Archive | April, 2011

All Set!

28 Apr

Have I mentioned that I’m unabashedly obsessed with the Royal Wedding?  That’s right. Obsessed. I’ve been brushing up on my on my pretentious fake British accent too (think Madonna, Tina Turner and Gwenyth Paltrow). Some folks have thought to remind me that the US won thier independence in the 1770s. Others feel that just because my mom lived in England for 10 years that doesn’t make me British. A few think it somehow matters that both my parents’ native countries received thier independence from the UK in the 60 and 70s. I don’t care. I’m quite comfortable with my  Anglophile status.

I have my commemorative mug in the china cabinet waiting to be filled with Earl Grey Martinis on Friday morning. And expect my future children to laugh at me some day when they see all I have accumulated. I say  BRING IT. Here are a few other items in my current collection.

I had the Diana paper dolls when I was 8. It came with a paper tiara. I wore the heck out of that tiara.  I even remember my mom making some repairs to it. My friend Liz gave this to me this one for my birthday. I may have teared up a bit.

I may or may not have more than one of these rings. In my defense, at least one was bought prior to the current engagement. I’ve always wanted a  copy. I just had way more choices after the announcement.

I’m going to a watch party at friends. So, I’ll be baking my popovers (I know they look more like muffins. These are dietary modified for the people I’m watching the wedding with)

There was no time. But, as soon as I find the right shade of blue — I will be knocking off the engagement announcement dress.

The person who brought me a commemorative mug from England told me about this model MINI Cooper (I drive one). I purchased it on line and had it sent to Melissa from Fehr Trade . You know, so I can combine shipping with all the useless things I’ve ordered related to the wedding.

I have resisted the Boden scarf just because it’s crazy overpriced. But, if any of you UKers see something I should buy *cough* feel free to tell me.

Talk to you after the frenzy!

First World Problems

26 Apr


You may remember that when I went to China last year, I had two custom quipao made. I love, love, love these dresses. So, I naturally jumped at the chance when a travelling acquaintance offered to have another made for me while they were in their native China. I gave her my red and black one and asked for the exact same thing, just with a different color inset. Seriously. That’s what I asked for. Not because I have such specific taste or am hard to please, but clothing and design is a personal choice and I know what I like. Plus, if I have something specific in mind it’s because I like it and I may as well have another one. Plus, as I noted in my original post about these dresses, it doesn’t  take much to take these elegant dresses from classy to restaurant wait staff.  I even wrote in my e-mail, ‘Black satin like this. But, just a different, coordinating fabric. Like a blue, or yellow or possibly purple.”

This is what I got back. She thought it was ‘boring’ to have the same dress so she ‘designed’ this for me.  I realize that some people may like it and this is a matter of taste. It’s just not my style and I hate it for *me*. See? First World Problem. Someone offers to travel to another country, have something made for me, thinks so much of me that she designs something for me and I complain. Yep. I’m a terrible person.

But, my loss is your gain. Again,  realize this may work for other people. But, it just doesn’t  for me. If you’re interested in the dress and will cover postage, I will happily send it to you. Please email me at missceliespants@gmail.com . It’s sized for me at a 36 bust 26 waist and 38+ hips. It’s bigger on the bottom on me than it should be because I was worried about it being too tight and figured I could take it in myself at home if I needed to. of course, I haven’t gotten around it :) I’ll do a drawing Saturday for the winner. If you’d like to increase your odds, re-tweet or mention this post on your blog (leave a link back to it here or email them to me).

I have to warn you. It’s really shiny / sparkly. The flowers are embroidered on and all those circles are sequins. The braid / trim is shiny silver and the fabric is a acetate like polyester. Just fair warning. A guy in my office asked me why is had ‘mirrors’ on it.  There were a few women at work interested, but I thought I’d offer it here first.

On a more positive note, I scored a very loud but awesome vintage dress over the weekend.

Last year I prematurely stated I was over the maxi dress (and twist tops). Maybe I’m just over making maxi dresses because I can’t wait to wear this one! The seams are unfinished so I sat down to serge them before a good washing. And, (drumroll please) I serged a hole in the side. *DOH*. Luckily, the print is so busy that no one but me will know. Any guesses on the era? I’m assuming the 70s.

Doing it the Old Fashioned Way

24 Apr

I’m totally scatterbrained these days about my sewing. I’m in the midst of two UFOs and still trying to do some last minute sewing for the Netherlands (just two weeks away)! One of the UFOs is a red Burberry trench coat. When we last talked, I had it all cut out.

