Remind me never to buy furry mohair again!

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Well, what was suppose to be fun pick-me-ups turned into a marathon slugfest. I must have finished all five of my funky-knit projects at least a couple of weeks ago. But every single one hit a snag. By the time the last one was done I was too sick of them to blog straight away. My subsequent project – another foray into pants/trousers-making – didn’t fare much better. So I have to accept that I’m in a sewing funk. And it would be better to tie up the loose ends with these unsatisfactory projects (by finish blogging them) so that I can start afresh when my sewing mojo returns.

What went wrong…

Some problems are common to all the projects, I’ll tick them off in one go:.

  1. So much unpicking urgh! To sew more accurately I had the furry sides together. But this caused velvet-like creeping despite every seams being basted first. Tape or glue wouldn’t have work with the furry surface. I had to bite the bullet & redo where it didn’t come out right.
  2. Mohair is really too itchy for me. They look so seductively soft. But like most (all?) wools, they still have scales. I have no problem so far with faux fur. But every mohair fabric I’ve tried made me twitch.
  3. f_OB 2 stitch 2My choice of stitches – flatlocked seams & overlocked hem – didn’t work as well on this fabric as it did with the felted Teal + Brown Floral Print Reversible Moto Jacket. Even though this fabric doesn’t really fray much, the cut edges nonetheless have little thread-bits that look untidy. It didn’t help that I chose a less dense stitch setting to so the seams would look more in keeping with the tweedy look of the black side. I can only count my blessing that the untidy edges are somewhat obscured by fuzz on the orange side, & kind of works with the rustic feel of the tweedy black side.
  4. I made many design miscalculations & construction mistakes which I’ll detail in the project posts.
  5. Notions that didn’t work out. Machine that conspired. Cack-handed manual sewing. etc etc.

All in all it felt as if Mercury was retrograding. I can’t tell if the Universe was telling me to take a break from sewing or challenging me to persevere. I persevered, as despite these challenges I still feel like sewing is the only thing I’m somewhat good at nowadays.

Tips & lessons learnt…

Flatlock seams

f_OB 2 stitch 1I didn’t show-n-tell the flatlock seam last time I used it, so here’s a WIP shot showing how it works (for those of you who finds it scary-looking like I did before I tried):  Once stitched on the overlocker, gently pull the two fabric layers apart at the seam. If one layer of seam allowance won’t pull flat (folds onto itself), gently tease it flat with a large blunt stick like a plastic sweater knit needle. For these two-sided projects, I flatlocked with the orange sides together (black side out) with orange threads in the needle & lower looper & black thread in the upper looper. Once stitched, the top black side has black stitching & the bottom black side has orange stitching. But once pulled apart, the orange stitching is pulled into the orange side.

Unpicking Flatlock & Overlock stitches

As I had to do a lot of these, thank God there is an easy way to do this. For the 3-thread flatlock seams I clip & pull the lower looper thread which sits at the cut edge of the seam allowance. Then the longer needle & upper looper threads come away easily as continuous threads. For the 3-thread overlock hems I clip & pull the needle thread which is short horizontal stitches away from the cut edge of the seam allowance. Then the upper & lower looper threads come away easily as continuous threads. Sometimes I have to do the clipping at more frequent intervals to be able to pull them out more easily – eg every 2-3″.overlocker-stitches-unpick-1

Putting a twin-pull zip slider on a nylon coil tapef_OB 2 notion-3

This goes on more smoothly if you align the slider to the tape correctly. The YKK twin-pull reversible slider (#5043) from Quest Outfitters that I used actually has two different inner sides to the slider – a flat side & a ridged side. I didn’t notice this initially, so tried to put the slider onto the tape any old way & couldn’t pull the slider on. Once I noticed this subtle difference it made sense to match the ridged side of the slider to the right side of the coil tape – ie the side with the protruding visible coil – and the flat side of the slider to the flatter wrong side of the coil tape. And presto, the slider goes on like duck to water!

