planning

Mwahahaha…I feel a plan hatching

Leave a comment

Phew, glad those project write-ups are done. What a Herculean task they were. My arms nearly fell off.

Herculean task for you to read as well I bet! That’s why I break them up with headings and pictures and bullet points: so that it’s easier to skip any bits that are coma-inducing! I apologize for going into tedious details. I hope sharing my rationale, trials & errors, learnings will be useful to some of you. And maybe the experts amongst you might also suggest other / better ways to solve the same problems.

Next up: finish planning my NYC shopping trip. I’m miffed that MR will be going on a business trip as soon as our return flight landed. That means I can’t sequester half his luggage space for fabrics. Poo. So I got to plan really carefully. Hmm, I wonder if I can turn one fabric into a makeshift poncho and wear onboard so I can get them all home…

Anyway, to help me plan, I’m actually trying a SWAP. I sort of did with the Summer sewing. But it was like throwing random stuff onto the moodboard & Pin the Donkey type plan. So many didn’t actually get made. In fact, many didn’t even have a design. Just a fabric swatch & random bunch of inspiration.

0moodboard-1

This time I’m going to be more disciplined and try to identify a pattern or at least finalize a design for each swatch. And even visualize them with my croquis. I found the Year of The Skirts sketches quite useful for keeping me somewhat focused. Heather Lou of Closet Case Files recently refer to my blog as “Overwhelming Stash”. I laughed of course. It was clearly a typo, but actually quite spot on. I am getting a bit overwhelmed by my now 300 piece and some 800+ yard stash! If I don’t have a plan I’ll be paralyzed. (Don’t you even dare mention a diet!)

A clearer plan would also help me identify all the missing supporting casts that I might need to get in NYC. Stars don’t like to admit it, but without the rest of the crew the project ain’t going to happen. And it’s not always possible to find the right supporting cast in London. I guess UK is just too small a market for affordable niche suppliers, even for online ones. Thank god more Scots voted against making it even smaller. (Raised an American, of course I’d think UK should go the USA way, with a balance of power between the Regions/States & central/federal government! Devolution for England, Wales, Northern Ireland & Scotland please! But let’s keep the single market so niche-niche tastes have at least a teeny bit of chance to get some needs met.)

Blocks? Check. OK, now what do I do?

15 Comments

There are times when things just go round in circle. Or off on a wild tangent. You want to do A. But wait, you need to do B first before you can do A. Oh, and B need C first. And on and on.

It’s been one of those times. I thought with my skirt and bodice blocks sorted I should be able to easily whip up my New Year Resolution list of…

  • 3 pencil skirts
  • 3 straight skirts
  • 3 A-line skirts
  • 3 long sleeve woven tops
  • 3 short sleeve woven tops
  • 3 long sleeve knit tops
  • 3 short sleeve knit tops
  • 3 dresses
  • 3 jackets

I even have fabrics lined up for the pencil skirts and 2 straight skirts. But I’ve fallen at my first hurdle.

0plans-jacketsIt’s a pencil skirt in a fabric from Mood NYC I got last June. The fabric is thicker than your typical suiting fabric. It feels like a fancy sweatshirt material to me – but I’ve never worn sweatsuits so I’m probably wrong. It has two nice sides, so I’m thinking it would make a nice matching Burda Asymmetrical Moto Jacket 11/2013 #117 too.

Except I might have to run it through the hot washing cycle and stiffen it up a little. Other people have complained that the double knit that Burda recommend for the jacket isn’t nearly stiff enough to show off the single layer oversized collar. I’m hoping once felted mine won’t suffer the same wimpy fate.

But maybe that won’t be enough & I’d still need extra support of edge binding? And what about seaming, would it be too thick for standard seaming? Should I try lapped seam? Do I need to finish off the edges? And skirt hem, too thick again? Overlocked hem maybe? Decisions decisions decisions – that’s the peril of trying to be creative. There’s no instruction to follow mindlessly.

It’s the same with the pattern. For the skirt I think I will simply use my Pencil Skirt Block. So I’m working on the jacket pattern now to check if I’ll have enough fabric for both.

So here’s the dilemma: When you have Blocks, do you still start with commercial patterns? Or would you start with your Blocks and try to mimic the design details of the desired commercial pattern?

The problem with starting with commercial patterns how much to ‘correct’ & how do you go about it. I started with the best intention to follow standard alteration steps to get the jacket pattern as close to my Fitted Jacket Block as possible. The center front & back pieces were relatively straightforward. But I just couldn’t get the side pieces into the right shape with the standard alteration procedures (lower bust curve > FBA on side pieces).

1-fit-alt-1Head clogged by a cold, I resorted to slicing the innards & seam allowances of these side pieces with hinges on the seam lines. Then the seam lines is pulled into shape to match my Fitted Jacket Block patterns. There are a little bit of shortening/expansion here & there, but I was able to get the jacket patterns close enough to my Blocks. Not an ideal long term solution, but for now that will do.

Next up try the altered tissue pattern on Q. Then finalize the jacket pattern, figure out if I have ample fabric, and finally get back to cutting out & making the skirt!

Sewist Pride

Leave a comment

While the new Ice Age hasn’t quite spread over to London from the US, my sewing has nonetheless slowed to a glacial pace thanks to going back to work full time. I am working on a snake print dress for Pretty Grievances‘ annual Jungle January party. In fact, I’ve been planning this since January last year. Fingers crossed it will be finished by end of January this year. More about this one another day.

