Last Week in Patterns (28-June-2015)

It's Sunday, and we have a LOT of patterns to look through, including early Autumn releases from Simplicity and McCall's, both of which had some nice patterns. Grab a cup of coffee and a nice breakfast pastry because we're going to be here for a while.

Here's the list of the releases that we'll be covering today:

• Cake Pattern: Tidepool Collection
• Closet Case Files: Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-dress
• McCall's: Early Autumn 2015 release
• Peek-a-boo Patterns: Friday Harbor blouse and dress
• Simplicity: Early Autumn 2015 release

Cake Patterns: Tide Pool Collection, Wave 1

After a long hiatus of about a year and a half, StephC from Cake Patterns has released a new pattern collection for summer called "Tidepool". She'll be releasing this collection in two waves, and it will consist of three top patterns that can be paired with two bottom patterns, all with multiple views. She's just released the Wave 1, which consists of two shell patterns and a pattern for pants or shorts.

I'll admit that while I was turned off a bit from Cake after Steph's social media meltdown a while back, I do like a few of the patterns in the collection. Granted, I'm not sure that anyone needs three different knit shell patterns that, at first glance, all appear to be pretty similar but with different details.

Pipi Shell

Like all Cake Patterns, you'll draft/trace the Pipi Shell to your own measurements. This is a simple pattern, but I like it. Cut out backs and back details are all the rage these days, but unlike a lot of patterns I've seen along that line, this one is actually bra-friendly. I'd consider this one.

Cake - Pipi Shell

Janthina Shell

Whereas I kinda liked the Pipi shell, I'm pretty meh on the Janthina. It just reminds me too much of those tops with flounces that everyone was sewing a few years ago. Both Simplicity and HotPatterns had variations on this, and I'm just not ready for flounces to come back yet.

Cake - Jathina shell

Endeavor Trousers

These are easily my favorite pattern out of this bunch. The seaming and pocket details, while not totally original, are also something that you don't see in a lot of sewing patterns. The trouser legs are a bit wide for 5'2" me, but I suspect that's something that you can customize with this pattern, at least somewhat. And I just think that the shorts are really cute and wearable.

One thing that I'll point out is that the shorts and pant samples fit Steph very well--no weird crotch wrinkles or butt drag lines or anything. Granted, this is easier to accomplish with a wide legged trouser than, say, a pair of skinny jeans, but we've also seen plenty of pant patterns from other indies that have had insane crotches or other fitting red flags. Outside of the fact that I feel like these look too long on Steph (or that she should have been wearing different shoes), I think that many of us would be really happy to have trousers that fit like these.

Cake - Endeavor Trousers and Shorts

Closet Case Files: Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-Dress

I don't have a whole lot to say about this one. I think it's cute, but I've been hoarding jumpsuit and maxi-dress patterns for a while and have options that are fairly similar to most of the views here that I'd wear.

If you're not like me and don't hoard jumpsuit and maxi-dress patterns; however, this one does provide you with quite a few options. I do really like that Heather included both bra-friendly and non-bra-friendly views in this pattern, so that those of us who do not have the option of wearing a strapless bra aren't left out in the cold. I'll be putting this one in my "like it, but probably don't need it" pile.

Closet Case Files - Sallie Jumpsuit and Maxi-dress

McCalls: Early Fall Release 2015

Much like their early spring release about six months ago, there are quite a few patterns that really like in McCall's Early Fall release. What's interesting to me about this collection is that I've been seeing many of these looks popping up in RTW around Seattle. A valid criticism of the Big 4 is that their patterns are sometimes a step behind RTW trends, but you could walk into a department store today and buy pieces that are similar to a lot of the patterns in this collection.

Also, remember that cute brunette model with the short hair that we all liked so much from the Early Spring release? She's back, and she's still damn cute.

If you haven't already refilled your cup of coffee, now is the time to do so.

M7187: Misses' Dress with panel inset and drop-waist skirt options

I think that this dress is really cute. I like the princess seam inset/panel, and the skirt options on the drop-waist are interesting.

M7187

M7188: Misses Dress (with cup sizes)

Princess seams, a short midriff band, and a quarter circle skirt? I'm there. The styling in the sample photo is really unfortunate, but look beyond that and see what a cute, potentially flattering dress there is in the line drawings.

