A Mermaid Tale

Hello Chickadees!

Well, Halloween has come and gone, and in the hubbub, I forgot to write a blog post about my halloween sewing! Better late than never I suppose?

A while back, one of my friends approached me about doing some sewing for her Halloween costume. She told me that she wanted to be a mermaid, and sent me a few pictures for inspiration. I was super excited to work on this, cause I LOVE making costumes.

The one thing that she really wanted was a two-tone fin skirt. Luckily, my local fabric store had a large amount of super sparkly dancewear fabric, with several different shades of green and blue. We settled on dark green, and I found some aqua sparkly organza for the "fin" part. It had lots of body, which meant that I wouldn't need to add a crinoline or any other layers.

After getting her measurements, I traced off a copy of my current go-to pencil skirt pattern. I had to trace in between sizes in order to be roughly her size, but since the main "skirt" fabric is a very stretchy dancewear fabric, I didn't need to be super precise with exact sizing.  I scooped down the centre front to be more like a mermaid tail, and added a waistband just to make it a bit more secure.

For the lower "fin" portion, I decided it would be easiest to just gather the organza to the bottom of the skirt portion. I added a gusset in the back as well, to make sure that she was able to walk, and add a bit of extra drama.

We had originally thought of finding a shell bra, but my go-to costume place did not stock them this year! So instead, she brought me an old bra that she didn't care about too much, and I draped a bra pattern on it. I wanted it to have three sections so that the seamlines would at least look like a shell.

I didn't want to mess with closures in the back, so I made it with ties like a bikini. I added ribbon guards in the back to keep the straps secured to the bikini.

After it was all done, it was time for embellishments! I had a bunch of fake pearl beads, so I added those to the centre of the cups.

All in all, it was a pretty easy costume, and it looked so cute on her!

Sorry for the blurry photo. It's hard to get a nice photo when it's dark in my house!

Did you guys make any costumes this year? Do you like making costumes?

The Sherlock Skirt

Hello Chickadees!

Recently I was given the chance to do a little bit of pattern testing for Jennifer Lauren Vintage. As soon as she described the pattern, I was very excited to try it, because it seemed like something that was missing from my wardrobe. This is her new Cressida skirt pattern. I've been waiting and waiting for this pattern to be released, cause I'm just So. Darn. Excited about it!

Cressida is a semi-circle skirt with two views. View A is double breasted, where View B is single breasted with button tabs for a belt. Both have lovely deep inseam pockets. I chose to sew View B, because my machine does not love to make buttonholes. I also loved the idea of the button tabs to keep my belt in check.

I had a heck of a time trying to find fabric for this. I knew I wanted something neutral that would work with lots of different tops and sweaters. I ended up going with this awesome heathered brown herringbone. It's also a bit stretchy, which makes it extra comfy. Something about this colour makes me think of Sherlock Holmes.

We shot these photos at the Willingdon Beach trail in Powell River. It's a lovely forested trail right on the water.  It is well known for it's rather friendly Douglas Squirrels. Fun Fact: Red and Grey squirrels are not native to this area. They were brought over by Europeans, and have become an "invasive species" in the area. It's fairly rare to see a Douglas squirrel around Vancouver, so I always get excited to see these little guys.

Along the trail, there are many lovely signs pointing out various native species of trees and animals, as well as a few artifacts from the logging and forestry history of the area. We happened upon a logging arch, which was used to lift the ends of logs to avoid extra damage from the forest floor. This one was used in the 40's, and it's held up quite well. 

This skirt is so comfortable! It has a nice amount of flare so that I'm able to move around without any worry of a busted seam, and the pockets are an extra bonus. YAY POCKETS! I found the instructions very clear, once I got over my brain block about the front placket. Do not sew when you are tired, people! I think it would be great for any level of sewing experience.

At this moment, I was looking for the squirrel that was chattering in the trees

I'll leave you with this picture of me freaking out over squirrels. My Snow White senses were tingling.

This is the face I make when I see cute things.

Love,
Rachael

Snugly Archer

Hello Chickadees!

First off, I am sorry for some of the wonky pictures. I accidentally deleted about 3/4 of the photos we shot for this blog, and these are what we were able to salvage.

Recently, Mister and I decided to go on a vacation to Powell River, which is part of the Sunshine Coast in British Columbia. I knew right away that I needed something cozy and warm, and something that I could layer. What could be better than a snugly flannel shirt?

