Simple Sewing 101 - Part 5 - The Mashup.

 

So I forgot to post yesterday. Blame the time zone thing or the fact I'm on holiday. My apologies!

So let's get to it. Many of my pattern alterations are mashups. I like the top of one pattern but the hemline of another. Or the neckline of one and the shoulder of another. Because I'm not a pattern drafter, I generally leave that stuff up to those that are, and so I pinch the bits I like from different patterns.

Where do I do the alteration?

I often create the pattern for the mashup while drafting the pattern onto the interfacing - by this I mean that I trace the parts of the mashup onto my pattern interfacing to create a new mashup pattern. Generally I use patterns that I have already previously made but I also sometimes just use my measurements (we talked about this in Simple Sewing 101 - Part 4).

For example for today's pattern I would trace the neckline and shoulder line of the Hemlock, and the hemline of the Wiksten Tank along with an altered side seam, onto my interfacing . The reason for doing this is that when I come back to use the pattern the next time I can recreate it exactly. 

That is not what I did here. Partly because I was being lazy. But it turns out this was a brilliant move on my part, in terms of this "tutorial", in that it means when we are looking at the photos we can clearly see what's what.

Which bits do I not fiddle with?

Generally I don't fiddle with the fit of the shoulders if a garment has sleeves. Getting the fit of a shoulder right is a super tricky thing and not something I know how to mess with. And getting the fit of the shoulder right is the one of the keys to a good looking top.

I will alter a neckline, a side seam, the amount of fabric something has in the back of a neck, the width of the straps of a tank, and hemlines. I love to alter hemlines.  And necklines - practically all of my Scouts have altered necklines. 

Woven Hemlock Tee/Wiksten Tank MASHUPS

So here is the mashup. Super simple but it has resulted in two of my favourite, most wearable tops. Simple to make, joyful to wear. Can't beat that.

The Hemlock Tee pattern is the paper pattern. The Wiksten Tank pattern is the pattern on interfacing.

The difference between a woven Hemlock and this mashup pattern is simply that I used the hemline of the Wiksten Tank as my hemline. As the tank hemline is about three cm wider at the bottom than the Hemlock then the new pattern has more of a swing shape to it. This is made easy by the fact the Hemlock actually has no armhole to contend with (the pattern side is just straight) so I simply cut a the side seam line from the outside shoulder edge to the hemline edge. 

The other thing that I needed to do with this pattern in order to get a good fit is to alter the sleeve ever so slightly. This pattern is written for knit fabrics which have a lot of stretch and as such the sleeves are meant to be fitted. In the check version above I cut the sleeves on the bias which gave them stretch as woven fabrics often have stretch inherent in the bias of the fabric. In the floral version I needed to cut the sleeves with a little more width so they didn't make the arms stiff. I describe how I did that below also.

This whole thing is best described in pictures so here goes. 

Step 1. In this picture you can see the Hemlock pattern (ignore the markings on the paper - I used scrap paper) which is the paper pattern, and laying on top you can see the Wiksten Tank pattern which is the interfacing one. The interfacing one is scrunched up on top of the paper one to give you an idea of my plan.

I measured from the shoulder seam next to the neck, down to the hemline using the measurements I know I like for the length of a top. I made sure to include my seam allowances - 1/2" for the shoulder and then 5/8" for the hemline - into this length. I got this right this time but often I will get it approximately (making it a little longer rather than shorter) and adjust while I am making it.

Step 2. The first cut I made was the neckline of the Hemlock Tee. The pattern piece was held on the fold. My scissors need sharpening which is why the cut is jaggedy.

Step 3. I then cut the shoulder seam line to the corner. I don't muck with the shoulder line!

Step 4. I then cut the hemline of the Wiksten Tank pattern piece knowing the right position to put it in as measured in Step 1. 

This just shows you the cuts made so far. The neckline, the shoulder seam and the hem.

Step 5. Holding the outer shoulder seam point in place, I pivot my pattern piece so that it creates a straight line between where the Wiksten Tank hemline outer edge is. I create a straight line as I am effectively following the style of the Hemlock Tee pattern here because it is where I am getting my shoulder line from. 

Note: If this pattern had an armhole I would cut the armhole out first and then pivot from the bottom of the armhole. What I did for this mashup creates a top with more swing AND more fabric in the chest area. If I didn't want the chest area to change I would figure out where on the side seam line the shoulder finished (problem around the letter P in POCKET on the pattern above) and pivot from that point. 