M7188

M7199: Knit jacket with asymmetrical zipper

I've been seeing this style of jacket all over Seattle. They're really cute on a lot of women. I was actually figuring that I'd buy the StyleArc Marie, which is relatively inexpensive in PDF form, to knock off this style, but now McCall's has put out a nearly identical version of this look. The "No provisions provided for above waist adjustment" is a little concerning, though, given that I know I'd need to FBA this.

M7199

M7192: Misses' Tops with sheer overlay

I've been seeing these blouses with the asymmetrical sheer overlays around town a lot so far this summer. I've stayed away from these patterns with the overlays on the front before because I was afraid that the fabric would hang unattractively off of my boobs, but I'm less concerned about that with this version, since the overlay fabric would be a lightweight, drapey sheer.

M7192

M7195: Misses' Woven Sweatshirts

Woven t-shirts have been huge for the past couple of summers, so it makes sense that the next step in this trend evolution would be a woven sweatshirt, right? I live in the sweatshirt capital of the world, so of course, I'm going to give this one a try.

M7195

M7203: Misses' Romper and Jumpsuit

Because I hoard but don't make romper and jumpsuit patterns. Well, to be honest, part of that is that I've been searching for a romper/jumpsuit pattern that had the following elements that previously had been difficult to find all in one pattern: button front, elastic waist, easy to FBA. This pattern checks all of those boxes. Have I finally found the pattern that I'll use to test drive this trend?

M7203

M7214: Kids' and Adults TMNT and Minion costumes

Minions! And Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles! All part of the same pattern! Eva is really into minions right now, so this pattern will be a likely contender for this year's Halloween costume.

M7211: Frozen Costumes for Dogs

Frozen costumes for dogs. I have nothing else to say about this.

M7211

Simplicity: Early Fall Release 2015

Simplicity released a small batch of patterns earlier this week (although these patterns had been appearing around JoAnns' stores for at least a week before this). As is typical with their early fall releases, this batch contained a few costume patterns that I suspect Simplicity expects to sell well for Halloween. There are also some nice basics for fall, including a jacket that I absolutely love.

Simplicity 1066: MimiG Lined Jacket

Generally, MimiG's style and my own style don't have a whole lot of overlap, but OMG, I LOVE THIS JACKET pattern! First off, it's actually a lined jacket pattern (as opposed to draft your own lining and figure things out), it includes multiple cup sizes--up to a DD in the larger range, which is what I use, it has shoulder princess seams (yay!), and I really like the optional details--you could either go with a bit of a military look or incorporate some faux leather piecing.

We know what jacket pattern I'll be making this fall, right?

Simplicity 1066 - MimiG jacket

Simplicity 1063: Misses' Knit Tops

Based on my experience with a similar HotPatterns knit top that I ended up not wearing much, I don't think that Simplicity 1063 is the best look for me, but it's an interesting pattern that incorporates some draping and a crossover in a kind of cool way. (There was also a similar BurdaStyle pattern about a year and a half ago.)

Simplicity 1063 - Misses Knit Tops

Simplicity 1061: Sew Chic lined dress and jacket

This dress is cute as heck (especially in the fabric that they chose), although it's probably not something that I would sew/wear. I suspect that we'll see lots of cute versions of this one out and around the SBC in coming months.

Simplicity 1061: Sew Chic dress

Simplicity 1095: Misses' (Dr. Who) Costumes

I don't watch Dr. Who myself, but I know plenty of people who are really into it. One of the most Seattle cars I've seen since moving here was a Fiat with a "My Other Ride is a Tardis" sticker on it. This costume is for the driver of that car.

Simplicity 1095: Misses' (Dr. Who) Costumes

Simplicity 1094 & Simplicity 1097: Girls' and Misses' Frozen Fever costumes

Were you a child in the early 80's? Did you play with Star Wars action figures? Do you also happen to remember how George Lucas would license and Kenner would sell action figures who appeared in all of ONE SHOT of the original trilogy? Like this guy--Hammerhead? (He was featured in exactly one shot of the Cantina Scene in Episode IV.)

Star Wars Hammerhead action figure

Disney/Simplicity appear to be heading down a similar route with the movie Frozen and its characters. With a true sequel somewhere on the distant horizon, Disney ran a 10-minute animated short called "Frozen Fever" before the live-action version of Cinderella a few months ago. We now have a set of women's, children's, and 18" doll costumes from Simplicity, based on the dresses that Anna and Elsa wore in that short. Has Frozen jumped the shark? And is this worse than Anna and Elsa costumes for a dog? (FWIW, my 3-year-old is currently more into Thomas the Train and minions than she is into Frozen.)