This is Grainline Studio's Archer. I decided it was finally time to join the rest of the sewing realm in making one of these cozy button-ups. It was hard to find some decent flannel that wasn't printed with Dora the Explorer or Trucks. Luckily I managed to find TWO prints that I loved, and you'll see the other one in a later blog post.

This pattern is awesome. I've never sewn a proper button-up before, so it was nice to have clear instructions. I used the "burrito" method to attach the yoke facing, and I love the clean look that it gives to the insides. Plus it was fun!

Sewing plaid used to scare me when I was new to sewing. For some reason the idea of matching lines was frightening? Silly me. Plaid matching is not that hard to do, plus it offers some fun new ways to play with the fabric. I ran out of fabric to match the sleeves at the shoulders, but it doesn't bother me too much.

I cut the back yoke and the button band on the bias in order to give a little visual interest. I have an issue with yokes that don't match (I have a lot of wierd buggaboos about RTW clothing), so cutting it on the bias helped to mitigate the issue, as well as break up the sea of horizontal and parallel stripes.

Please excuse the wacky collar.

This shirt is so cozy, and I plan on sewing a few more for autumn/winter. I am constantly cold, and it's nice to have something snugly to wear to keep warm.

What are your favourite things to sew for colder weather?

Love,
Rachael

The Pants Project Part 2

Hello Chickadees!

I know y'all are probably pretty tired of hearing about pants. So am I! I promise there are other, more exciting posts coming in the future. Silky things! Sweaters! Unselfish Sewing! Please hang in there, I promise it will be better.

This is my latest adventure in pants fitting. I wrote a whole long post about all of the modifications that I made in Part One of the Pants Project.

So far, these are my favourite pair of pants. They're comfy, and surprisingly versatile. Unfortunately, Mister does not appreciate them as much. He thinks they're "too loud." Psh. Somebody please tell my husband that leopard is totally a neutral.


These pants are made with stretch denim, which makes them super comfy. If you spend any amount of time with me, you know that my preferred method of sitting is what's known in the grade-school world as "Criss Cross Applesauce." These pants make that easy, thank goodness! They also allow me to do silly things like jump in the air and dance, which are surprisingly important in my every day life.

Of course, a pair of pants made by me would not be complete without pockets. It's nice to have a place to store things like tissues or your phone.
Does anybody else have a hard time photographing pockets? I find it difficult to get a good angle without looking too inappropriate or awkward.

Fitting a "larger than average" derriere is a tad on the difficult side, but I think I'm starting to get the hang of it. There are still some small tweaks I'd like to make (darn swayback!), but I think I'm getting there. The next pair of pants will hopefully be in something warm like wool for autumn/winter.

Ok. This is the end of the pants posts. For now...

Love,
Rachael

The Pants Project Part 0.5

Hello Chickadees!

Guess who finally got around to shooting some actual blog post photos?! My camera is back from it's extended vacation, and Mister and I had some free time to take photos. Cue the crowd cheering!

 My last proper post was about pants (or trousers, if you're across the pond). Before I did the whole pattern hacking/alteration/slice&dice, I did try to make a pair of denim shorts. Shorts are nice, because they're like pants, but with less commitment!

 

I did a bit of a hack job on these guys, and they're ugly on the inside. Luckily nobody sees that! I started with Mrs. Depew's 1940's Shorts, made up in stretch denim. I removed the darts, and instead used pockets, cause pants without pockets are no fun! I also added a bit of length to them to make a deep hem.

I'm still working out the kinks in the whole pants fitting thing, so there are a few fit issues. Figuring out crotch curve when you're sewing on your own with no mannequin or body double is HARD! Also, I've come to terms with the fact that I do need a swayback adjustment, cause there's that crazy amount of extra fabric at my lower back as you can see in the previous photo. Sigh. Also, the zipper on the side seam keeps buckling and causing strange wrinkling, but that I think is more of an issue of a seam that is not properly supported. Live and learn, right?

Mister insisted on a booty shot.

   The top is a me-made as well. Right before Canada Day (July 1st for those of you non-canucks), I realized that I did not own a suitable piece of red clothing! How unpatriotic! So I whipped up a Sewaholic Renfrew to wear. 

