A sewing weekend in pictures

I went to Montreal this weekend for a sewing retreat of sorts. There were four of us. We worked on fitting pants. Progress was made, including by me. I have cut out a new pair and started sewing today.

In Terri's extremely well equipped sewing studio

Studying the crotch curve - Vicki, Julie, Terri

My little corner. I took my Featherweight.

Terri, up close and personal with Julie

     

True confessions

The Sewing Lawyer has been sewing for (conservatively) 40 years. So she should know better. Really.

Remember those two identical pairs of usefully neutral jeans? Well, I have made Jalie 2908 at least six or seven times. In every single instance, I substituted a curved waistband (taken from an ancient Burda Magazine pattern) for the straight one supplied by Jalie. I traced it with generosity, that is to say I added length allowance at both ends (this waistband necessarily has a CB seam, due to its curved shape) so that I could get it the right length.

I always interface the waistband to ensure it does not stretch. The pants are made from the same pattern. You'd think these two factors would ensure perfection every time. Nope, "getting it the right length" involved trial and error in every single case.

Do you know what? If you wing it every single time it will always turn out differently.

Exhibit A at left, is a stack of five pairs of pants made from the same pattern. I lined up the waistband on the other side. This is how much difference there is between them. There is 4cm difference between the loosest and the tightest. The blue jeans and the green capris are pretty comfortable. The black ones are really too loose.

On the top are the most recently made ones. I discovered after committing to making them a core part of my travel wardrobe on a recent trip that the waistbands were tight enough to be uncomfortable. Not unwearable, but uncomfortable.

Grrr. Luckily I have enough fabric to re-cut. You know this is not my most favourite sewing project. Methinks I will document (finally) the right length for this waistband!

In happier news, I had an exciting week of sewing-related meet-ups. Cidell and Jordan visited Ottawa and I got to have dinner with them last Thursday. No pictures - phooey, what were we thinking?

Then on Saturday I went to Montreal for an extravaganza on St. Hubert Street with quite a number of people including world-famous Cousu Main winner Carmen, PR entrepreneur Deepika, bloggers Anne-Marie, Vicki, Caroline, (among others) and pattern designer Heather Lou.

Clearly it was a very serious conversation!

As a result, I'm quite too tuckered out to tackle those pesky waistbands tonight.

Miscellaneous developments

I finished my latest knitting project.   Here it is on Ravelry.  It's a cotton top and I fear it may become an orphan.  It's too dark to coordinate with grey or black.  Why didn't I anticipate this?

This is the same cotton slub yarn I used last year for some rather more successful items.  But this is heavier.  It's knitted with four strands of the lace-weight yarn that I used single for my Ethereal top and double for my Featherweight cardigan.

Unfortunately, the tendency of this yarn to bias is not manageable at this weight.  I shall have to learn to live with a top that twists.

I went to Montreal on the weekend to meet up with some other bloggers.  Strangely, I do not have a single photo of this gathering!  Among the group were Caro (our fearless leader), Vicki, Anne-Marie, Claire and Julie.  Heather Lou of Closet Case Patterns also joined us after work on her very last day.  Watch for more from her, coming soon!

For anyone who is interested in fabric shopping in Montreal, Caro prepared guides to two distinct fabric shopping areas in the city:  St-Hubert Street and Chabanel.  To shop Chabanel, where we went on Friday, you have to have the addresses since most of the stores are well-hidden on the 4th or 7th floor of several non-descript buildings.  Most of the businesses are not open on weekends, unfortunately.  I demonstrated remarkable discipline, picking up only two pieces.

One is tentatively earmarked for Vogue 8904 - the Marcy Tilton shingle dress.

Yikes that model is long and skinny!

I had a look at the instructions and noticed that each of the shingles is sewn on a full dress piece, so this dress has at least 2 layers of fabric on every square inch. Also, the lower edges of each shingle are supposed to be left raw.

I will look in my stash for a lightweight and smooth knit to use as a base since the fabric I bought has texture. Also, I will experiment with small hems since I have no interest in the tightly rolled edges that my jersey fabric will probably make (especially after washing).

I'll get right on that project since summer is fleeting.

Meanwhile, Vogue 1385 is in time-out.  I cut the longer length and it is practically a dress. I need to  decide how much to remove so I can wear it as a shirt (in or out).  I think I'll make a tie belt for it.  And then I need to figure out what to do about buttons. And, more to the point, buttonholes.  I don't really look forward to sewing them in this fabric.

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Given the properties of my fabric, I had decided to sew French seams using a narrow serged seam in the first pass.  Imagine my surprise to see that this is exactly what the instructions say to do!  It worked very well.

The order of construction is strange.  You sew the raglan seams together, then apply the facings, and only after that do you make the darts that shape the neckline.  It is, in consequence, impossible to try this on as you are making it.  At left, I'm pinning the darts out prior to applying the facings to see if it is going to work.

(Those hairy white blobs you can see are little pieces of white paper labels holding down poorly-done tailors tacks - the only way I could think of to mark the many points that needed marking on my strange fabric.)

I made the facings from grey silk organza to avoid bulk and to keep the facing as invisible as possible.  It's not my best ever work, but will do.

As for style/fit, my only dislikes are that the armscye is pretty low and I find the transition from the pleated/ruffly front neckline to the smooth back neckline a little abrupt.  It's a bit too "coffin clothes" for my liking.

At right is the most graphic view of that.  If I was going to make this again, I would monkey with the pleat at the shoulder to make it less full, and add at least a couple more pleats at the back raglan seam and somewhere in the back neckline.  Not to add fullness or shaping, just enough to keep the effect going.

PatternReview - Fibre-filled weekend in Montreal with friends

I've been a card-carrying member of PatternReview since January 2005.  I was inspired to join so I could write a review of a Vogue designer pattern (now out of print) that was making steam come out my ears at the time.  Writing a PR review was instantly gratifying, since quite a few members took the time to comment that (a) they sympathized and (b) they thought I had done a good job despite the nasty pattern.  It's also addictive and I now have over 100 reviews on the site. 

The internet and sewing is a strange combination, but it works.  I credit PR with making me more aware of fashion, showing me a huge range of patterns sources from around the world, teaching me a lot about fitting and techniques, and introducing me to some very nice people.  Specifically, thanks to the fact that I'm part of the organizing committee for the first Canadian PR Weekend - to take place in Montreal, Quebec next June - I have met new friends Anne-Marie (Mahler) and ConnieBJ, (who could not join us this weekend), Rhonda (with her lovely Foksy keeping her company), Claire,  Margaret and Alex.

I drove to Montreal this weekend to continue the planning process, and to check and make sure the Montreal stores hadn't run out of fabric.  I'm so happy to report that the planning did progress, and that there is fabric to be had.  I finally got to visit the fabulous Madeleine Soie et Laine where I found:

Amazing sheer but substantial Armani wool (black).  

Silk chiffon.

 

And at my other favorite store, Couture-Elle, I found a lovely piece of suiting - mostly wool but Mr. Couture-Elle's expert burn test revealed this one also has some silk and rayon in it:

On my way home in the car, this one revealed to me that it wanted to be this Burda jacket.