Simplicity 1094

Simplicity 1097

Final Thoughts

So when is the next McCall's sale at JoAnn's?

Scrolling through this post, I feel like a cat in a room full of laser pointers. This one! No,  I'm getting this one!

My picks for the week are the Endeavor (I actually have a voucher for a free pattern from Cake from my "house" winning a long-ago sewalong), the MimiG jacket from Simplicity, and a whole lot of the new McCall's patterns. Which are your favorites out of this bunch?

Sewing Goals 2104: 12-piece capsule wardrobe

I'm writing this post to expand on the capsule wardrobe goal that I original mentioned in my Sewing Goals 2014: Non-stash related post. To recap, about a week and a half ago, Trudy from HotPatterns sent out a promo email advertising 12 patterns that would temporarily be 20% off and could be used to build a capsule wardrobe for spring. She included example photos of the garments plus suggested patterns that could be used for each garment.

HotPatterns Spring 2014 capsule wardrobe

Usually, I like the idea of capsule or "mini" wardrobes far more than I think that said wardrobe would actually work with my lifestyle (casual office/mom-on-the-go), but this one differs to me for several reasons:

• This capsule pretty much nails how I typically dress and would include a number of garments to address holes in my current wardrobe.
• Many of the pieces are neutral, so I can start wearing them as soon as I sew them without having to wait to sew up a companion/coordinating piece.
• I already own all of the patterns on this list or have a reasonable substitute in my stash.
• I already own fabric in my stash that can be used to make every garment on this list.
• Of the 12 patterns (or my substitutes), 9 come from my Stash Candidates List.

I don't plan to sew exclusively for this capsule wardrobe until I'm finished; I'd burn out pretty quickly that way. Instead, I plan to use this list as a checklist. My goal is to get through this list of 12 garments by the end of 2014. Additionally, in some case I will be substituting a garment that is similar "in spirit" to the suggested garment out of my own personal preference.

Shall we take a closer look at the 12 garments in the capsule wardrobe list?

#	Garment	Suggested pattern	My interpretation
1	Shapely denim shirt	HP P&S Princess-seamed shirt	I'm not a fan of denim shirts--too many memories of friends working at Blockbuster in the 90's. I will substitute another neutral woven blouse for this, using either the P&S Superfantastic shirt or the Riviera Montserrat blouse, probably in white cotton shirting.
2	Slouchy striped t-shirt	HP Weekender Breton T	I just completed a semi-fitted striped t-shirt using the SBCC Tonic t-shirt pattern. I think this top nicely captures the spirit of the HP suggestion.
3	Fitted white t-shirt	HP P&S Fitted t-shirt redux	I'll either give the suggested pattern a try or will make the SBCC Tonic t-shirt pattern again using a white rayon t-shirt jersey.
4	Relaxed gray t-shirt	HP P&S Relaxed t-shirts	Most of my gray t-shirt fabric in my stash is already slated to become t-shirts for my husband. I may choose another color for this one. For the pattern, I'll either give the suggested pattern a try, or will go ahead and use the SBCC Tonic t-shirt pattern again.
5	White jeans	HP Classix Nouveau Dressy Jean	I won't do white jeans. They still scream 80's to me, and I'm not slim or young enough to wear them. For this item, I'm leaning towards swapping in a pair of HP Classix Nouveau Dolce Vita slim cut pants in a stone color or maybe black.
6	Fun color jeans or pants	Classix Nouveau Dolce Vita slim cut pants	I have a nice length of brick red stretch denim in my stash. It's still a fun color, but doesn't scream that you have to be under 30 to wear it. I'm thinking of going with either the HP Classix Nouveau Dressy Jean or the HP Weekender Boyfriend Jean for the pattern.
7	Boyfriend jeans	HP Weekender Boyfriend Jean	I have plenty of denim in my stash in varying blue dyes. I'll choose one of them to go with the suggested HP Weekender Boyfriend Jean pattern.
8	Slim denim skirt	HP P&S Slouchy Fly Front Skirt	Based on the line drawings, I think that the Cake Hummingbird skirt is probably better suited to my figure. I'll be making that in denim from my stash.
9	Fun print top or blouse	HP Classix Nouveau Scarf Shirt	I'll be using the suggested HP Classix Nouveau Scarf Shirt pattern for this garment. I haven't decided on which stash fabric to pair with it yet.
10	Solid t-shirt dress	HP P&S Relaxed t-shirts	I don't see a lengthened relaxed t-shirt being the best choice for my figure, but I get and like the idea of this entry. I think that the HP P&S Essential Shift Dress in a nice ponte knit from my stash will be a suitable replacement.
11	Black crop or moto jacket	HP Metropolitan Agostini Moto jacket or HP Riviera Blvd Cardigan Jacket	I made a version of the HP Riviera Blvd Cardigan jacket a while back and liked it, but I'm leaning towards the HP Metropolitan Agostini Moto jacket on this one. For either jacket, I'll be using a black ponte knit from my stash (thank you FabricMart). I've been wanting to make a moto jacket for a while, and the Agostini has the added benefit of paneled seams and not being double-breasted.
12	Belted gray cardigan/jacket	HP Fast & Fabulous Four Seasons Kimono Jacket	I've already started this one. I'm using the suggested HP Fast & Fabulous Four Seasons Kimono Jacket pattern and making it up in a firm wool sweater knit.

