My participation for FESA 2013 : finished at last !

Well, this one took a long time coming. I first thought that 2 months would be more than enough to finish one garment, but life got in the way and I’ve been a bit under the weather emotionally, which deprived me of my sewing mojo.

But it’s all over and better now, and now my FESA participation is finished !

Sorry for this yellowish light, I don't understand what happened (and yet I did try to correct it in GIMP...my photo editing skills have to be improved. Duh.)

Here are the facts :

Pattern : Wearing History Home Front Overalls.

Fabric : linen and viscose blend, plus some white cotton for the facings and wrong side of straps.

Notions : thread (+ red cotton thread for my bound buttonholes), buttons, snap, fusible interfacing, bias tape.

Any difficulties ? Well…this is the second pattern from Wearing History that I’m making and I really think that, next time I order from them, I’ll take the smaller size pack. I actually made quite a few modifications to make the whole damn thing fit me. In the end, it does, but I had to make two muslins to attain a result that is still not perfect. But let’s not put all the « blame » (the notion of « blame » here is relative : Wearing History patterns are on the whole very well made, it’s just not so easy when you fall between two sizes!) on the pattern, shall we ? I think that, along with my perfectible sewing skills, the fabric also played its part in making this garment a challenge. It’s actually very shifty and the weave is rather loose, and I’m actually not sure, in spite of my efforts, that I cut all the pattern pieces on grain. And on top of it, that shit really frays like hell. Next time I’ll think twice before buying cheap fabric.

This pattern was also my first time using bias strip as a facing, which I’m not exactly fond of. Maybe it works on other types of garments, but as far as I’m concerned, a facing or even a lining might have worked better here.

Make again ? As this garment was quite long for me to make (partly because I had to alter the pattern, and partly because I’ve been tired and depressed while sewing it), I don’t think I’ll sew it again very soon…but my love for 40s overalls is intact, and I think there might be another pair of these in the future. In a beautiful wool (tweed, perhaps ?), or at least in a fabric with more body, like a twill or a gabardine.

Wear again ?Although I think this garment looks like it's been made by a 3-year-old, and although I technically consider, on second thought, as a 3rd (but wearable!!) muslin... Yes ! I will wear it again! But I think I'll wait till it gets warmer as the weather is starting to be chilly where I live.

Fall Essentials Sewalong 2013 : a muslin

Sorry for the phone pic in my small wavy mirror...but I couldn't just go and take a picture in front of the mirror of my buildings hall wearing an unfinished garment, amirite?

First thoughts :

• The pattern is said to run small at the hips, but apparently it should be fine for me ;
• As with my 2 versions of the Smooth Sailing pants, I'll have to make a flat seat adjustment and remove some length from the front crotch seam;
• I'm a bit astonished to see that the legs are just the right length (in fact, they might even be a bit short if I want to wear it with the hems rolled up), considering I had to remove something like almost 4 inches (about 10 cm) from both my Smooth Sailing pants to make them the length I wanted;
• I'm not sure about the waist : is it OK, or should I make it a bit smaller (FYI : it's slightly too big in the 2 aforementioned pants)? Hard to decide, as everything here is held with safety pins!
• The front bodice should be OK, however the back bodice looked a bit too small, but maybe just because of a bad placement of the shoulder straps;
• I was a little bit perplexed by the waistband : it's too small for me, even though I'm a 28.5-29 across the waist and it's supposed to be 30 inches long, and it's smaller than the waistlines of the pants and bodice. What the f...udge is going on there? Maybe I'll just cut it very long and shorten it to suit my needs.

That's all for now, see ya!

Fall Essentials Sewalong 2013 : My Palette

Well, it's actually not a palette as I don't think I'll be able to sew more than one garment. Therefore, only one color and one fabric.
I'll make my overalls in a fabric I already have in my stash : 

Linen/viscose blend from Toto, bought with no particular project in mind...Had actually already bought something very similar for a Ceylon, and as I was afraid I wouldn't have enough, I bought 2 more metres, only to find it wasn't exactly the same color as what I'd bought first. Never mind, I know how to use it now! 

Added to this : 

• Anchor buttons left from  my B5895,
• white thread (from stash)
• And some bias trim (not pictured here.)

Started tracing my pattern yesterday evening - stay tuned if you want to know what's going on!

Taking part in my first Sewalong!

I often see people planning sewalongs all over the web...However, much as I would be interested to join in, there's always a hindrance. Either I don't have the pattern this particular sewalong is about, or I feel I don't have the skills, or the schedule seems to set a crazy pace I feel unable to follow.
But...this morning, as I was browsing my blog list, I fell on Sarah's latest post, announcing the Fall Essentials Sewalong...and it so happened that, for once, the schedule was right for me...and the (very un-restrictive) different categories of garments you could make for the sewalong did allow me to make something! So here i come!

I'm currently finishing another shirt for my boyfriend...but if I'm lucky, I should be done by September22nd, the day the sewalong starts!
And here's what I'm going to sew : 

While some of you may question the "essentiality" of overalls (and yet, in my opinion, they totally belong in the "Fashionable Foundations for Frosty Weather" category!), let me explain why this fits the bill for me :

• they are perfect for a look that's vintage, yet casual, and doesn't make me feel as if I were wearing a costume (i mean, as opposed to a dress+heels+big hair+make up...I love vintage style but I'm not really the high-maintenance kind of girl!) ; 
• they offer more coverage than pants, which is a bonus now that the weather is getting colder ;
• they could go with lots of tops and shoes ;
• and I happen to already have everything (fabric, thread, buttons, interfacing...) in my stash to make them almost straight away!

Want to be part of the sewalong? It's happening over at Rhinestones and Telephones!