through pregnancy, I figured a coat that would allow me to zip Robin up while in his carrier would be really useful.

The fabric is from my stash, bought many years ago on clearance.  

The lining is leftover from Christmas gifts a few years ago, and it makes me happy...all covered in kitties. :)

So, the only supplies I needed to purchase were the three separating zippers.  My local store didn't have three 26" in stock in an appropriate color, so I had to buy 28" zippers and instead lengthen the jacket.  (I figured I'd have to lengthen it anyway for my long torso, so this wasn't a big deal.)  The zippers are a warm gray, and I think it is a nice complement to the tan/slightly purple weave of the mystery clearance polyester/wool.  

The only stylistic alteration I made was to the collar: I shortened it by half its height.  I don't do well with turtlenecks or itchy collars, so a short one means I won't have to deal with that at all.  The front princess seams are topstitched, as is the lower half of the center back seam.  

The inside features a label (thanks, mom!) and joyful lining, much of which I handstitched.  

Now, onto the insert.  It's reversible, which is how you can get the two options out of it.  Figuring out the zipper direction for sewing was confusing until I decided to not look at the directions and instead to pin and zip it into the finished jacket - much clearer through tactile understanding over 2D pictures.  

Maternity-belly insert

 

Side View of maternity belly insert

Here's how I plan on wearing it this spring, with Robin in tow.

One day when we aren't all so tired and in comfy clothes all the time I'll add a picture of this jacket in action - with baby and all!!

Made! - Newcastle Cardigan

There's a bit of a menswear trend happening at the Creative Laurels house.  This Newcastle Cardigan was completed in November but is just now making its way to the blog. 

Husband is a good model.

I've previously made some shirts for husband, as evidenced by posts here and here.  Now that I have a button-up template that really works for him, I've decided to venture into other garments, beginning with this cardigan and ending with a part of pants. 

I'm a fan of many of the patterns that Thread Theory has to offer.  There aren't many menswear patterns floating around, especially not from the independent companies out there.  They've created and filled a niche.  They even have one pattern for women, the Camas Blouse, which is beautiful. (Design more like this, please!!) 

source

Anyway, back to the cardigan. 

I'm happy with the fit, and made only slight adjustments to get there. I basically cut a size S, grading to a M through the shoulders and chest.  (I'm wondering if the patterns are all a little slim through the shoulders...in looking at the website this seems to be the case. Something to keep in mind!)  

I chose to use brown faux suede on the front yokes only.  I had enough to also put some across the back, but I worried it wasn't flexible enough to handle stretching and movement. 

Something new for this project was working with interfacing designed for knits.  It probably isn't a specialty item, but it took me FOREVER to figure out what to buy at the fabric store.  

You interface the collar, yokes, band, and facings, all of which I did. 

The knit material is basically appropriate for sweatpants, but I thought it would make a good trial run. The price was right, so there ya go.  If husband wears this alot I will eventually make him one of nicer material.

Husband was a good sport and agreed to let me take photos of him late in the evening the day after we returned from Australia.  Trying to be productive with a 19-hour time change is weird, ya'll. 

A favorite detail of this piece is the buttons. I found them at our farmer's market at a booth called The WoodArt Studio.  Alongside beautiful handcrafted salad bowls, clocks, and other things were these buttons, which are so cool!

Today I will cut material and perhaps begin stitching up another menswear project. Husband's birthday is in a few weeks, so we must get to work!

Made! - a crochet Momma's Day present

As soon as I saw the color of this yarn I thought of my mom. She loves raspberry pink, as she calls it.

Red Heart brand - Rouge pink

I started working on the Buttercup Jacket about a month ago when husband and I flew to Utah to visit family and attend his TEDx presentation. (He rocked it, by the way.) 

The pattern for Buttercup by DROPS Design is available for free online here, published by Garn Studio.  Here's the model photo.

It's at least a 3-season garment, which my practical self finds incredibly appealing. You could wear it from spring to early fall, and perhaps a little in winter for those randomly warm days.  My version is a bit different, but has the same overall effect.

I took this picture before blocking it, which explains the wonkiness of the sleeves and center front.

I omitted the button closure at the bust, for a few reasons. One - don't buttons at the bust always find a way to gape open awkwardly?? and Two - without my mom near me to try it on, I wasn't about to guess as to what size would be best for her.  Though we are close to the same size because my mother is a superhuman despite the fact that she has birthed three children, we have fit preferences. :)

The back is really beautiful.  I like how the looser chain of the top bodice forms to the shape of the back.