2014 Sewing Goals: Pattern Stash

I am going to blatantly rip off an idea from Lynn over at You sew, girl! and write my own post about my goals for pattern stash busting in 2014. She set stashbusting goals for herself by identifying a goal of sewing at least 10 stashed patterns and 30 pieces of stashed fabric in 2014.

I am going to do a similar thing with the following pledge:

"I, Michelle of happilycaffeinated, commit to using at least 15 patterns from the candidate pattern stash and using at least 20 pieces of stash fabric in 2014. Stash includes any fabric or patterns on hand/purchased prior to the date of this pledge, 8 Jan 2013."

If you'll recall, I wrote a post a few months ago where I was debating how best to add some focus and order to my sewing projects for 2014:

Thinking ahead to 2014: Seeking Balance

In particular, I was interested in finding a way to prioritize sewing up some of my stashed patterns that I truly wanted to sew but hadn't done so because I kept getting distracted by other projects. By using Lynn's challenge as an inspiration, I think that I should be able to accomplish my pattern stashbusting goals for the year but not feel like I'm locked into sewing only one company's patterns.

Here's how I'm planning to accomplish these goals:

• The fabric stash part is easy. I'm planning to try to shop my stash for most of my projects this year unless there's a pattern that I have in mind where I really don't have an appropriate fabric (Believe it or not, I do have a small handful of projects in mind where I don't have the right fabric. Probably not surprisingly, these projects are all either fleece pajamas or outerwear.)
• For the pattern stash part, I wanted to focus on patterns that have either been in my "to sew" queue for a while or have been and out of my queue several times. These patterns are the ones that I really want to sew but haven't gotten around to for whatever reasons. To create this focus, I created a spreadsheet of "candidate" patterns:
  

  
  

  

  2014 Pattern Stash candidates

  I won't be restricted to sewing from this list, but I will try to sew 15 of the 39 patterns on here this year. Given my sewing pace under normal circumstances, I think this is a reasonable goal that will leave me with some flexibility for new patterns and new project ideas.
  
  Also, lest you think that I have some sort of ungodly self control, note that my pattern stash is much, much larger than this list. In my early years of sewing, I hit nearly every cheapo pattern sale at JoAnn's and accumulated hundreds of Big 4 patterns, most of which will probably never be sewn, but that I can't bring myself to part with. (For some reason, I have a much easier time donating "what was I thinking" fabric than patterns.)
• My weight has fluctuated a lot over the past few years (getting pregnant, having a baby, taking off a chunk of weight, putting a little bit of that weight back on), so I've been really feeling like I need a wardrobe revamp, especially taking into account Seattle's cooler climate. I tried to put together a list of where I see the "holes" being in my current wardrobe and mapped that to the pattern stash candidates:

Stash chart 2014

 
I think that my goals/wardrobe holes line up pretty well together. This chart and my overall thought process does assume that some patterns will be made multiple times (I'm pretty good about making multiples of many of my knit top and knit dress patterns) and that there will likely be a few wadders in the group. However, I am hoping that by the end of 2014, I won't feel like I'm wearing the same 4-5 outfits all the time and will be able to mix and match things up a bit more.

You might also notice that the "stash plan" doesn't have many entries for Eva or David. The reason for this is that I'm pretty good about sewing things for Eva fairly soon within buying the pattern, so outside of a few Oliver + S patterns that were bought on sale, I don't really have a pattern stash for her yet. And I don't have much of a pattern stash for David because there aren't a whole lot of men's patterns out there, let alone patterns for larger men that don't require a ridiculous amount of grading. The first thing that I'll sew for him this will likely be the new HP men's t-shirt pattern, which I don't have in hand yet but ordered the day that it was released.