What I did manage to finish (sort of) over the Xmas holidays are these muslins for my top and three skirt slopers. But I’m not going to go into details about the pattern-drafting and fitting this time. I’m feeling a bit fatigued with the nitty-gritty. In the depth of winter what one needs is some day-dreaming. And would you believe it, I’m actually rather inspired by these muslins.

Top/Dress sloper muslin
Top/Dress sloper muslin
Pencil Skirt Block v1 muslin
Pencil Skirt Block v1 muslin
Straight Skirt Block v1 muslin
Straight Skirt Block v1 muslin
A-line Skirt sloper muslin
A-line Skirt sloper muslin

I’m very tempted to turn these muslin into sewing-themed wearable garments. It sounds mad, but at least a couple of high fashion designers have already set the precedence…

Maison Martin Margiela Spring-Summer 1997 collection

0inspiration_martin-margiela-1997ss-60inspiration_martin-margiela-1997ss-4

(More from Dusty Burrito blog…) How cool is that? OK, maybe not everyone’s cup of tea. But for someone who came of fashion age during the first wave of fashion deconstructionist era, yeah I would wear that.

Moschino Cheap and Chic Spring-Summer 2004

0inspiration_moschino-cnc_2004ss-2

I love the idea of wearing my sewing proudly. In this age of ready made cheap fashion it feels a bit rebellious to proudly declare oneself a home-sewist/sewer/seamstress/whatever.

Most of the muslins were made from an old linen color bed skirt, so already looks a bit like the MM dress form top. The only problem is that when I was cutting out I didn’t notice that the two sides are slightly different shades (sun fading?). So some panels are slightly darker shades than others. Oops. Will have to stew this idea for a bit longer.

In the meanwhile, I’ve also started planning the skirts I’m going to make from these skirt slopers:

0plans-skirts

But these will have to wait a bit longer. I haven’t quite figured out all the construction details yet.

Plus I don’t want my snake print dress to miss another year of Jungle January!

TNT Trench Odyssey: Part 1 Inspirations & Pattern

Leave a comment

So the trench. Well, it certainly has been long in the planning. In fact, a couple of years ago I wrote that “it has shot straight to the top of the sewing list” because of various items lost due to impractically shallow pockets of my RTW version. I’m sure you know by now to take my sewing plans with a pinch of salt: It didn’t happen then. But it most definitely is happening now.

And as we’ve already taken the scenic route, I thought I’d continue that glacial pace with piecemeal reports on the progress rather than one whopping review. Watching paint dry has never been more fun!

Inspirations & Pattern

Back in Sept 2011, I gushed about the Selfish Seamstress’ stylish renditions of the classic trench in delectable prints. If I may Mistress Selfish, here’s a preview of her fabulous results. Be sure to check out her blog for full technicolor details:

She used the ever popular but now Out-Of-Print McCall’s 5525. So I’m using the same as my starting point.

0-pattern_M5525-photos-de 0-pattern_M5525-tech-d 0-pattern_m5525-tech-e

I plan to make some tweaks because although the results look great on Selfish, the pattern envelop photos look slightly dowdy. Also, I want this to become my TNT pattern for trench – and I do intend to make more in the future. So time spent now to improve the fit will be well worth it.

The fabric I have in mind – a long in the tooth cotton twill from the stash – doesn’t have enough yardage for a full view E. Also I don’t want to emphasize my relatively wide shoulder. So I’ll probably end up combining views D & E.

One way I might be able to get view E length is to follow the example of this fabulous Louis Vuitton design from a while ago…

trench-inspire-05

I got a yellow velvet and a brown paisley cut velvet that I can use for the extension. It might make the trench less versatile. But if I’ll be making more, then maybe one with a designer touch would make my wardrobe less boring!

One detail I’m definitely changing is the sleeve. M5525 comes with one-piece sleeve. Even my high-street RTW trench has two-piece sleeve for a supposedly better fit. Surely I can’t let RTW beat a me-made in fitting standards!

Stay tuned for the next installment!

Sewing for a Tweeny niece

Leave a comment

Hmm, I seem to be suffering a post-holiday lull in my sewing. Or more precisely in my blogging.

I did finish 3 knit tops I had already cut out before going on holiday. But they were all basically wearable muslins – testing out my Knit Top Block in different sleeve variations with fabrics from my stash that I feel iffy about &  willing to sacrifice to experiments. So I’m not feeling inspired to take photos and report on them.

Instead, I’m planning on my next projects…These will have to be stuff for my 11-year-old niece before she outgrows the measurements I took!

It’s a bit crazy really – volunteering to make her clothing. She’s not yet cloth obsessed. Their household is comfortable enough that they can buy some nice clothing. There seems to be plenty of fun RTW already. She lives far far away. All of which means that what I make may not be that exciting for her or even fit well. But the fabrics & patterns have been bought. So I’m determined to get my money’s worth!

Here’s the plan:

dress-patterndress-fabric

Shortened McCall 6501 view E dress with sleeves from view A
in this black floral net with magenta lycra knit underlining/lining.

jacket-fabric jacket-pattern

Burda 9547 view A jacket
in faux suede with gold dots and golden orange lining.

skirt-pattern skirt-top-fabric

Burda 9547 view E skirt
in faux suede cut lace and golden orange lining / underlining.

I can’t decide whether to attach the bottom tier to the hem of the top tier or have each tier’s hem free floating like this:

M5920

What would you go for?

I also want to make a tunic top in the same fabric to go with the skirt that can be worn tucked in or not. But I haven’t found a pattern yet. Any suggestions?

And those of your with Tweeny daughters, do these plans scream Unhip Aunty?

I need Tweeny opnions!