This photo shows the front of the top cut out.

Step 6. Now to cut out the back. First we need to get the length right by laying out our pattern pieces. The curve on the back hem of the Wiksten Tank is slightly different to the front, so the first thing I did was to lay the back piece of the tank down on the fabric. I then added the front piece that I had already cut out and sat it on top. This gave me the length of the side seam by matching the hem outer corners (in the top right of the photo). Mark the shoulder outer corner. You can see in the photos that the scissor tips are showing you where that is.

Step 7. The outer shoulder corner is now marked with a pin.

Step 8. Cut out the Wiksten Tank hemline before removing the pattern piece. Note the pin in place for the outer shoulder (near the tip of the scissors).

Step 9. Lay the Hemlock Tee Back pattern with the pattern edge on the fold and the outer shoulder edge meeting the pin.

Step 10. Cut out the neckline and shoulder line. Tilting the pattern piece as you did in Step 5 and finish cutting out the pattern back.

Step 11. To add width to the sleeves is simple with this pattern as there is no armhole to contend with. Instead I simply moved the pattern piece away from the fold about 1cm. Next time I would only move it about 0.5cm as these sleeves are a little sloppy. 

A couple of companies that love a mashup/alteration are Made By Rae (who is about to come out with a great simple shirt pattern called Beatrix which is similar to the Scout), Colette, Grainline and By Hand London. They have a gazillion amazing tutorials on each of their websites - using their own patterns but there is a load of good things to learn on each site regardless of whether you are using their patterns or not. I particularly love the mashups by By Hand London - it's like their patterns were made for it. 

Next up in the series we will cover my two super simple favourite alterations. They are super dodgy but I use them on practically everything I make.  

Felicia x

Simple Sewing 101 - Part 4 - Pre-Alterations

I'm so excited to have seen your tops popping up on instagram - thanks for pinging me with your successes! Makes me glad I got around to posting this little series. If you feel like being inspired yourself then go have a look at the hastag #simplesewing101. 

Many of you have been asking about alterations and there is quite a bit to say - so much so that I got stuck writing this as it felt too massive. And I really wanted to have good pictures for you and I haven't had time to take them. So I've finally decided to bite the bullet, use what I've got, and split it up into some more managable pieces. I just saw that I actually started to write this post two months ago so apologies for the wait.  

I'm wanted to start with the woven Hemlock alteration I do as that was the first top in the list and go from there. But I found there were a few things to say first. The mashup will be posted on Tuesday. 

As I've mentioned before (but really want to stress again) these are not proper dressmaking or drafting alterations. However this type of alteration fits into the spirit of Simple Sewing 101 - the idea that you can make beautiful wearable garments with very few skills. And complicated isn't necessarily best. 

Pattern drafting material

I draw all my patterns up on light interfacing that has no stick on either side. I call it Vilene but I think that is a brand name. I just ask my local sewing store for interfacing for drafting. I often get something slightly different each time but that is totally fine. I purchase about 10m at a time and get them to put it on a roll. It lasts me a year-ish. And is super inexpensive. 

The reason you want to draft on this stuff (rather than say paper) is that it is more easily manipulatable. You can fold up the bottom, fold to take out width, etc, without having to redraft the pattern or dealing with the stiffness that is paper. Once I've stuck my pattern pieces together (if it is a pdf) then I draft off the pattern onto the interfacing. It might seem like an unnecessary step but will save you time if you make the pattern more than once. You can fiddle around with your alterations on the vilene before you cut it.
 

The interfacing is what you see in this picture. Remember to write the pattern name, size, piece name, and then cutting instructions. AND any alterations you have made. I then keep these pieces in A4 envelopes. 

Make a Muslin ;)

Look I am totally lazy about this - my muslins are always wearable rather than just muslins. Each time I make a pattern for the first time I do so out of a less precious fabric. I then use the result a. as a garment, and b. as a learning tool.
 

Use your existing clothing to figure out your measurements

Measure similar tops you have in the wardrobe. Measure the width of the bust, the width of the hem, the height of the armhole, the width of the hip of a tunic (if you are looking to make something like a dress Tova or Wiksten Tank), or even the depth of a neckline that makes you happy. Write these measurements down and refine them each time you make a garment. I know for example that I need at least 4 inches of ease at the hip of the Tova or Tank or anything that goes over my behind so they don't stick to my bum in that super middle-aged nana kinda way. 