I have a few other sewing-related goals for the year, mostly related to refining certain skills and trying a few new things to step out of my comfort zone, but I'll save those for another post.

2013: Year in review in (not) sewing

Happy New Year!

I managed to sew so little last year that I wasn't planning to do a "year in review" style post, but upon reading everyone else's in the sewing blogophere, I thought that it might be worthwhile to write one of my own for personal use/reflection. Our family moved three times in four months last year, and my machines spent most of that time in storage. Given that and the fact that I have a now-highly-mobile toddler, I guess I should be happy that I got any sewing at all done!

So, without any further delay, here is what I sewed in 2013:

Breakdown by recipient

• Me - 11 projects
• My daughter - 4 projects
• My husband - 1 project

 Total number of projects: 16

I do promise to sew more for my husband this coming year! In fact, HotPatterns just released a new Men's t-shirt that will jump to the top of my sewing queue when it arrives in the mail:

Mr. HP Nice-and-easy T's

DH desperately needs some new t-shirts preferably (to me), ones that don't have sports team logos on them. I've had the Jalie men's tee pattern for a little while, but have had concerns that the Jalie men's body type is completely different from my husband's and was dreading re-drafting the pattern significantly. If the HP men's draft is similar to the women's, it will be a little more forgiving to those of us who have some extra pounds. I am really looking forward to trying this one out.

Breakdown by project type

• Knit tops -  7
• Knit dresses -3
• Leggings - 2
• Pajama sets - 2
• Handbag - 1
• Halloween costume - 1

I stuck almost entire with knits last year, which makes sense given that I focused mainly on easy, instant gratification projects with my lack of time and scattered attention.

Breakdown by pattern company

• Cake patterns - 4 patterns tried, 7 projects completed
• HotPatterns - 2 patterns tried, 3 projects completed
• McCall's - 2 patterns tried, 2 projects completed
• Jalie - 1 pattern tried, 2 projects completed
• Simplicity - 1 pattern tried, 1 project completed
• Blank Slate - 1 pattern tried, 1 project completed

Personal trends of 2013

I didn't make this decision consciously, but looking back over the past year's projects I see that I got multiple uses out of a pattern a lot more often than I used to. I'm really happy about that, given that I'm drawn to indie patterns that run a bit more expensive than the $0.99/$1.99 patterns that you pick up on sale at Hancock's and JoAnn's. I'd like to stick with this. Also, as I noted above, I stuck almost exclusively with sewing knits last year. I expect both of these trends to continue into 2014.

Highlights of 2014

Favorite project

Honestly, I think that my favorite thing that I sewed last year was my daughter's Halloween costume, which I made from a McCall's pattern. This project took forever, but I'm really happy with how it turned out:

World's cutest skunk

Most-used project

Hands-down, my most used project would be my HotPattern's "Mommy tote". This is a really great, versatile bag that can hold an awful lot of stuff:

HotPatterns Mommy Tote

Most interesting pattern tried

I loved, loved, loved the draft-your-own pattern concept that went along with the Espresso leggings, and I loved how fast and easy these were to sew. I've made two pairs so far and expect to make many more next year:

Espresso leggings + cat

New-to-me pattern company

I tried a Blank Slate download PDF pattern a few months ago and loved how the top that I made for my daughter turned out. I really like a lot of this company's designs; they're a lot more practical for an active young child than some of the other kid-oriented indie companies. I mean, ruffled sundresses and ruffled pants are cute and all, but my daughter wants to play in the mud and splash in puddles. Sundresses also just aren't practical most of the year now that we live in Seattle. In any case, the one pattern that I tried from Blank Slate was encouraging and I expect to make more from them:

Blank Slate Beachy Boatneck Tee

No wadders!

I have no idea how this happened, but I somehow avoided having a wadder all year last year. I think that this was due mainly to luck and sticking with easy knit projects, but it was still nice to not "waste" any precious sewing time or fabric. Obviously, I don't expect a repeat of this in 2014.

Finished projects: Red Velvet dress by Cake Patterns

I finished not one, but two, Red Velvet dresses a few weeks ago, but we only got around to photographing the second one this past Sunday. (As I mentioned in several earlier posts, I took part in the Red Velvet 30-minutes-a-day sewalong.) I could have blogged these separately, but since I chose to try each of the two pleating methods, I wanted to show them side-by-side for the sake of comparison.