Can’t do without…flatbed sewing set-up

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I notice a lot of sewing bloggers I follow have very simple machine-on-table sewing set-up. Many are advanced sewers. Which leaves me thinking maybe my sewing skill just ain’t up to scratch. You see, I can’t seem to sew straight if I don’t have a flatbed set-up – ie large surface around the machine that is the same level as the machine sewing surface.

setup_flat-bed-sewing For my sewing machine, I got a sewing cabinet which has adjustable platform for flatbed & free-arm sewing, as well as hiding the machine away when not in use. For my overlocker I’ve had to improvise with stacks of books for now as there isn’t space for more sewing cabinet!

But now there’s a chance that we might move abroad because of MR’s work, I’m considering getting portable flatbed extension tables. There’s a couple that I’m drooling over…

Sew Steady “Wish Table” Portable Sewing Machine Extension

Shame this one isn’t adjustable for different machine shapes like this one below…

What about you? Do you love flatbed sewing or managed to do without just fine?

And a couple more distractions…

  1. I finally change Q’s feet so she won’t run away from me as I stick pins into her while draping / fitting. I’ve had to replace all four castor wheels as the new ones with locks aren’t the same height as the old ones.
  2. My pattern-drafting / cutting tool drawer was getting a bit unwieldy. So I finally got a couple of cutlery drawer inserts to keep things in place. Sadly the inserts are a bit chunky & not adjustable, so there now less room for stuff. But at least I can find the bits I need when I need them…for now.

OK, better get back to my furry projects. I could really do with some of those surgical masks that everyone in the Far East wear. I’m choking on the fine mohair bits flying everywhere as I cut & sew!

Brooding & Plotting my way back to SWAP F/W 2014

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Grieving is difficult. I was hoping refashioning my Mom’s clothing would help. It didn’t. Because the longest amount of time I spent with her in recent decades was when she got sick. The sad images keep intruding. So I’m switching tack & going back to fabrics & projects that were in the queue before she got sick.

I need some cheering up. This funky double-sided sweater knit from my SWAP Fall/Winter 2014 plan looks like just the trick. It’s furry orange mohair on one side & blended black acrylic/nylon on the other side. My SWAP Fall/Winter 2014 plan of course went totally off track. Despite going as far as gathering all the notions into project specific sandwich bags, only 3 of the 29 items planned saw the light of day. Time to rectify that.

The Plan Revisited

My original plan for this lovely from NY Elegant Fabrics was a reversible wrap skirt + reversible jacket of some kind…

batch 1 inspirations
batch 1 designs

Despite some reservation about the visual appeal & practicality of a furry skirt, that is going ahead. Nothing ventured nothing gained! The jacket however is morphing. Vogue 9037 has been ruled out because I can’t figure out a way to make it reversible thanks to the pleats. Burda Special A/W 2012 seems safe. But maybe TOO safe. I settled on Burda 2015-10-109 sweater after tweaking & testing the fit with a wearable muslin. And while testing the fabric layout, I managed to squeeze in a Burda 2013-11-117 Jacket as well as a hat & mitten out of the 2-1/2 yard fabric! There’s still a couple of largish scraps left, but let’s not be too greedy now!

Burda 2015-10-109 sweater muslin 1
Burda 2015-10-109 sweater muslin 2
Squeezing in Burda 2013-11-117 jacket

 

The skirt, sweater, jacket I plan to make reversible because I can’t pick a side I like best. This of course complicates the pattern & sewing. Even with the ready-made sweater & jacket patterns I had to slow down & work out tweaks needed to get two good sides without doubling up the layers. By the time I got to the hat & mitten I was out of brain juice. So these will be one-sided & I’m think furry side inside for warmth.

Reversible Zipper Sourcing Woes

The change in plan also complicates the sourcing of notions needed. Reversible zipper options are very limited for the home sewer. Most are chunky zips with flip-over sliders. The twin-pull slider that’s used in RTW is virtually nonexistent. When the plan only required one zipper for the skirt, I managed to score a size 3 custom Lampo flip-over reversible zipper from Botani Trimmings in NYC. But now I need 4 – FOUR – reversible zippers.