Another useful measurement is to take length. I use this measurement all the time for both sewing and knitting. I measure from the shoulder point next to the neck down to the bottom of favourite tops, tunics, frocks. For skirts I measure from my natural waist to the hem length I like. Again these measurements are taken from my existing clothing. This saves time, fiddling around and fabric as you have a better idea of whether you need to adjust the pattern before you make your muslin. 

The important thing is that you write them down. I think I will remember and never ever do. These measurements will become more useful in time as you have more practice and make more things.

And remember your seam allowance. In many patterns it is 1/2", whereas in others it is 1cm. You need to make sure that your pattern has the width/length you want PLUS the seam allowance. I have screwed this up so many times it has become automatic. One thing I have learnt from much experience is never redraft at night. Unless you have some kind of freaky brain most people are too tired at night to for the logic required to redraft. And no wine.
 

Redraft 

Use your the measurements you took from your existing clothing, and then your muslin, to figure out what you want to change.

Is your Wiksten Tank flashing too much boob for your liking - then redraw it so that the neckline is higher. Is the hem too high at the front and low at the back - then redraw them. Don't like the width of the straps - make them thinner. You can do it. Easy peasy…..

The key to the redraft is the intersection with an edge - generally you need to make sure you intersect the pattern edge at a perpendicular 90degrees. Say you redraft the neckline of the Wiksten Tank you need to extend the centre line up towards the shoulder and then redraw it an inch or two higher making sure you intersect the fold line at 90degrees. If you don't do this you will end up with a point or a chunk out of the fabric. *

Before you redraft, note the angle at which the pattern intersects the centreline or shoulder line and choose the same angle. 

The only thing I would say is that you will make mistakes. Mistakes are OK - expect them and don't worry when you do. I make them regularly and each time I learn. I have been known to throw something half made in the scrap bin. Perfect the pattern using cheaper less precious fabrics first and then make it up in the special stuff. 

You can do this for hemlines, necklines, armholes (of tanks), sleeve widths, sleeve lengths. There are good tutorials about. Check out Grainline, By Hand London and Colette as good starting points. 
 

Tuesday's post will be the woven Hemlock/Wiksten tank mashup post.

 

Felicia x

* I'm not sure I'm explaining this well so please ask questions if I've confused you.

Why we dress how we dress.

I'm reading Women in Clothes. If you haven't read it, I highly recommend you do at some stage.

I saw it doing the rounds of instagram a few months ago and couldn't for the life of me understand how the topic could be interesting enough to warrant the raving reviews, and it's sheer size. On a whim I purchased it, and have been joyfully dipping in and out for two months now. It sits on our dining room table and I peruse it while having my mid-morning coffee.

The premise is that three women, Sheila Heti, Heidi Julavits and Leanne Shapton, sent a questionnaire to 639 women asking them a list of more than fifty questions about their personal style.

“It is essentially a conversation among hundreds of women of all nationalities - famous, anonymous, religious, secular, married, single, young, old - on the subject of clothing, and how the garments we put on every day define and shape our lives.”

— from the cover of Women in Clothes

This book is totally inspiring. On more than one occasion it has taken my breath away with that feeling of recognition you get when something rings totally true. 

Here is just one of those quotes.  

“I hate it when people say they don’t care about clothes, because it’s a lie. It’s like when writers say they don’t care about plot. Lie. We are always asking for something when we get dressed. Asking to be loved, to be fucked, to be admired, to be left alone, to make people laugh, to scare people, to look wealthy, to say I’m poor, I love myself. It’s the quiet poem in the waiting room , on the subway, in the movie of our lives. It’s a big fucking deal. ”

— Leopoldina Core in Women in Clothes

I'd love to hear your take on this... The quote might strike you as it did me - or maybe you just think it's total rubbish. 

For me - I realised that after having my kids I've often dressed to hide. Hide the fact that I didn't quite feel like me. Hide the fact that I weighed more than I did and that my body had changed. Sometimes dressing as an unconcious way of conveying my exhaustion. Dressing to be invisible so I didn't have to chat because I didn't have the energy. The whole nursing top and baggy pant stage. It's almost like me as a person disappeared into the mothering and that was reflected in what I wore. Not everyday but often enough.