 

Note that I made the following pattern alterations to both versions of this dress:

• 3" Deep Bust Adjustment (DBA) to add length only over the bust
• Lengthened sleeves to 3/4 length for the sake of practicality
• Shortened midriff band by 1.5" (I felt that the midriff band on my Tiramisu dress was too tall; the Red Velvet midriff is a similar height.)
• Shortened skirt by 2"
• Trimmed neckline by 1/2" depth to create a more open neckline
• Opted to self-fabric bind the neckline rather than to use the included facing
• Converted bust release pleats to darts (I didn't care for the look of the release pleats on some of the larger busted sewists who made the dress before me. Those who used darts had less of a "Look at my nipples!" effect.)
• Added the side seam pockets from my Tiramisu dress
• Opted not to use the hidden "invisible zipper" pocket

First up is the first version that I sewed, using a black-and-white ITY jersey that I purchased a while back from Fashionista Fabrics:

For this version, I used the scissor pleat option on the skirt, in both the front and back view. I remember when this pattern came out, I saw a lot of discussion online debating the wisdom of placing a giant pleat over our butts, given that most of us want to minimize bulk there. I proceeded with cautious optimism in this area, after having seen a few other women sew up the Red Velvet dress before I sewed mine up. My observation was that the pleat seemed to work okay if you used a light enough weight fabric. Dresses made up in, say, an ITY knit looked okay; dresses made up in a doubleknit generally probably would have looked better without the pleat/bulk.

Here's the pleat in the back. I don't think it's particularly noticeable, given the print of my fabric:

With my alterations, I was very happy with how my dress turned out. I can wear it to work without feeling like I need to wear a jacket or sweater over it or wearing a cami under it. Note: I feel that ITY knit is the perfect fabric for this dress. It has the perfect amount of body, stability, and drapiness without being too bulky.

For my second version, I used what was also labeled an ITY knit on the bolt. I bought this striped fabric at the Mill End Store on our trip to Portland, OR in October. Note that this fabric was a little bit thinner, WAY more slippery, and WAY more drapey than any other ITY knit that I've worked with. To be honest, it was a pain to work with. The midriff band is a black ITY jersey that I've had in my stash.

With this version, I thought that the "boxy pleat" option on the skirt might be fun with the stripes. here's the front of the dress:

Here's the back of the dress. I do think that the scissor pleat is more flattering on larger backsides like mine--it's more subtle:

 

 Overall, I'm happy with my dresses. I feel like I got two very wearable dresses out of the sewalong/project. I like the black and white one a little more, but the striped one is still cute and fun and has a totally different vibe. I could see myself make a third version of this dress if I am struck with fabric inspiration.

Completed project: Espresso leggings

Let me start this post off with a rant...  In the sewing blogosphere, I've seen a lot of sewists refer to a finished garment as a "make". I'm guessing that this is supposed to be whimsical or cutesy or something? This term is like a nails on a chalkboard to me--I cringe every time that I read it.  (No offense to anyone who loves to use this term, of course.) The inner grammar policewoman in me can't help but scream, "make" is a verb, not a noun. You "make" a skirt; a skirt is not a "make". Okay, I'll step down off of my soapbox now and tell you a bit about my latest "make", er, finished project.

Test pair of leggings - gray mystery fabric

I finished my first "good" pair of Espresso leggings from Cake patterns. In a previous post, I described how to use the template included in the pattern to draft your pattern piece. After drafting, I was able to cut and sew up my first "test" pair in about 40-45 minutes. For the test pair, I used a piece of heathered gray jersey that had been sitting in my stash for years. This fabric was leftover from another project and probably didn't have the ideal amount of stretch for this pattern (not much lycra and little to no vertical stretch).

In retrospect, this wasn't the best fabric choice for a test pair of leggings. I chose it because I wanted a pair of leggings in a dark charcoal gray color, and the fabric itself is very soft. I think that this pattern (and leggings in general) work better when you have a generous amount of lycra in the fabric mix.

I wore my test pair for a day and decided that the front rise was too high (1"), back rise was too short (1.5"), and that I needed more room in the calves, so I curved that outward by 1/2" on each side. I applied these changes to my pattern piece. Here is the original piece vs. the altered piece:

original pattern piece

altered pattern piece

For the second pair, I used a really awesome textured "active wear knit" that I purchased from Rose City Textiles when we visited Portland in October:

kitty photo bomb!