Yesterday, I finally had time to go visit my friend Lilya to use her industrial to do all my binding. Since the coat will be unlined, I wanted a beautiful interior finish. Well, the industrial did not go well. My Snug Hug wasn’t wide enough for her industrial double fold binding attachment,  so I had to cut my own bias and it just jammed up and didn’t fold and was an unmitigated disaster.

I’ll save you the details, but two hours later I left frustrated with not a single bound pattern piece of my trench coat. Last night, I rememberd my vintage binder that  came with my Morse sewing machine. It’s metal and can be used with pre-folded binding.

My ‘free’ binder worked out just fine. I was able to use the seam binding with the ‘raw edge’ of the binding exposed. It’s attractive, flexible and thin.

Here’s a photo comparing the double fold and my Snug Hug. Double fold on the far right, Snug Hug bound seam on the left.

I’ll do some basic construction this week, but the odds of being done in two weeks are slim. Plus, I have got to sit down and figure out what I’m packing!

Vogue 8120: Blue Silk Dupioni Blouse

17 Apr DSCN0451 (1280x1279)

My mom is always lamenting that she can never find nice blouses for a reasonable price at the mall.

So, I brought material from home down to Florida with me. After a run to Joann’s we picked out this Vogue  8120 blouse pattern (they were on sale this week).

I figured making her a blouse was a fair trade off for all the stuff I’ve lifted on this trip (digital camera, vintage pink pyrex casserole, off set spatula, slippers, potato masher….).

Instead of a muslin we did a quick pin fit. Man, I wish I could pin fit myself! What a time saver!  I took two inches of width out the back,  made a two inch swayback adjustment for her and added two inches at the front waist.

The silk is a black and blue crossweave from Fabric Mart. This silk frays badly and needs to be underlined for structural reinforcement. I’ve had garments from this type of material before that have ripped just from looking at it. This underlining gives it a beefier feel. Kind of like an unstructured jacket.

And, because I have no serger or zig zag machine in Florida, I was forced to sew French seams. I say ‘forced’ because in 20 years of sewing I’ve not made a single functional French seam.

Christina was so troubled by this that when I invited myself to her place in Seattle two years ago she literally sat me down to show me how they are made. It’s a pretty way to finish the seams. I even did them around the arm hole.

I used fabric selvedge along the biasy edges of the bodice. This gave me something to ease the fullness onto and keeps it from stretching out.

I made small ties on the inside to tie on the left.

And, my mom had this brooch since their time in Korea and added it to the top.

My mom asked if I was going to make her something every time I visited. I didn’t respond.

Here’s my dad inspecting my work. Honestly, I’m not sure he realized I actually knew how to sew, LOL. He told me ‘good job’. I suspect I’ll have to make something for him next.

I also bought another pattern for a skirt. But, I feel the need to sit around the pool on my last day here and do nothing. I hear it’s raining at home and there was a tornado warning. Plus, I had the asinine idea of leaving here at 7:00 a.m. so I could be at work around 10:00 on Monday. Which of course means I have to get up at 4:30. It seemed like a good idea at the time.

Of *course* there’s room for one more

15 Apr

I say you can never have too many sewing machines.

*cough*

Meet my new Singer 301, the mocha colored big sister to my  black Featherweight.  I had already spied this 301 on Craigslist before getting down here. I emailed her before leaving and she still had it available. We picked it up on Wednesday morning. I’m in love. Hopefully I can show what I’ve been working on before leaving Florida on Sunday. For now I’m going to keep it at my parent’s place.

The case smelled like the Playboy club in the mid 60s. REEKED of smoke. It was so bad we drove it home with the windows open. It’s currently full of kitty litter and sitting outside full time.  After two days it smells much better! We’re now working on the mildew smell.

I bought this one while visiting my parents in Florida. The woman I purchased it from has well over a dozen machines of her own, mostly treadles. She tried to leave the case outside to air out and it didn’t help. Here she is at the County Fair giving a demonstration on one of her treadles.

This  Minnesota machine was made for the Sears Roebuck company. You can see the company’s name on the base. Beautiful.


I also got my first chance to try a hand crank machine. This is one I would definitely buy if I had the chance.

I’d like to tell you I’m all done buying sewing machines. But, I’m not. LOL. That, a grasshopper by Elna, a white Featherweight, Singer Genie and  a pink Necchi are all on my list to accquire some day.

Click to enlarge some photos of her other machines from the Fair:

So far, Florida has been great. My dad and I hit the County Fair and Youth Livestock Show.

I may have also sucked down a big plate of fried green tomatoes. I’ve tried to make them at home once. But, these were fantastic.

I’d go back to the fair for more if I didn’t have to pay parking and the admission fee. Oh, who am I kidding. I still may go back for more.