And there was another thing. It was almost like when I came out the other side of the early days I wasn't sure who I was, and that was reflected in my dress. I wasn't the same person - the pre-motherhood, working in pencil skirts and heels, jeans and tshirts on the weekend kinda girl. And yet I was. Everything I put on felt wrong. Too slobby, too dressed up, too whatever .... and that felt awkward.

That awkward stage of dressing and mothering ended a few years ago but I'm not sure it's left me completely. As my kids are getting older I can feel things changing and I've recovered my idea of "self". Dragging it out from under the all-consuming getting-through-the-days of early parenting into something where I recognise me in me. My clothes are reflecting that - reflecting the fact that most days now I remember to have a shower and look in a mirror on my way out the door. That there is the brain space to engage in the self-care and self-love involved in dressing in a way that makes me feel good. And that in itself feels pretty good.

The quote made me think that maybe it is partly a chicken and egg situation. Maybe by consciously dressing to convey my me-ness I'm encouraging my me-ness to return. And around it goes? 

Any thoughts?

Felicia x

Simple sewing 101 - Part 3 - Independent Sewing Companies.

Little bit of a diversion today tigers. I wrote the Simple Sewing 101 - Alteration posts as I promised you ages ago, but they need a good edit and I don't have the brain space at the moment. So rather than confuse you with a long scattered ramble I've put this together till I can pull it together. 

Simple Sewing 101- Tops and Simple Sewing 101 - For Beginners are the two previous posts in this series.

Below are an extended list of independent pattern companies that are worth having a look at if you are interested in sewing your own clothes. The list in the previous Simple Sewing - Part 2 post was aimed at beginners due to their excellent instructions.

I've tried many of these pattern companies. Of the ones I haven't tried, there is at least one pattern in their range I want to try. For this wider list I can't guarantee that each company writes well-written patterns (I know most of them do!) so do a google search first for bloggers reviews, and check the relevant instagram hastag for patterns you want to try. There you will get some honest feedback about issues, sizing and things to look for. 

At the bottom of the post I've included a list of patterns I have sewing crushes on just to give you a place to start if you think we have similar taste. 

Independent Pattern Companies

Tessuti

Papercut 

Megan Nielsen

Mouse House Creations

Sewaholic

Cali Faye Collections

Salme

Merchant and Mills

Collette

Victory Patterns

Marilla Walker

Christine Haynes

SewDIY

Noodlehead

A Verb For Keeping Warm

Republique Du Chiffon

Wiksten

Grainline

True Bias

Tillie and the Buttons

Papercut

Named

Oliver and S/Lisette/Liesel and Co

Made By Rae

By Hand London

Jamie Christina

Sew Liberated

Make It Perfect

Pattern Runway

April Rhodes

100 Acts of Sewing

Patterns That I'm desperate to sew! (but probably not going to get to*)

Marthe Blouse - by Republique Du Chiffon. Totally obsessed with this one - maybe using hoarded  Liberty?

Morris Blazer - Grainline. I've printed it out but run out of time....argh.

Playtime Tunic - DONE! x 3 - Oliver and S

Lou Box Top - Sew DIY

Woven Linden - Grainline

Ilsey skirt - by newcomer Marilla Walker. This one is free.

Basics Tank - by Cali Faye Collection. I am super excited about this one. I don't want to jinx it but I think the shape looks almost perfect.

Enjoy and tell me if you think I've missed something super obvious.

Felicia x

* I'm headed off camping so no sewing for a month or so - flight is on Monday.

Stash Less - Creating an Intentional wardrobe.

This blogging business has meant having to put words to the thoughts I'm having around my making. Over time that means I've got more conscious and that consciousness has brought such joy. Ideas are breeding more ideas, leading to change that's resulted in increased satisfaction with the products I'm making. I am creating the things I really want to make, rather than making things based on the whims of the day. By slowing down and getting thoughtful I'm spending the time getting it right rather than getting it done.

