Mini Wardrobe - August 2008

I'm finished. Somebody say, "Hallelujah!"

It's Labor Day weekend. I've finished laboring; now I'm going to go sit in the sun like a turtle.

BWOF 8/08 #108 Knit Top

Pattern Description: Raglan cap sleeves and a standing collar furnish the chic pullover look. Our sewing tips: Use an invisible zipper in centre back so that the collar fits snugly. Stitch all the hems with twin needles to guarantee suitably elasticity.


Pattern Sizing: BWOF sizes 34-42. I made a 38.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes.
Were the instructions easy to follow? They weren't too bad for BWOF, plus I've already made #109, which is the same top without the collar. I still don't get the instructions for the underarm bands, but then again, it works fine just folded and topstitched.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? It's a great basic shape, nice and streamlined to fit under jackets.

Fabric Used: Cotton jersey picked up at Jomar just on Thursday - it was a remnant, so the total cost was $1.25.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: None, this time. When I originally planned to make this top for my Falling in Love with Fall mini-wardrobe, I wanted to do the mock turtleneck in a gold sweater knit. Then the sweater knit arrived and it was tan, so I went to a bright orange-rust poly, and made version #109, which had some changes. When I found this fabric a few days ago, I went back to my original plan and made the zip-neck mock turtleneck.

This was my first invisible zipper in a knit, and it actually went in without any trouble, so color me surprised. The mock turtleneck was easy, though BWOF said to cut a piece 15.25 x 4, and then stretch it "slightly" while pinning it to the neck. Let's say the stretch was far more than slight, but it did fit. I finally found some interface bias tape, and that helped immensely with stabilizing the arm and neck openings.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I wasn't sure how I felt after the orange top, but it rurns out I really like this one. Go figure! I'm going to play with the pattern a little and draft full sleeves for it because I think this pattern has a long life in my wardrobe.

Conclusion: Great little top! And yes, I noticed the unfortunate placement of the circle on the top, but only after it was sewn. Oops!

All Hail Jomar!

Yesterday we took a mental health day and drove up to New Hope, PA and Lambertville, NJ for some shopping, people-watching, and a very nice dinner at the Mansion Inn. It was a gorgeous sunny day, and we had a great time.

My favorite part of the day (not to seem ungrateful, you understand) was the half-hour stop at Jomar on our way out of town.

Ah, Jomar. Let me try to explain. The store's slogan is, "It's all here. You just have to find it."

I'm a sucker for a store that brings out the hunger/gatherer in me, and this place does it in a big way. I generally go to the store in South Philadelphia, although there are other locations in and near the city. The downstairs is mens- and womenswear, kids stuff, housewares, all kinds of discounted stuff.

Upstairs, it's all FABRIC.

Except when it's trim. Or lace. Or buttons. Or zippers priced at a penny per inch.

I don't know where the stuff comes from, and the quality varies wildly between crap and I-can't-believe-they're-selling-this-stuff. It's pretty much equal, but then again, what I think is crap may be just what someone else is looking for - like the rack of fleece which I wouldn't feed into my machine at gunpoint.

There's also a ton of home dec, including a lot of Waverly, an entire corner of lining fabrics, priced from $1 - $3 (really), a short section of tie silks, a large section of regular silks, wools, cottons, quilting cottons, all kinds of prints and solids, and entire tables of random fabrics that are priced $1 and $2 per yard. Did I mention the laces? And the table of pre-cut remnants, all priced under $5?

I got a wonderful scalloped black lace for $2 a yard, some olive-green glen plaid bottom-weight (close to a stretch moleskin, but not quite), more shirt fabric for Mario, 2 yards of a drapy brown rayon jersey, a caramel velvet remnant, a map-printed stretch jersey remnant, and lining fabrics in black, brown, striped, light gray, dark gray and nude (for the lining of my Prada knockoff), for $39. That's 28 yards of fabric, people. That's an almost obscene breaking of the fabric fast, but who am I to resist that kind of pricing?

What I went in for was lining fabric - the lining drawer was almost empty, and my local store charges $2.95 and up for lining. That's okay if I need a yard or so, but not if I want to stockpile for the upcoming colder weather and the mad sewing inspiration that will hit at roughly the same time.

Ever since I raised my bleary eyes from the fall fashion magazines, I've wanted to start my fall and winter sewing. No matter that I still have some summer sewing - including a really cute pair of seersucker pants - cut out and not finished. No matter that I'm almost finished a nice little wrap dress - it'll be great for fall!

I want textures and sweater knits and more reasons for lined jackets. I want to make more pants, now that I have a TNT pattern that I know will work. I want to make a gray-based wardrobe (sorry, Carolyn, I'm not being a deliberate copycat, I just realized that I have 8 different gray or gray patterned fabrics that I really like). I want, I want, I want. And now I have some of the fabrics that will get me there.

It's a long weekend, and the only things on my agenda are photographing my Mini-Wardrobe Contest submission and sewing.

Let's Bring back the Gilet

Here's an interesting item of clothing from Constance Talbot's Complete Guide to Sewing: the gilet. Ever heard of that one? I hadn't, though when she described it as a sleeveless blouse meant to be worn under a suits or sweaters, I knew what she meant. Why has this useful little item fallen out of fashion? I can only imagine in the wartime era of the Complete Guide, thrifty women were rummaging through their scrap bins and making gilets from the remains of beautiful party dresses (perhaps with a contrasting solid back, since it would never be seen).

Wikipedia says that it comes from the French gilet, from Spanish gileco or chaleco, and ultimately from the Turkish yelek. They claim it is "a sleeveless jacket resembling a waistcoat or blouse. Currently, a gilet is a sleeveless jacket or vest. They may be waist- to knee-length, and are typically straight-sided rather than fitted. However, historically, they were fitted and embroidered. In a further derivation, in 19th-century dressmaking a gilet was a dress bodice shaped like a man's waistcoat."