Does Jo-Ann Fabrics Deserve to Get Sued for This?

15 Apr

Does Jo-Ann Fabrics Deserve to Get Sued for This? (link takes you to The Cut)

Apparently, Coach is suing Jo-Ann Fabrics for copying thier trademark double C and putting it on fleece.

I’ve seen this in the store too….

Navy Blue Bubble Skirt: BWOF 8-2007-119

12 Apr IMGP8112

I think I’ve generally settled on a few skirts to fill out my wardrobe for the cycling trip and my summer. Sunday I realized I wanted to wear some ‘regular’ clothes on my trip I immediately thought of a bubble skirt. They are cute when short, full enough to hide a multitude of sins and in a knit can wash and dry easily with no wrinkling. Best of all, I made this in about an hour.

The pattern I selected is Burda Magazine’s 8-2007-119. Don’t give up those Burda magazines! I remembe when I thought bubble skirts were juvenille. Well, maybe they still are, ha!

This skirt worked up SUPER fast. Just one pattern piece for both front and back which you cut on the fold. The same pattern piece includes the lining . The waistband is a simple rectangle you are given the dimensions for. I traced this out on Sunday and sewed it in little over an hour on Monday night (when I should have been packing for Tampa).

The material was gifted from a friend’s mom when she cleaned out her small sewing stash. I previously made this La Mia Boutique skirt from the same poly knit. If I could *find* that skirt I would have take it on the trip with me. But, I think I’ll be making it up in another fabric when I get back in town next week from Florida.

The only pattern changes I made were converting the waistline gathers to pleats and taking two inches of length out at the hip. Heh. These look a bit like bloomers, don’t they?

Because I made neither my typical full seat or swayback adjustments, the skirt does ride up in the back. I haven’t had that on me in ages!

The inside lining is just a brown poly knit I have boat loads of.

I’ll wear this next month with padded shorts underneath

The skirt is also great for layering. Oh, I also have a new pair of Tevas for the trip. I usuall wear water sport style Tevas but figured I wanted my toes protected. My roommate is also loaning me a second pair because we’ve been warned they might not dry overnight if it’s damp.

I’ve already got a second version of this skirt in black cut out!

Gore-Tex Rain Pants

10 Apr IMGP8072

I’ve long harbored this fantasy that I would travel to a foreign country, meet a brilliant man with an amazing accent and kind soul. We would instantly fall in love and begin a torrid affair. We would get married, pledge to make it work by splitting our time between two countries and our  painfully cute children would have dual citizenship and speak at least three languages.

I can’t say that these fireman yellow rain pants will help me attract said brilliant man next month while biking through the Netherlands. But, at least I’ll be dry!! This project has taught me that there is a reason rain pants are sold in black and navy, LOL!

I’ve been warned that it will be windy and rainy for the Netherlands cycle tour. So, rainpants are in order. For this project, I used Gore-tex from FabricMart Fabrics. It’s waterproof and breathable. I bought almost 10 yards during a 50 percent off sale. I’m so glad I stocked up because the first pair I made were SO TIGHT. The pattern is based on my pajama pants from the 11-2009-126 Burda pattern.  The Goretex has *zero* give. Plus, my legs are just big. So, I made a full thigh alteration a la Els from the SEwing Divas. Fitting that the alteration came from Dutch Els :) That extra inch gave me the ease I needed to fit these over my bike shorts and yoga pants.

I cannot tell you how much easier using a roller or teflon foot on this material is! Under my regular presser foot the material bunched up badly.

My second alteration was to add a six inch gusset. Umm, note to self: wash off the big fat red X on the crotch.

 

I tried on several pairs of RTW rain pants because I didn’t want to be bothered to make them. But, I quickly discovered that they had no rise at center back. I figured someone was already going to have to ride behind me for a solid week. There was no need to also expose them to crack. So I to altered to raise the center back by almost two inches.

 

I articulated the knee by adding pleats in the knee area for cycling.

The pants are also four inches longer so they won’t ride up when I’m on a bike.

The inside seams are finished with a sealant tape.

I’ve also lined them with tricot nylon and did an elastic cuff at the bottom. The tricot makes them easier to slip on and off and provide some protection from wear and tear.


Sexy, right? I purchased this jacket over the summer at LL Bean. It’s their  version of Gore-tex. It had a zipper that opens from the top and bottom so I can open it up around the legs for biking.

So, I’ve got three weeks to sew for the Netherlands and I’m leaving town Tuesday to see my parents for a few days (the first time in over a year!!) in Tampa. Unlike China, I’ve put very little thought into my wardrobe. Heh. It’ll all work out.