One area where this is most true is about my own wardrobe. A consciousness raising has occurred over the last two years when it comes to what I own and what I wear. It started with the why all crafters need a visual diary post - seeing that my clothes pinterest page (which clearly demonstrated the aesthetic I liked) looked nothing like my actual wardrobe (where I often got stuck thinking I had nothing to wear), set me on a path about changing that situation. I started consciously filling the gaps with things that fitted the aesthetic I liked. On top of that, being away for six months last year, and living out of a small bag, lead to the start of Stash Less. Stash Less has lead to me finally using the "special" fabrics I was hoarding because of their specialness - which has lead to that specialness being part of my everyday wardrobe rather than an unseen piece of fabric in my stash. Then late last year I spoke about some of these ideas on the Woolful podcast I took part in. And again the very act of putting words to my thoughts helped me to clarify what it is that is important to me. Trying to be conscious and intentional about my making but also about my handmade wardrobe.

Eighteen days in to Me Made May, and I want to say I've learnt more than I thought I would. The act of taking a photo everyday for MMM, and the fact that I've had to go through my handmade wardrobe in order to showcase it, has lead to me seeing my wardrobe differently. I've learnt that I have a lot of clothes I like, that make me feel good. Which is great. It wasn't the case a few years ago.  While I think I may only have a day or two of unseen handmade clothing left before I start to repeat pieces, but the fact that I have already had eighteen days worth of different handmade clothing leads me to believe that I have enough clothes.

Enough is a another concept I keep thinking about. Consciously consuming and consciously creating are my current focus, but what about enough? Creating for the sake of creating doesn't lead to happiness for me. It leads to excess, which in turn doesn't feel satisfying. And MMM has clearly shown me that I have enough already.

So given that I now understand my wardrobe better, and that I can clearly see I have enough, these days I'm trying not to make clothes on a whim. I try to look for gaps and consciously plan what I make; to really understand how something will fit in and make based on an a need*. Which leads me to the slight contradiction!

While MMM has shown me I have enough, it has also shown me that there are one or two gaps. I go to put together an outfit only to discover that I don't have anything to go with a top in cold weather. Or that I can see from my Pinterest page that my first love is frocks and yet I only have one or two. Or I am going out for dinner and have nothing but cardigans to wear with the going-out tops. 

One such gap is a garment that I mention in the original Visual Diary post (from nearly two years ago) that I haven't managed to fill yet.  A longish, simple, light-coloured, boyfriend style slouchy-ish cardy that means all my tops can be worn in winter. Many or most of my cardigans and jumpers are autumn/spring 3/4 sleeve numbers and while sleeves help solve it, they don't totally solve the problem when things get chilly in sunny Melbourne. Figuring this out through participating in MMM has changed the order of my knitting queue so that I've started it.  Knowing that I've wanted something like this for about two years, I have been able to hone my idea of what it should be. 

After two years I know exactly what it needs to be! - A warm plain Jane cardigan in a light neutral colour that I can wear with all the pretty tops. I'm using Uniform as a base as I love Carrie and know she won't steer me wrong, but I'm modifying it so that it is more like a this Primoeza cardy or this ace little number from my pinterest board. I didn't want white because I don't wear white. And although grey will always be my first love, enough can sometimes be enough. The endlessness that is my colour palette is doing my head in. I wanted something warmer in tone for the chilly depths of winter. I considered things like Beiroa and Bendigo Woolen Mills Linen Fleck but I wanted to truly fall in love with the yarn. Which I did, last week when I saw this Debbie Bliss Donegal Tweed.

I don't actually remember the last time I purchased a Debbie Bliss yarn. It was a long long time ago. Back when I had little babies and buying three balls of yarn for a kid garment felt like a lot. It totally feels like I'm going old-school early-Ravelry when we didn't put so much thought into our buying. But Jules gave this yarn her stamp of approval when she designed her Frankie hat so I knew I would like how it wore. And I am totally in love with the colourway and the feel - 90% wool and 10% alpaca with a multicoloured tweedy effect. I know I will love this for a long time to come.

Another gap I will fill soon is the Morris Blazer - since I saw in on Jen back in 2011 via social media I have known it was the perfect gap-filling going out jacket. Not too formal, but not a cardigan.

While an intentional approach to my wardrobe hasn't happened in a day - it's actually taken a couple of years - taking the time to get intentional has been the key to me feeling satisfied with my wardrobe for the first time in my life. 

Have you hit the "enough" point or are you just beginning? Are you happy with your wardrobe? How do you get intentional?

Felicia x

PS. You can see my MMM progress on instagram.

*Used in the a very loose way obviously.