Sewing in a Straight Line

I recently came into possession of a copy of Sewing in a Straight Line, by Brett Bara.  While I'll say right off the bat that there's not a lot of new information in this book for me (possibly because I already have the Leaning Tower of Sewing Books?), I think it's a great book for beginners or near-beginners, particularly the fearless types that seem to be around these days!

You really don't need fancy techniques to stitch awesome things.  If you can sew a straight seam, you can make a world of projects, and this book will take you step-by-step through everything you'll need to know to get the job done.

The book is divided into 4 sections: Getting Started (which include basic tools and supplies, hand sewing, machine sewing, basic techniques and fabric basics); Straight-Up Chic Fashion, which features skirts, a blouse, a shirred maxi, a cardigan, and more; Cozy, Crafty Home - curtains, zippered throw pillows, shams, duvet covers, a quilted throw and a (deliberately) wonky patchwork quilt; and Quick, Cute Gifts, including fabric flower bowls, a baby quilt, an adorable sewing kit (!), stuffed animals and more.

Sewing kit - how cute!

What I really liked about this book was that the author tackled what many beginners would consider to be complicated techniques - the shirred maxi, for example - and breaks it down to something as simple as a rectangle of fabric, stitched along the top with elastic thread.  It's a straight line, get it?  Just the thread is different. Don't be frightened, pick up the fabric and see what happens. 

Don't be afraid - remember, it's only fabric and thread, and the worst that will happen is that you'll tear out your stitches and sew another seam.



Shirred maxi dress

There are no patterns in the book, other than templates for the diamond quilt.  Since all the clothing is based on squares or rectangles, the instructions simply tell you how and where to measure yourself, and how much ease to add to make it fit. In some respects this is way less limiting than following a pattern, depending on how your brain works.

You can customize each of the garments to your own body size for a fit that's sure to flatter.  Before you begin, take your body measurements (or better yet, have a friend take them) and write them down.  If you have doubts about any project, sew a muslin sample first to gain a firm understanding of the construction process and work out any kinks related to size, fit and sewing techniques.



Fabric flower bowls

Techniques that seem too complicated for the sewists this book is directed at, but aren't: shirring with elastic, basting, quilting and binding a quilt, installing zippers, buttons and buttonholes, elastic, French seams, sewing with vinyl/pleather, adding hardware to a bag, and more.

Go green!  Old clothing is a fantastic source of fabric for new sewing projects.  Scour the thrift store or your own closets for pieces to harvest.  (The men's section of thrift stores is as great place to start, as the garments are usually larger and sometimes the dressier pieces are barely worn).

Layout for diamond quilt

All in all, this is a great little book - clearly explained, well illustrated with drawings and photos, and full of projects that will appeal to a variety of people.

Matter of fact, it's the kind of book I wish someone had given me when I was starting out.  So . . . if you're a beginner, and think this book is for you, leave a comment telling me why you think it's something you need, and I'll ask Lily the Sewing Room Cat to choose a random winner on Saturday.

That's what friends are for

Last May, for the Philly PR Weekend, a few sewing friends stayed at my house.  Elizabeth brought a great hostess gift - wine and fabric.  The fabric was beautiful, a gray, pink and black plaid, pictured here.

Unlike the wine, which didn't last long enough to have its pictuer taken, the fabric has been aging ever since.  But this past weekend, I finally decided what it wanted to be, and I pulled it off the shelf.  And there wasn't enough.

Normally, 2 yards is plenty for most projects.  Because of the complexity of what I have in mind, I needed more like 4 yards.  I knew where the fabric came from, and I tried there.  No luck - sold out. 

I mentioned to Elizabeth by email that I was looking for more of the fabric, and she said casuallly, "I have 2 pieces at home.  I'll put them in the mail for you tomorrow."

She's getting a thank you in the form of something from my stash, and my gratitude for helping a fellow sewist out of a tight spot.

This is why I love this community. 

Invasion



Hey, lady, get off my porch!

 Yes, that is a raccoon.  And yes, that would be MY PORCH CEILING he's popped his head out of.

