And he's back!

If you miss the Weekend Designer, Don Morin just published Bag'n-telle, another pattern-drafting blog.  This is what he says about it:

It will basically be a fashion pattern-drafting blog much like that of Weekend Designer yet will offer some insight into the design process of fashion accessories. The blog will be more simplified in content and  show the pattern-making process. It will feature my own creations from some of my design workshops and all the projects are geared to the novice designer and the equipment available to them — meaning a domestic sewing machine and a few easy-to-use tools.

I think I like pattern drafting more than sewing, although not as much as books :)

First project of 2010...

... will be something from the book Pattern Drafting by Dressmaking, volume 1. It's a Japanese pattern drafting book that is written in English and filled late 1960's fashion. If you like late 60's design and/or pattern drafting and/or Japanese craft books, definitely look for this one on ebay or etsy, but be prepared to spend quite a bit.

This particular dress caught my attention because of the halter-ish neckline and the roll collar. The style is a bit on the girly side, which is not my style at all. Or maybe it's just the illustration? Doesn't matter, I like it.

The book gives instructions on how to draft the pattern pieces from the existing sloper.

It took me a good hour to figure out the measurements on the neckline and collar area. Quite stimulating, actually, the process of adding the numbers and mentally visualizing what goes where and is connected to what. My results are probably all wrong, but the fabric is already cut, so there's no turning back.

Speaking of fabric, I'm using a purple knit fabric. It's *gasp* polyester! Feels like it too - yuck. But the price ($1.50/yd) and the purpose (practice on knit-fabric) justify it!

And now, we shall wait and see how it will turn out. Well... you get to sit and wait. I have to sew it.

Knit I don't: The circle scarf

Remember this knitting attempt?

Yeah... that's about as much as it's going to be. Knitting requires supreme ability to sit still, which I lack. I managed to knit and purl my way out of about 20 inches, and now it's been collecting dust on my nightstand for the last two months.

So I made this instead:

It's a circle scarf, the idea of which was inspired by Karin (also see mywakingmemories' tutorial and styling suggestions). It can be worn as a double scarf as shown above, or a bolero:

Or a halter:

Or draped unceremoniously as a shawl:

The fabric made the project, in this case. It's the softest rayon jersey that was definitely a splurge. Not so proud of the construction; the flat fell seam is most pathetic looking and I wasn't even drunk at the time!

Oh well... what do you do when life gives you lemon? You give out the lemon as a gift!

Ha ha... just kidding, oh gift recipient. Or, am I?

Actually I did intend to give out the circle scarves as gifts, before realizing that sewing knit fabric is a bitch and the resulting solitary seam looks like it was sewn by my dog, who is practically blind in one eye.

Practice makes perfect, I guess.

Spring colorblock dress in the middle of winter

For once, I'm ahead of the game! Well, really I'm very late, since this dress started in - wow-has-it-been-that-long - three months ago.

Without further ado:

A close-up of the mock buckle, inspired by a J. Crew dress, and also to cover up the seam because I didn't cut the band on fold:

Here's me modeling it:

The end of the zipper is usually a struggle. As you can see here, it's all wonky. (Anybody have any tips on how to solve this? I use the regular zipper foot to connect the back seam and the zipper-end, and it usually ends up bunchy.)
Also, the sloper calls for a back shoulder dart, which I did not transfer to the pattern, thinking it wouldn't make a difference. Apparently it does: the back neck band is too big and now it gaps away from the body. Lesson learned.

The dress itself is fully lined in self fabric. I pretty much winged the construction part of it, with the help of my new best friend, the seam ripper. It's not completely finished yet, actually. Hemming needs to be done (still can't figure out how to use blind-stitch foot and am dreading hand-sewing), and hook-and-eye fastener needs to be attached.

Generally it fits a little loose on me now, because I've shrunken a bit because of a little diet and exercise. It's good news, actually. I feel physically better, am sleeping better (didn't really need help on that department), and theoretically should be looking better in clothes because the boobs are now correctly positioned "above" and not "at" the waist. Although, it also means I have to draft a new sloper.

I'm back!

Sort of. Well, at least I'm very close to being back.

Thesis is approved, one more final exam (going to rely on pity points to pass this one), and come Tuesday night, I am free! Or, actually, I'm already free now since I've checked out mentally. Biggest lesson learned from graduate school: when bored at work, get a hobby, don't go back to school! It's taken me 3 years and countless dollars to realize that. Talk about learning the hard way. This article makes it even more hilarious.

Anyway, during the involuntary sewing hiatus, one of my favorite bloggers, CyberGirly, gave me this nice "Kreative Blogger" award. Big thanks, CG, and right back at ya!

What d'ya know...

... apparently I knit too!

This knitting thing is mainly to provide distraction from sewing (no idea how to actually construct the colorblock dress with lining) and schoolwork (no idea what the professor is saying) with the guidance of Debbie Stoller's book Stitch 'N Bitch (I do have an idea of what she's saying!).

My intention is to knit a scarf, but we'll see what we end up with.

No new fabric for the colorblock dress...

... even though I'm drooling for Robert Kaufman Radiance silk/cotton blend. Still nervous about dropping double-digit-dollar per yard of fabric.

So I dug around my cheap-o stash and found just enough miscellaneous cotton to make this dress:

• White Ikea bedsheet that I was using for amateurish photo backdrop, and later for muslin, and now it will be the skirt of the dress. It may be enough for a bias layout plus lining.
  
• mjb likes the chocolate-chartreuse combo (so do I!), but there's no existing chocolate cotton, and the closest I have to chartreuse is olive, which looks awfully drab. I do have a piece of red, which is enough for the bands.
  
• No gray cotton laying around either, so the bodice will be black Kona cotton that was meant for another project, and now it will be the bodice plus lining.

White skirt + black bodice + red band = looks like:

... which I think is the same dress as this:

... and this:

... which is a Spring 2008 Gucci.

Hm... I probably need to start making winter dresses after this one.