I don't know why it took me so long to make one of these guys! It took me about an hour from cutting to finishing, and it's so comfy! Many more of these are planned for the future. And BONUS! It goes with one of my favourite brooches that has been passed down from my Grandma.

 

I'll leave you with this goofy shot. I was telling Mister how I thought I needed more "real" photos, instead of the same poses over and over. Half of the photos from this shoot were silly photos like this one. I can't decide if it looks like I have to pee, or I'm really excited. Maybe both?

 

 

Love,

Rachael

The Pants Project Part I

Hello Chickadees!

Until recently, sewing pants frightened me. There are so many more fitting issues to worry about!

 As soon as I saw Gertie's pants pattern, Butterick 5895, I fell in love. It was the exact style that I was looking for. High waisted. Fitted. Front pockets. Perfect. So pretty much all of my pants have been versions of this pattern.

My first pair of real pants (not pyjama pants. Nobody cares about fitting issues with pyjama pants) were made using a black ponte knit. I used it as sort of a wearable muslin, although I don't find them that flattering. I made them straight out of the envelope using a size 12.

The next pair were a pair of jeans. I made a couple alterations to the leg length and height at the waist, but otherwise didn't attempt any real fitting issues, because I had no idea how to tackle them at the time.

Then there were 2 unfortunate pairs of fitting disasters. They were so bad that I didn't even get a photo of them. I was kind of just hacking away at them without a clue of what actually needed to be fixed.

Now I've had a chance to sit down and actually do some reading about how pants work and fit.

Here are some of the changes I've made
-Graded from a 12 to a 10 at the waist
-Added width to the hips
-Reduced the crotch depth
-Increased the crotch length
-Added width to the thighs
-Lengthened to ankle length

Whoo. That is a lot of pattern adjustments. Let's see if this actually works out!

Do you have any projects or garment types that you consider "scary sewing"?

Rachael

The Beach Dress

Hello Chickadees!

As promised, I'm back with a real blog post today. Things have been a wee bit crazy over here!

A great big thank you to my brother for these photos. We managed to sneak away to shoot while on vacation.

This dress is my perfect summer dress. It's easy to dress up or down, depending on how you style it. It's light and breezy. And it's comfy, but still makes me look put together. I adore it. And I love the lower neckline in the back. It makes me feel very glamorous!

This dress is a super frankenpattern. I took the bodice from Simplicity 2648, lengthened it by about 5/8ths of an inch, and adjusted the neckline in front and back. The skirt is a basic gathered skirt. I really hate sewing them because my machine HATES gathers, but they are the best to wear. They have the perfect amount of spin factor, without worrying about having your skirt go flying!

My favourite part of this dress is telling people that I made it out of a bed sheet. Sometimes you can find great fabric in the bedding section of the thrift store.

Bonus model shot. This is the photo that my mom loved the most from the shoot. I look so serious, and I'm fairly certain my brother and I were in the middle of a conversation at this moment.

I hope you are all having a lovely summer!

Love,

Rachael

Anniversary Dress Reveal!

Drumroll please!

Here is the dress you've all been waiting for. I finally managed to get some pictures!

This dress is so fun to wear, because it is so full and swishy! I had to resist the urge to spin in circles all night. Everybody needs a swishy dress in their wardrobe.

 

Does anybody else feel really awkward when they pose like this? I get super nervous that I'm going to accidentally flash some poor passerby. 

The beading is my favourite part of this dress. After the first time I wore it, I looked at a photo and realized that the beading was totally underwhelming. I went back and added more beads, and I think it looks so much better now.

Also, can we take a moment to talk about how great my hair looks? My hair is usually stubborn, and it takes a long long time to brush my set into a decent style. This one only took about fifteen minutes. And it lasted two whole days. Go hair! Also, hair flowers cover a multitude of sins.

  

I'm fairly certain that this dress stretched out on the hanger. The first time I wore it, the straps stayed put, and there were hardly any wrinkles in the bodice. Maybe I should have sewn in some of those ribbon hanging loops. Live and learn, I suppose?

Love,

Rachael

P.S. Special thanks to Dara for taking some of these photos and putting up with my mega awkwardness.

Lobster Invasion!

Hello chickadees!

I have started falling in love with novelty prints. I've always loved the way they looked on others, but thought they were too silly for my wardrobe. But recently my style has evolved a bit, and I'm trying to embrace the whimsy of novelty prints. Which according to my brain meant that I needed to find the silliest print. So I jumped head first into the novelty print ocean and decided to find myself some lobster fabric! 