After much searching I found some UK merchants who carry relatively dainty twin-pull reversible zip sliders…

But as I wanted somewhat matching zips for all three garments, I caved in & sourced my size 3 & 5 twin-pull reversible zippers from Quest Outfitters in the US. I had wanted to buy more local. But let’s face it, consumers in the US are just much better catered for thanks to economy of scale across a single language economy. It’s much more feasible to target niche markets when you have a bigger population that speaks the same language. The cost in the EU would be much higher even without the sky-high sales/VAT tax. Setting up & running multi-lingual & currency sites would cost merchants more. Sigh. The only downsides to ordering from the US is that postage cost way more than the products & it takes a while to arrive. Fingers crossed I won’t be slapped with a big customs & admin fee on top.

Progress so far

It’s been a while since my last reversible garment. So construction is very very slow as I need to figure out how much seam allowance to add where. I’m mostly working with 1/8″ seam allowances which is nerve-wrecking. The fluffiness of the fabric & flimsiness of my tissue paper patterns don’t help. I end up tracing out the pattern first with my current favourite marking tool – Clover Chaco chalk pen before cutting the pieces. The edges that need stablising have Vilene Bias Tape folded lengthwise in half & basted to the edge. The folding is because I’ll be using 1/4″ flatlock seams, so need the tape to be skinnier. Cutting in half would ruin the stablising chain stitch in the middle of the tape.

skirt step 1
sweater step 1
jacket step 1
hat & mitten step 1

Next up, testing the stitches.

2-piece ‘Jumpsuit’ (Halter Top & Style Arc Antoinette Trousers)

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The hissy two-part shimmering black snake finally hatched. I tried really hard to get her to this year’s Jungle January Party, but Brain Freeze said No. It didn’t help that I picked two styles of garment that I haven’t tried before. And even she’s made with my Mom’s Kabuki sized top & skirt, there still wasn’t enough fabric for things to go according to plan. So neither part came out as I had hoped. But as they’re memories of Mom, I’ve styled them as best as I could & hope to wear them loads when the weather’s warmer.

Style Shots & Mug Shots

BEFORE

0-fabric-MomsTopSkirt-5b

AFTER

WORN WITH: 3 Burda 2012-05-109 lace applique top; 4 Miss Selfridge jeans; 5 McCall 6078 cowl neck top; 6 Refashioned RTW leopard skirt; 7 Refashioned Mom’s RTW tibra-ziger skirt & sash

 

The Design & Pattern

The design started with the drape of the fabric. I thought this slinky knit would be perfect for the side bow tie halter top design that has been stuck in my head like forever. I think I first saw something like this on TV, then on the high street. But now I can’t seem to find a perfect specimen to show you. The closest are these:

0-inspire-eg-10-inspire-eg-2

I was originally planning on using a floral silk Mom gave me, but I was worried that its floatiness would make the front neck gathering (& its inhabitant) too puffy. I felt safer testing the design with this limpy knit. So that’s Mom’s Kabuki top taken care of.

As for the Kabuki skirt, turning it into another shape of skirt would be too easy. And too prim & proper for me. I needed edge. Another vague idea floated up from my primordial soup of mental clippings: matching trousers for a ‘jumpsuit’ look. Ding ding! I get to try a look that I otherwise wouldn’t go near. While I admire jumpsuits on other women, I can’t square with having to strip to go to the loo. This way I get the look without the loo hassle. Plus I multiply my wearing options. Win-win!

Top:

This was draped on Q. I actually sorted the trousers pattern first. And after struggling to fit the ready-made pattern into what I thought would be enough fabrics, I was in no mood for more of the same. Only the front neckline was gathered. The back I kept sleek & went for a slight A-line at the side seams. The neckband I ended up keeping simple & made the bow tie a separate sash for extra wearing options. But now it doesn’t work so well as a bow tie for the top. Win some lose some. The tie this time was made from only one sleeve. The other sleeve was sacrificed to the trouser pockets.