The fit is better with the second pair, but since the second fabric has more vertical stretch, I should have removed some length in some places (the front rise is still too long with these). I love this fabric, though, and learned that I probably want to stick to activewear knits (or at least knits with a lot of lycra) for future Espresso versions. (I do have a lovely piece of chocolate brown knit from the same visit to Rose City Textiles that will be used for another pair of leggings.)

While I will always be wearing these under a dress or long tunic, I'm posting pictures of the fit for the curious. Keep in mind that I'm only 5'2" and usually wear a size 18 in pants in RTW:

Espresso leggings - fit in front

Espresso leggings - fit in back

Overall, I'm very happy with this pattern--it was well worth the $8 or so that I paid when pre-ordering the pattern. These only take about 40 minutes to sew up, so you could conceivably make a pair of custom leggings to wear under every dress or skirt that you sew without adding much total time to your project.

Almost there!

Just need to sew up the side seams and hem the skirt!

Cake Red Velvet sew-along: Days 3-8

The Cake Red Velvet sewalong is going well. Honestly, I thought that participating in a sewalong would give me more material to blog, but with everything being broken down into 30-minute bite size "chunks", I don't really feel like I have a whole lot to say. The dress is almost finished now, and based on my basting of the bodice side seams to check the fit, I think it's looking pretty good unless everything goes to hell once I attach the skirt.

This has been my first formal sewalong that I've actually participated in (as opposed to signing up, getting distracted by life, and completely flaking on). It's been an eye-opening experience for me in a number of ways:

• Despite having a toddler and a husband, I absolutely can find a way to sew for 30 minutes/day on most days. On some days, I've had to get up for work 30 minutes earlier than usual to get that sewing time in, but I've made it a priority to squeeze that time in.
• When you do consistently sew for 30 minutes/day, you can get a lot done. In two weeks, I've completed or nearly completed four garments:
  • A sleep t-shirt for my husband (a Simplicity PJ pattern that I'll be reviewing)
  •  Two pairs of Espresso leggings (not yet reviewed): one "test" fair in leftover fabric and one (nearly completed) pair in good, activewear fabric
  • My first RedVelvet dress (almost complete)
• Flickr photostreams can help you make good decisions with fit and design changes. For example, the RedVelvet bodice contains a release pleat for the bust. I noticed in the Flickr photostream, as fit photos poured in, that I didn't care for how the release pleat looked on many of the fuller busted participants. Solution? As someone else suggested, I sewed the pleat into a dart. I think I'm much happier with how this looks than I would have been with the release pleat. I don't think I would have caught this had I not participated in the sewalong.
• Fitting doesn't seem like such a horrendous chore when you're not trying to cram a ton of alterations into a single weekend afternoon. 

If you've never participated in a 30-minute-a-day sewalong, here's a quick rundown of what we've done each day. I'm including the "daily point" shot description for each day, which is the picture that we upload to flickr each day so that our "house" can be awarded a progress point in the competition.

1. Gather materials (fabric, pattern, thread, scissors, etc). Point shot is a picture of your fabric, etc, in a box.
2. Trace pattern (optional). Cut out pattern and make alterations. Cut your fabric. Note: This one took me considerably longer than 30 minutes, and I didn't even trace my pattern. Point shot: Your cut pattern/fabric pieces.
3. Stabilize bodice shoulder seams. Point shot is your stabilized seams.
4. Sew your shoulder seams. Point shot is of the sewn & finished shoulder seams.
5. Complete and topstitch your neckline (facing or binding). Point shot is of your topstitching setup.
6. Sew bust pleats (or darts) and hem sleeves. Point shot is your hemmed sleeves.
7. Baste your bodice seams to check the fit. Point shot is of your iron.
8. Sew your skirt pleats. Point shot is of your basted pleats.
9. Sew your pockets and connect the bodice/midriff/skirt sections. Point shot is of your pocket.
10. Day 10 hasn't been announced yet, but I would assume that it will be to sew up your side seams and hem your dress, which completes the project. I would think/home that the point shot will be of the finished dress, but I guess we will see.

I sewed/basted the skirt pleats last night. I was afraid of the scissor pleat on my backside from the line drawing, but I think it looks fine on the "real world" models that I've seen on flickr. It drapes nicely (in the right fabric) and doesn't appear to add much bulk. My pleated skirt sections:

 

I might very well try to finish the dress tonight. At the very least, I'll finish either the dress or my second pair of Espressos, and then I'll actually have a finished project to talk about!