Well, okay, but I'll go by the cool illustration in the Complete Guide that it's a sleeveless top, and leave the shape, closures, and length up to me.

The closest we have to a gilet these days would be a shell, except I always associate shells with bad 80's polyester and little button closures at the back of the neck; nothing pretty enough to set off a suit, just a piece that you have to wear or else be naked under your jacket.

With all the jackets that I have, I think I may have to bring back the gilet.

BWOF 8/08 #109 Top

First Things First: The top is not that orange! It's just one of those colors that doesn't photograph; I've tried flash, daylight, everything, and it looks fluorescent. I promise it isn't. Okay, on to the review.

Pattern Description: This top simply can't be topped! It just clings to your body as it's made up in fine knit, the plain raglan cut allowing the unusual print to tell the story.

Pattern Sizing: BWOF 34-42. I made a 38.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much, yes. I'd started out making #108, with the mock turtleneck, but when I decided not to use a zipper I changed to pattern #109 and just banded the neckline.

Were the instructions easy to follow? They were pretty clear for BWOF, but then again this is a pretty straightforward top. Like Dawn, I had trouble understanding what they were talking about with the armhole bands, so I omitted them entirely and turned the fabric under and stitched it. Unless you stare at my underarms, it's not obvious.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I liked the raglan sleeves, and I wanted a turtleneck for my Mini-Wardrobe to set off the collar of the jacket I made. I intended to make it in a gold sweater knit. Does this look anything like a gold sweater-knit turtleneck? Well, no, but I still really like it, and unless I change my mind, it'll be the last piece of my wardrobe anyway.

Fabric Used: Since my Fabric.com sweater knit turned out more tan than gold, I picked up this vibrant rust poly knit at my local store. The closest I can come to describing the hand is to show my age and say it feels like qiana. Remember qiana?

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I omitted the zipper right off, as soon as I realized I could get my head through the neck opening. I didn't want to put a zipper in a sweater knit, and I didn't relish the idea in this drapy poly either. Losing the zipper meant losing the mock turtleneck, so instead I just made a band collar and topstitched it down. I lengthened the top by about 1" because a lot of BWOF's tops just don't work for me lengthwise. I could have left this alone, but the length is okay - the fabric is thin enough that I can tuck it in if I want to.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I'll definitely sew this again, and maybe next time I'll use a fabric sturdy enough to support a zipper so I can make the collar I'd intended. I really like the two-piece raglan sleeve, though I may play with it and turn it into a real sleeve instead of having the armhole open at the bottom. But that's still a recommendation, it's just a pattern to be played with depending on the user.

Conclusion: A cute top with relatively unmystifying instructions, and I think this one has potential to be turned into other interesting tops.

The Orange Monster Tote

One of the first things I found during of the last few evenings of fashion magazine inhalation was this purple Dior bag.

It's not exactly like the Hotpatterns Metropolitan tote, but it doesn't have to be for my purposes. First of all, I'm going to reduce the size of the tote so it isn't quite large enoug to carry my cats around in, so I could definitely slant it more in the direction of this Dior bag. I like the seamlines on the Dior - there aren't any on the Hotpatterns bag, but I was neither here or there on that; I knew I could always add them if I wanted.

The orange leather I purchased at Leather, Suede, Skins is actually in large enough pieces that I could make the bag without piecing, but I think this would give a more interesting effect than just flat leather, especially since mine isn't textured. Why did I think I didn't want textured leather? (Probably because it cost the earth, and this only cost a mid-size continent?)

Now I'm off in search of the perfect lining. I do have a ton of home dec stuff in stash, which would add a bit more stability to the bag, and if I put the lining together first, I can muslin out the size of the bag. There must be something with a little orange in it . . .


Parting shot today is Lily, my feline sewing assistant. She's almost the only cat allowed in the workroom - she's very well behaved, except when I'm working with linings. She loves to chew on the slippery fabric and then spend the rest of the night wandering around the house, coughing dramatically and giving me that guilt-inducing face that only a cat can give ... "you made me eat the acetate, you forced it on me, and now I'm choking and it's all your fault." That face.

Dizzy

That's what I am today. It was worse last night.

Yesterday at lunch I went to the bookstore and bought about 12 lbs. of fall fashion magazines. I have a subscription to Vogue, but it hadn't arrived yet, so I thought if I purchased a little competition it might show up. So I got W and Elle's fall fashion issues, and when I got home last night, there was Vogue, sitting in the hallway waiting for me, snugly wrapped up with the Fashion Rocks magazine just to add to the excess.

After the gym and dinner, we curled up on the couch - Mario with the remote and a fine selection of presidential politics and me with the post-its and a stack of magazines.

Several hours later, when I looked up, I couldn't see straight. Ever play a game on your computer for so long that when you go to bed you can still see it moving behind your eyes? I felt like my brain had been put into a blender with a box of crayons. Colors and textures and fabrics, oh my.

Lots of ideas, lots of colors, lots of things to try to work into my fall sewing. Like Carolyn, I loved all the lace that Prada was showing (and I'm lusting after that brown lace she got from Kashi). Liked the pencil skirts and some of the retro-looking stuff. Hated the bow blouses (some parts of the 1980s just shouldn't return). And the fact that D&G, among others, are still doing some form of boho/peasant/gypsy makes me happy, because not for anyone am I giving up my love of dressing in several patterns at once and doing fishface if someone asks, "Does that actually ... go together?"

I left W in the office yesterday because I couldn't carry both magazines home with my other shopping. The post-its and I are going to have a lovely lunch today.