Trousers:

Style Arc Antoinette Pants

 

…Chosen because it had a bit of slouch & a bit of sleek, so hopefully would fit on the unpicked skirt panels. This is the first time I tried a Style Arc. Love what bloggers like the Clothing Engineer achieved with their patterns, but was put off by the high cost & single size paper pattern format. What if I pick the wrong size? Luckily the Style Arc Etsy shop sells cheaper PDF version of the pattern in multiple sizes. While the multiple sizes are not nested – you’ll have to print out each size separately – at least you won’t have to pay & wait for another size if your first choice isn’t quite right.

I did have to tweak the fit of the trousers, but as I made mine with a knit instead of a woven, it seems pointless to list the changes in details. I may need to tweak the changes again if I make this in a woven or even a different knit. Suffice it to say I needed crouch reshaping, waistline reshaping, and shifting inseam & side-seam slightly towards the centre to get rid of major wrinkling under my bum. I also had to adapt my pencil skirt block to make a replacement waist facing that fits my body shape better. Unfortunately I forgot about the ease in the skirt block, so the trousers hang lower than I wanted.

BTW I moved the zip to the side seam because I just can’t get my head around CB zip on trousers even though I have no problem with CB zip on skirts. But it’s partly about convenience for sure. It’s easier to see what I’m doing with side zips & hooks. And as I grow stiffer with age easier to reach too. For zips that get zipped & unzipped more frequently (think loo again!), these little practical details matter!

Fabric & Notions Used

Construction Notes

  • There were a lot of making it up as I go along. Like figuring out what need to be interfaced or stablised. I think I might have overdone it with the stablisation of the armholes and crotch. The top end up being shorter than when draped originally. The trousers would have been a bit tight in the crotch if the trousers hangs an inch above my belly button as intended, but luckily (?) it hangs lower thanks to built in waist ease.
  • Unfortunately even with the trousers hanging lower than intended the length still wasn’t long enough (due to lack of fabric). I had to add length at the hems with scraps, which unfortunately were on a different grainline. Hopefully it’s not too noticeable, or if it is doesn’t look too odd.
  • All hems were faced with the skirt lining Georgette because (A) I didn’t have enough of the slinky knit, and (B) the glittery bits of the slinky knit is rather scratchy. Most were bias tapes to conserve fabric.
  • Style Arc Antoinette Trousers instruction: This was clear enough for an intermediate sewer like me. It’s a bit on the short side (like Burda), but has diagrams for the tricky bits – like the front pleats (not sure if these were added after JamieDFC’s review on Denver Sew). What still is a bit of a problem is front facing peaking out due to the weight & bulk of the pleats. So like PoldaPop I also tacked my front facing discretely in the pocket / pleat area. That’s something so easy to forget when designing or picking a design – the force of gravity. I’m sure this is not the first time garments go unintentionally lopsided because someone forgot that extra bits of fabric or embellishment also add weight to one side which needs to be balanced somewhere else if the garment is to hang as intended.
  • Sash: I didn’t have enough of the slinky knit to do double layer sash as I normally do. So one side is the skirt lining Georgette. I was worried the slinky knit will grow more than the woven Georgette cut on grain, so it was stablised with ProTRICOT fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply – chosen because of its claim that it won’t interfere with the drape. The result is softer than the other interfaced bits, but for this super limpy slinky knit the drape does stiffen a little. Still works for this sash though.

The Verdict

Because the top is shorter and the trousers hangs lower than expected, I’m a bit on the fence with this refashioning project. I mean they’re still wearable, but the slight disappointments killed any desire to jump up & down in this psuedo jumpsuit. And does it counts as refashioning when none of the original design feature or sewing were reused?