Another change I made was to not seam together the sleeve cuffs. They seemed a little too snug to me that way, and considering this jacket can be worn during humid summer evenings I thought the more air, the better. You can see in the photo above that I just left them open.

I'm also a big fan of the flower pattern that makes up the lower bodice.

A word of warning, though, to anyone who wants to use this pattern. Unless you are using the exact yarn specified, you will notice rather immediately that the stitch count creates a garment that is much larger than it is supposed to be.  I ran into this, even though my yarn is supposedly the same breadth.  When I clicked into the Comments section I learned quickly that I was not alone. So, if you're interested in making this pattern you will want to rely on measurements and the recording of your own stitch counts rather than the instructions. 

All in all the design is simple, though. The center front is finished with two rows of single crochet stitches. I could have extended that around the lower hem but I like the slight scalloped look, and I think my mom will, too. 

I wish I thought to take some photos post-blocking, but I was too excited to wrap up this gift. You'll just have to take my word for it that the center front is straight and the sleeve cuffs are nice and flowy!

Happy Momma's Day!

Christmas Capes! 2nd edition: McCall's 6446

Here is cape number two, sewn using McCall's 6446, and I am rather proud of it. This is for my mom, and it looks good on her!

Front view  (omitted pockets)  BUT CHECK OUT THAT PRINT MATCHING AT THE CENTER FRONT

Back view  (omitted buttons on belt)

I love the raglan cut of the pieces. It's very flattering and falls around the bust in the same way a top or dress would, that way the cape doesn't just look like a fancy sack.  The fabric I used is a loose woven that softened considerably after I washed it.  I avoided matching the print too much because I didn't want my mom to look like those drapes from The Sound of Music. 

I mean, I know we all love some Julie Andrews, but olive damask drapes? No thanks. (Sorry, Julie.)

 I just aimed for symmetry instead, and I think it worked well. Plus, the soft drape of the fabric really helped to camouflage the damask-ness of the fabric.  I've had this fabric so long I don't even remember what I paid for it, but I always knew it would be a cape/coat garment. I'm glad I waited until I found the right pattern!

Side view

The Pattern - McCall's 6446

My Changes:

- omit front pockets (they look dumb and are placed stupidly)

- omit back buttons

- raise neckline by one inch all the way around (required me to redraft the collar pieces)

- lower welt openings by 1.5 inches (cause my momma has long arms)

- draft a lining

- draft inside collar band to hide rough edges

Here are some photos of the inside of the cape I made.

Front facing and lining

Back yoke, inside collar band, lining pieces.

You can really see the raglan lines in the picture above.  There are also two darts at the top of each shoulder to help narrow the fit.

shoulder darts, collar band, raglan seams

It's a bit erroneous to call that strip of fabric a "collar band." It's way less precise than that. I probably messed up my additions of a lining, since I had to begin and finish this cape in less than a week in order to have it ready for Christmas (EEEEEEK). But, I was attaching the collar and realized I was going to have a problem with the unfinished edges. So, I grabbed a piece of scrap fabric and attached it. 

Here's a rough step-by step.

1. Figure out how much ya need by laying the cape out flat and placing the extra fabric on top of the neckline seam. Eyeball it.

2. You want to sew this piece of scrap fabric to the collar side of the neckline seam, not the lining side. You'll attach the piece just inside the seamline.  In the photo below, it will be just inside the visible line of stitching.

3.  Press the band to the inside towards the lining. You can decide how wide you want the band to be. I went for 3/4" and wanted to turn in 1/4" under for a pretty finish, so I trimmed the band piece to where it was one inch all the way around, pressed under the quarter-inch, then pinned and stitched in place near the folded edge.

You can't see the stitching from the outside because the collar covers it. But it looks great on the inside, right??

But, I gotta work on my welt openings. They look ok from the outside, but the inside is rather nasty.  That's as close of a picture as you're gonna get, cause I beez ashamed of my welt pockets. :(

Regardless of the sadness of the welts, the buttons are amazing.

I'm pretty sure buttons make the world a better place.  They close our shirts, they hold up our pants, and their delightful variation makes weirdos like me really happy.

Hopefully my mom will send me a photo of her in her cape so I can add it to this post!