What the hell?  I've already given you my zucchini, now you want my freaking house?  I'll grant that they're animals and that they have as much right to tromp around in my veggies as any other wild creature that doesn't have a proper habitat because we humans have taken up all their living space.  I'll even grant them my zucchini, though it sucks to have a 4 foot wide plant covered in blossoms that doesn't yield a single veggie because of these little bandits.

But when you invade the physical structure of my house?  Game on, little man.  Game on.

New Look 6587 - Patternreview

Pattern Description: Princess seam, button front dresses with gathered skirt, choice of 2 necklines (collar or scoop neck), short, cap and no sleeves. Optional tie belts. I made version E, scoop neck, cap sleeves.

Pattern Sizing: NL sizes 8-18, which are slightly bigger than the Big 4's version of those sizes. By my measurements in NL, I'm a solid 14, but if I'd cut a 14, I'd have been swimming in it. I made a 12, and the fit is good, but still a little roomier than I would have expected. Diet? I don't need no stinking diet, I'm gonna make a New Look pattern and LOOK like I went on a diet!

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes, pretty much so. The scoop is almost Burda-low; it definitely requires my better bras or there'd be a little gappage.

Were the instructions easy to follow? I didn't really look at them until afterward (BWOF has me properly trained) but they seemed clear, and this is a pretty straightforward pattern.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? No dislikes. I'm on a dress kick right now, particularly dresses with skirts. Since I don't have the waistline I'd like, I'm creating the illusion that I do by adding more skirt. I don't know if it's fooling anybody, but I'm enjoying swishing around in all this fabric.

Fabric Used: Dark chocolate brown batiste with peach/orange and green embroidery, bought in Paris in 2008. Peach cotton broadcloth for the bodice lining, brown lining fabric for the skirt. Orange shirt buttons from the button box. Eleven of them. And the buttonholer didn't cough once. The fabric is beautiful, but the quality isn't what I would have hoped for - the embroidery is picky and unraveled itself in spots, and I can see this is a dress that's going to require way more care than I'm going to want to give.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Nothing major, other than adding horsehair braid to the hem to give it a little structure since my fabric is really drapy (or limp, depending on how humid your summers are).

Additionally, as a few other reviews have mentioned, this pattern is a little short-waisted. I lengthened it by an inch and it's just barely where I wanted it.

This doesn't class as an alteration or a design change, just as one of those things. I had the bodice constructed and was about to sew in the lining. Since I wasn't going to line the sleeves, I decided I should add them first, then hand stitch the lining to the armholes. I sewed on both sleeves, quickly (no easing, yay!) and went out to the couch to do the hand sewing. DH pointed out that one sleeve didn't look quite right, and that's when I noticed I'd sewn it on INSIDE OUT. In my defense, the light by my sewing machine is so strong that the two sides of the fabric look almost the same; it's only under the inadequate living room ceiling light that you can really see the difference.

I picked off the sleeve, turned it right side out, repinned, re-sewed, and went back to the living room. Where I discovered that the sleeve was right side out, but somehow, I'd sewn it on UPSIDE DOWN.

And it was only around 10:30 p.m. And there was no wine involved, really. Let's just say I taught the cats a few new words, stopped for the night and started over again the next day, when everything went well.

Come to think of it, that's probably why I managed to make 11 flawless buttonholes. The sewing gods were being apologetic after ruining my evening the night before.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'll probably give it another shot, next time with the V neck and collar, which is actually the view I wanted to make but which didn't suit my embroidered fabric. Next time I'll put a little more attention in to the details - add a little MORE length to the bodice, and make sure that the back neck isn't gappy. It's got good bones, I just don't think I can face it again too soon after all the issues I had.

Conclusion: Cute dress with a few options. If you make sure to sew everything together right side out, it doesn't take long at all!

Every which way but right

First batch!

Lotta weekend, not much sewing.

On Friday evening, it seemed so long. Three whole days of not having to go to work. Funny how that worked out.

Saturday morning we hit the farmer's market and I got way too many strawberries, because I had it in mind that I wanted to make jam. Which I did. And prior to which I had to make an emergency run to the hardware store because nobody ever freaking returns my canning jars when they're empty and I realized I had about 12 jars worth of jam and 3 jars left on the shelf. Thankfully the hardware store is a block away and I had the jars sterilized and waiting when the jam finished bubbling in the pot. 10 minutes in the canner (for every 6 jars - it's a small pot) and I had a dozen jars of strawberry yumminess.