Regardless, it’s still a piece of Mom with me. But I think I need to move on & get back on track with my SWAP, or at least sew with my own fabrics. It’s quite depressing too to be constantly reminded of Mom, or her absence rather. I’m still not getting the hang of grieving yet…

Tigra-Zeber-Tiber-Zegra Skirt

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I really should be sewing right now. A two-part shimmering black snake is hissing at me from the cutting table.

Productivity here still hasn’t recovered from Plutonian shake-ups of last year. But I want to make sure the one beast I did manage to hack together doesn’t miss the Jungle January 2016 Party.

JJ2016-fabricAs I’m still grieving for Mom, this year’s Jungle January pets (and maybe others) will all be refashioning items from her closet. First up is this psychedelic purple top which is now a skirt & a sash scarf/belt. I can’t tell whether this is a Zebra or Tiger stripe. So Tigra-Zeber it is then. Or should that be Tiber-Zegra instead? Anyway, don’t Google “zebra tiger” – the first image that comes up is seriously disturbing!

Style Shots & Mug Shots

WORN WITH: Zara blouse.

WORN WITH: self-draped altered RTW top.

WORN WITH: Vogue Donna Karan 1282 top + RTW cardie from Mom.

Fabric & Notions Used

  • Mystery flocked knit top from Mom’s Closet. I can’t find any photo of her in this, but I vaguely recall it’s a top + skirt combo. She must had this for ages, as the top had all the vertical darts let out presumably to accommodate the middle-age spread. Sadly the skirt’s gone. Sadder still because it means less fabric for me to play with.
  • Lining: Skin color lightweight Power Mesh from Tissu Fabrics. These Power Mesh seem to have become my GoTo lining for knits.
  • Invisible zipper, hook & eye from the Stash.

The Design & Pattern

What design? What pattern! While I wasn’t as wantonly destructive as the contestants of The Great British Sewing Bee in my refashioning, nonetheless as there was preciously little fabric left for proper pattern-drafting, I too had to improvise as I went along. Key seams were all unpicked. I needed every millimeter I could get.

Changes Made

  • SKIRT
    • Swapped front & back. My waist shaping always nudges the back waist on skirts downward rather than stay level at the waist. So the lower front neckline of the top was better suited for my back bottom. Especially as it already comes with bum (formerly bust) shaping. Granted the darts are from the side seams. In a plain fabric I would hesitate to use such shaping for the bum – what can I say, sometimes I give in to herd mentality too. So thank god this busy print hurry your eyes away from the darts to whichever ways.
    • Widened & re-shaped neckline for waist.
    • Re-shaped side seams & hem for A-line skirt shaping as this wastes the least amount of fabric.
    • Added side invisible zipper & hook/eye at the top.
    • Added lining (using main fabric as pattern) & reused neck facing for waist facing.
  • SASH SCARF/BELT

    • Spliced each sleeves length-wise into 4 strips & joined the short ends to create 2 long pieces for double-layered sash. The sleeve caps became the shaped ends of the sash.

The Verdict

Yeah, I could have just left this purple psychedelic top as a top. But then I wouldn’t be able to sent her to the Jungle January Party.

You see, while documenting the top as is, I decided my Mom’s top deserved better than a mug shot. So I found some leopardy playmates for her…

0-fabric-MomsTop-1

I know, it’s crazy busy & not everyone’s cup of tea. I usually don’t wear so much busy prints in one go. I was trying to honour of our gracious hostess by going all out. But actually I secretly LOVE this combination. Something vaguely Italian about it.

The scarf is Mom’s too. I decided against refashioning it. Firstly there’s not enough of it. Secondly some memories should be kept as is, especially as it play nicely with others & fit perfectly into my Look Book anyway.

The skirt is another altered RTW from 2012 & it’s the best shade of leopard that’s not high on something or other. The golden yellow is the perfect match for the psychedelic purple Tigra-Zeber-Tiber-Zegra. ‘Complementary colors’ they call it right? Most yellow leopards are such dull beasts. Not this skirt.

But now that TZTZ is also a skirt they won’t play nicely together anymore. So the hunt is on. Oh, did I just find an excuse to expand my stash? Oops.