Holiday Schizophrenia

 Here's a thing you should never do. 

Besides being a lazy bum over four weeks and slacking off on your cardio exercise, decide that after those lazy four weeks, which span the holiday season (that you spent with your family eating yum-yums), you will put on your extremely form-fitting Halloween costume.

SPOILER ALERT: It will be disappointing.

In all seriousness, in reading the sewing blogs out there that talk about The Year in Review, or "What I Learned," I realized that I never blogged about my Halloween costume, which happens to be one of the things I'm most proud of in terms of my sewing accomplishments.

I used McCall's 6911 to make the bolero and bustle. The long black skirt I made using Simplicity 5006 and blogged about previously. The black corset was purchased at Charlotte Russe years ago for a different Halloween costume.

The bolero is snug, especially in the arms. (If I make it again, I'll probably size up in that area.)  I didn't include the fancy frog closure that the pattern asks for, but I can safety-pin the bottom of it closed if I need to.  The brocade mixes well with the braided trim, and certainly makes no mistake that this is a costume and not a "real" garment.

I am, however, proud of the symmetrical print matching throughout.

The bustle makes me smile every time I look at it.  Making it involved a few firsts - honestly, I've never made a costume, something that I didn't care if the inside was finished because I knew it was for short-term use. I had never worked with stiff netting before, either.

In order to get the bustle to well, bustle, you have to underline the brocade with two layers of really stiff netting.  Reading articles online taught me that you always hand-sew underlinings, but I was pleased to read that the pattern included this instruction. Go McCall's!!

Bustle back, covered with two layers of stiff netting

slippery and colorful rayon thread is easy to remove after you sew seams and construct the garment

The bustle has some room for customization, in terms of where you want to create the bulges of fabric. I just followed the instructions and am happy with how it turned out.

Holiday Schizophrenia
means nothing more than realizing that on New Year's Day you want to stand beside your Christmas Tree and take a picture of yourself in your Halloween costume. Then you notice Thanksgiving napkins on the dining table at the other side of the room.

Happy New Hallogivemas Year!!! 

Made! - a crochet jacket

I've always heard that the best way to learn how to knit or crochet is to try to make yourself a garment. Not a potholder, not a scarf, but a garment.

I think they were right. I've crocheted several scarves, and even a pair of socks (!), but knowing I wanted to wear this last project made me care more about all those details.  (Even so, I think there was a step in the instructions that I didn't quite understand. See below.)

I really underestimated how much yarn I purchased, and what should have been a hip-length jacket came out like this:

Back view with the jacket buttoned. Do you see those bubbles in the upper back? I think I didn't understand the instructions when I was stitching the top part.  WHAT ARE THOSE???

The shorter length doesn't bother me too much, to be honest. And once I realized I didn't have enough I went looking for more (discontinued color, GUHHHHHH), but after fruitless searching decided to find a flattering shorter length and cropped the thing with a row of slipstitches.  Though the design is meant to be closed and long, I kind of like the open and flappy(?) look.

The yarn is CARON Simply Silky in Victorian Rose.  I like the subtle sheen of it. With this particular pattern, I got to use buttons! If you know me you know I love buttons! These are made from coconut shells; aren't they pretty?

Closed view. It's cute, but a little dowdy.

Painted coconut shell buttons!!

 

All in all this was a modestly priced project. I got the yarn on clearance for $2/skein, and I paid like $7 for the book and maybe another $5 for my set of hooks. So, I made myself a pretty jacket for $18.  Well--- If I want to get really specific, the book contains several patterns and my hook set has like 6 hooks in it, so in that light the pattern was more like $1 and the hook $1.  A jacket for $9!  That works for me!!  Buttons were already in the stash because I LOVE BUTTONS.

A note about my pride about cost-efficiency------

I pride myself on making garments that fit and look expensive out of fabric and notions only bought on clearance.  My stash is getting out of control because I tend to anticipate my need based on what's super-cheap at the time.  What's that, you say? Interfacing is $1/yd?? I'll take 4 yards...of each one.  

Balancing this clearance/Red Tag obsession with my personal ethics about sourcing fabric gets tough sometimes.  There's a lot to say about that, but for now that's all I'll say about that. 

My next project, currently in a muslin stage on my sewing table, will use a pretty charmeuse I bought for like $3/yd over two months ago.  I have to get it done in about a week!! Back to my blissful sewing room I go...