I don't even particularly like jam, but I love making it.

I also met up with a friend and had coffee, did 2 loads of laundry and did some work in the garden.

Right side out . . . I think

Sunday was family day - my aunt, cookout with Mario's mom, sister and her boyfriend, and then a visit to his aunt, who is an 80-something version of me. She's had 2 hips and one knee replaced and she's cranky as hell that her body can't keep up with her mind anymore. She wants to be out in the garden, or sewing, or working on her house, and she can't. All she can do is cook and clean and play with her cats. Sound familiar?

Monday was back in the garden, then over to Mario's old house, which is getting renovated, then back into the garden again.

I didn't think about settling down to sew until 10:00 p.m. I had put together the bodice pieces (fabric and lining) for the brown embroidered dress, and I wanted to at least get the bodice constructed and lined, which I did. The dress has cute little cap sleeves, which I decided I should sew on before adding the lining (I'm not lining the sleeves) and then I could hand-stitch the lining around the armholes.

This worked fine, until I was sitting on the couch around 11:00 p.m. hand sewing, and I notice something awful. The right sleeve doesn't look right. And that would be because I'd sewed it on inside out. AND I'd already half sewn the lining down by that point.

I actually debated with myself for a few minutes whether or not the inside-out sleeve would bother me; it looks ALMOST the same. But I knew it would, so I picked out the lining stitches, then I ripped off the sleeve, turned it, pinned it back on and sewed it. Brought it back out to the couch, re-threaded my needle and realized . . .

Gratuitious cute picture of Harriet

. . . wait for it . . .

I'd sewn the sleeve on right side out that time, but it was UPSIDE DOWN.

Let's just say Mario and the cats learned a few new words, and after I picked off the sleeve for the SECOND TIME, I gave up for the night.
For those who are about to ask, no, there was no wine involved.

Three Cheers for the Red, White and Blue

How far is TOO far?

A little good news

Wednesday evening, I got off the train and started slowly down Farragut Street, looking on porches, under shrubs and cars, for the elusive Sophia.  I hadn't seen her since Monday night, when I scared off some kids who were throwing things at her.  She ran across the street - in between cars, giving me heart failure - and to safety.  Can't say as much for the kids by the time I got done with them.

By the time I got midway down the next block, I was about to give up.  Sophia had vanished.  And then I saw it . . . a tail, slinking around a bush.  Then out she came, straight into the middle of the sidewalk and sat down.  I started to walk faster,  wanting to catch her before she got away.  And I almost tripped over someone - a 20-something woman who was crawling out from between cars, with a cat carrier in her hands.

Wait a second.  Sophia, have you been unfaithful?  Are you leading someone else on?

Yep.

The woman is a volunteer with a local cat rescue group, and she'd been seeing Sophia after work on a regular basis too.  Even though they have no more foster space, she decided to grab her.  I told her that I'd had my eye on Sophia and that I had someone lined up who would probably be able to take her.  She thought that was lovely, but she wasn't giving up the cat.

Insert ridiculousness here: "I've been looking for her."  "So have I."  "I've got someone who wants her."  "I don't, but I can get our vet to look her over and give her the shots she needs."  "So can I, and you don't have space for her."  "No," she said, pausing for effect, "but I have the carrier." 

Point taken.  We settled, finally, on her taking my name and number - and the cat - to get her checked out.  I confirmed on Thursday that I do still probably have a home for her (not including mine) and then I emailed the folks at the rescue group, who I've met before, to let them know I have a claim on Sophia and that I'll foster her at my house.  If my person comes through, then fine, and if not, they can send potential adoptive parents to me to check out. 

I do have to say it says something about the neighborhood that I live in that two relatively civilized women nearly came to blows over who was going to get to rescue a stray cat. 

And as Mario reminded me, the important thing is that Sophia is off the street and safe, and will be well housed and loved somewhere.  Whether or not I'm the one who managed to achieve it is less important in the long run.