some experiments succeed (sort of)

Part of what made me think I could just wing the Boden shirt was making this tank top. I had a vision in my head and some extra jersey laying around and decided just to have a go at it. The front and back were cut identical and I went back and altered the neckline of the front. The collar is just a strip of leftover fabric I twisted will sewing on and tacked in place along the neck and at the bottom of the bust. The straps tie in back.


I had difficulty getting a good picture of this shirt. The early morning sun and my camera were not getting along. I'm pretty sure the shirt doesn't appear as shiny in person. I thought about giving it up and trying later in the day, but I knew I'd get something on it before then and a big stain on it wouldn't do. The color is truest in the close up picture. The necklace is by Ali of Kissum Up. I'm not sure she ever stocks there anymore, but she does occasionally stop in at Venus Vanguard.

What was worse was the back shot. I knew it felt a little snug, but when I saw the back side I promptly took it off until I could figure out a proper undergarment to wear to get rid of all those lumps. Why must bras dig into back fat?

some experiments fail

After my relative success with the last gauzy shirt I decided to try my hand at making this shirt featured in the Boden's summer catalog (If you're not familiar with Boden you really should go look. They have the most fantastic clothes. Some things are overpriced, but some things are very reasonable. Bonus is that they carry up to a US 18).

Mistake number one was using my final fabric right away instead of making a muslin pattern.

I used a old shirt as a pattern for the size and just eyed up the cut of the neck and the length. I added as much extra fabric for gathering across the bust as I had fabric to do. The yoke was cut from the shape of my bodice piece and the sleeves were copied from aforementioned old shirt.

I put the yoke on first and it turned out rather nicely. I used elastic to gather along the waist.

Mistake number two was forgetting that the underbust measurement that I took did not accomodate for my ample chest.

All of those extra inches I included to make the gathers only served to actually make room for my nursing boobs and I found the fabric to be stretched tight instead of attractively gathered.
I also failed to realize that my chest would bring the resting position of the elastic higher up in the front than on the rest of my body so it droops in the back. This can be remedied, but it will involve the tedious task of ripping out all of those triple stitch zig zag stitches.

Mistake number three (which is really mistake number four) was not remembering that the old shirt was stretched out in weird places from a nursling pulling on it all winter.

The armholes ended up being too big because of this. I'm not exactly sure how i'm going to go about fixing this, but I'm confident I'll find a way. In the end I'm sure I will have a wearable end product, but I will definitely remember to make a mock up out of muslin the next time I try to draft my own shirt pattern.

a perfect summer blouse

At the beginning of last summer I picked up Simplicity 4177 intending to make myself shirts for summer. With a newborn and a spirited toddler I never got around to it (imagine that). However, this year, with all the ease (HA!) of having a 1 year old and a 3 year old I found time.

This pattern was so easy. I used a lightweight gauze and I think it'll be perfect for hot weather. I thought it would be see through, but I'm pleasantly surprised with the sheerness. Not a peep show, but just enough to be a little sexy (well as sexy as you can be in a peasant style blouse). Once it was mostly assembled I discovered that it was a tad too short for my taste so I searched through my stash in hopes of finding something to add as a trim. I finally settled on a lightweight woven that my sister brought back from Tanzania. Inspired, I made my own bias tape for the neckline and used it for the ties as well.

I imagine that by the end of the summer people will be tired of seeing me in this shirt because I pretty much intend to live in it.

the birth quilt

Before my second was born my friends were nice enough to plan a blessingway for me. Unfortunately, Oz had his own plans and came three weeks early so by the time my blessingway rolled around he was already a week old. We held it anyways and just shifted it's purpose a little bit.

At other blessingways I've attended we'd always made birth necklaces for the pregnant momma. While reading Birthing From Within there was a section on blessingways and it mentioned a quilt. I thought this fit me perfectly so I requested that each of my friends make a quilt square. While some of them complained a little, in the end they all made something great. The only problem was that since Oz was already born I was in no hurry to sew it up (having a newborn and all). I told myself I'd finish it up before he was one and I just squeaked in under the wire (he turns one tomorrow and I finished it yesterday).

Let me say this though, I am not a quilter. I've made a few in the past and they're not what you would call spectacular. I was nervous about this one, but fortunately I have a fabulous quilter friend who helped me along. The added bonus is that I'm borrowing her back up machine, which just happens to be a Bernina Activa 145s, and it's a million times nicer than my normal machine. This made quilting it much, much, much easier.

Overall I'm happy with the way it turned out. It's not perfect, but it is certainly filled with positive spirit and will surely be a family keepsake.