Cake Red Velvet sew-along: Days 1-2

Day 1

We gathered our supplies and posted to the flickr group for our "Daily Point":

You can see that I have two versions planned, both using ITY jersey. The first version will be using that abstract black-and-white cross-hatched jersey purchased from the now-closed Fashionista Fabrics, and the second will be a blue, black, and white striped jersey (the blue is difficult to see in this pic) purchased from the Mill End Store in Portland on our recent trip there.

Day 2

My cat Jasmine helped out with this part.

I did make a few pattern alterations. I'm going with a 3/4 length sleeve on this version, rather than the short sleeve. To lengthen to a 3/4 sleeve, I simply measured on my arm where I wanted the sleeve to hit, then measured my arm circumference at that point. I used a ruler to extend the sleeve portion of the two bodice pieces.

Bodice back:

 

Bodice front:

 

Note that on the bodice front, I also did a 3" Deep Bust Alteration, per the Red Velvet DBA tutorial. I opted for this alteration because measuring from my shoulder to where I want my waist seam to be was 3" longer the CF of the bodice pattern piece. This is a great trick for empire/raised waist tops and dresses when the seamline would actually land on your bust.

The one other alteration I did was to shorten the midriff band by 1.5". This is an alteration that I'm carrying over from the Tiramsu, which has a similar sized/shaped midriff band. Additionally, I'm planning to use the inseam pockets from the Tiramisu, rather than the invisible zipper pocket. This is purely do to personal preference--I prefer (and will wear more frequently) anything where I can easily access my cell phone. My Tiramisu gets a LOT of wear, partially for this reason. (That, and I love the print/stripes and get compliments whenever I wear it.) 

In summary, I'm making the following alterations/hacks to my Red Velvet:

• Lengthen sleeves to 3/4 length
• 3" DBA
• Shorten midriff band by 1.5"
•  Replace invisible zipper pocket with inseam pockets
• Shorten dress skirt by 2"
• Bind neckline (rather than use a facing). Per Steph's recommendation, I'll be trimming about 1/2" off the neckline before I bind it.

Anyway, I did get everything altered and cut out last night. Here's my Day 2 "Point"-scoring pic:

 I don't enjoy doing pattern alterations or cutting fabric. I am looking forward to the next few days where I'll actually get to start stitching my dress!

Espresso leggings: Drafting via connect-the-dots!

Yesterday was Day 2 of the Cake Patterns 30-minutes-a-day sewalong for the Red Velvet dress pattern. (More on the sewalong in upcoming posts.) Because the sewalong instructions for Day 2 weren't posted until after I had wound things down for the night, I decided to use my "30 minutes" for the day to get started on the Espresso Leggings pattern.

 

The Espresso leggings are part of the Red Velvet collection, which is a layering wardrobe built around the Red Velvet dress. The leggings are unique in that the pattern provides a template that you use to draft your own custom pattern. The results that I've seen online so far for this pattern have been very impressive.

If you're like me, you might be scratching your head a bit and wondering how complicated or difficult this would be.  I'm happy to report that drafting the leggings is pretty simple:

1. As instructed, take seven different lower body measurements (a mix of length and circumference) measurements using a tape measure.
2. Record your measurements on the chart provided in the instructions.
3. On the pattern drafting grid, find and mark the circles that correspond the intersection of your measurements. (e.g. an ankle circumference of 8" on a 26" inseam, a knee circumference of 14" located 11" below the crotch point, etc.)
   
   The following photo shows the grid, although the individual measurements are a bit difficult to make out in this pic:
   
   
4. Connect the dots between the filled in circles. Steph provides a crotch curve template for the front and back curves.
5. Trace off and cut out your finished pattern piece. (Yup, only one piece, since leggings have no side seam):
   
   

Here's the pattern piece placed on my test fabric to see the shape better:

Yes, my legs really are that short (I'm 5'2") and yes, my ankles really are that small compared to my thighs and the rest of my legs.

 

I love that these leggings only take one yard of jersey fabric (that's a 60-ish inch wide jersey folded in half in the pic above). There's also only 3 seams + waistband + ankle hems, so I should think that these should sew up in a snap. For the record, it took me 40 minutes to draft, trace, and cut these out, starting from the time that I opened the envelope.

I'll post again and comment on fit, etc, once I get them sewn up.