I put out a status in Facebook asking my friends to keep an eye out for lobster print fabric, because two (or three or ten) sets of eyes are better than one! My best friend's boyfriend mentioned that he would be visiting China and that he'd keep an eye out. Apparently he went on a very long search, and actually managed to find some! I was very excited when he sent me this picture.

He bought me an absurd amount of the blue one. Time to make a 1940's playsuit!

Since it's too cold here to wear a crop top or shorts, I started with the gathered skirt. I love wearing gathered skirts, but I generally despise making them. I never get the gathers even. I've tried all the different methods: One gathering thread, two gathering threads, three gathering threads, zigzagging over crochet cotton. Usually nothing works properly for me. But this lobster fabric must be magical, because I had absolutely no issues with it! I used three rows of gathering stitches, and it came together perfectly! Hurray!

I used a red zipper from my stash, and did a hand picked lapped zipper. I find this method is nice and simple, and makes for a lovely hidden zipper. So much better than fiddling with an invisible zip. I am so indecisive about finishing details that I had to ask Instagram which button to use.

Almost everybody chose the good wheel. I like the nautical-ness of it. I plan to use a few more of these on the shorts and crop top.

For the shorts portion of the playsuit, I've decided to try using Mrs. Depew's 1940's style beach shorts. Have any of you tried this pattern? It looks really cute and quite simple. Hopefully I won't have too many fitting problems. For the crop top/bustier, I hope to use another Mrs. Depew pattern- the 1950's beach bustier. I was inspired by Tasha's adorable polka dot playsuit.

This skirt makes me so happy! I love how easy it is to wear and style. Dirndl skirts can be easily styles in a 1940's, 1950's, or 1960's aesthetic. Three cheers for versatility! 

Love, Rachael

P.S. I promise that there are pictures of Project Anniversary Dress coming soon. We were having so much fun on our anniversary that we didn't get a chance to take any blog photos. I'll be wearing the dress to a gala this Friday, and perhaps my photographer brother might be kind enough to snap a few photos. 

Anniversary Dress Part 2

Hello Chickadees,

So I braved the crazy sale at my local fabric store to get the supplies for this dress. It was kind of fun to hunt through the store for the perfect fabrics. I even ended up finding a bolt of fabric that I'd been looking at online earlier in the month. More on that one in a later post.

I found a fabric very similar to stretch cotton sateen. I've used this fabric before, and I am in love with it! It has a great lustre, and enough stretch to be comfortable in fitted garments. I picked up a metre of it in black, and had enough left over to make a vintage-inspired bustier to wear with some summer skirts.

I had planned on buying tulle for the skirt, but when I got there, the tulle selection wasn't really what I wanted. Everything was either too white, or too yellow, or not fine enough. So I gingerly approached the organzas.

Now, I've never sewn with organza before, and it frightened me a little bit. Turns out, it's not all that bad, providing you use the right needle. I ended up picking up about 6 metres of ivory poly organza. I originally only got 3 metres, but it wasn't enough to create the fullness that I needed.

I decided to line the dress, so that it would feel nice to wear. I picked up both black and ivory Bemberg Rayon lining. This stuff feels so nice, but is a giant pain in the butt to cut and sew. It's so slippery!

Here's how the bodice looks, all cut out and marked.

I used the Sultry Sheath bodice from Gertie's New Book for Better Sewing. If you like vintage style garments, and great sewing instructions, I would highly recommend this book.

Organza looks like fluffy clouds!

The most intimidating part was the organza. My machine is super finicky (I have affectionately named her Gimpy), and has not enjoyed sewing fine fabrics in the past. Luckily, this time the sewing gods were with me, and we only had 2 minor setbacks!

Gimpy's getting ready for some tough work

All five organza layers of the skirt are french seamed separately. I wanted a very floaty skirt! I managed to get my serger (also super finicky) to create a decent looking rolled hem, so all 5 layers are hemmed with a rolled hem. I love the extra body it gives to the skirt! I am so so glad I got my serger working, because I was dreading hemming all those circle skirts by hand.


I still have to insert the zipper, and add some beading around the top of the skirt. That will be done in front of the tv tomorrow, at girl's night.

The organza is trying to take over!

I'll be taking photos of this dress on Sunday, so check back for photos of the finished dress!