151. Refashion 24: Boy's Shirt from Men's Dress Shirt

This refashion has been hanging out for a few weeks, from that time when I seemed to be sewing in my sleep.  I had picked up this men's shirt from the thrift store and it immediately was one of my favorites.  Doesn't seem like much at first glance (and that poppy pink mess of a dress underneath it in the photo doesn't help, but we'll talk about that in another post), but let me tell you what I liked so much about the shirt:

• The simple windowpane weave
  
• The color
  
• The weight and hand of the fabric -- lightweight, almost sheer, and nearly-sateenish but not quite
  
• The buttons... three holed, not two or four
  

The label on the shirt reads "Liberty broadcloth", and whether it means THE Liberty brand or not, it was a very well-constructed shirt.  After I showed my 6-year-old son the cool three-holed buttons, he asked me to make something for him from the shirt.  

Can I just say that the number of interesting sewing patterns out there for boys is minimal and completely uninspired?  No big surprise, as boys' clothes off the rack are boring and uninspired much of the time.  Combined with the fact that my son has a long track record of not appreciating what I sew for him, I limit my sewing for him to Halloween, mostly.  Luckily, I had this vintage pattern in my stash.  His chest, waist, and back length measurements matched up to those on the pattern envelope exactly.

After sewing women's clothes for so long, I couldn't believe how quickly this boy's shirt went together!  The pieces are so much smaller and thus faster to sew, and I only used 3 pattern pieces: front and back bodice, and the sleeve.  I re-sized and re-used the collar, which I am not sure I would do again.  This is a very high-quality shirt and the interfacing in the collar is very stiff and sturdy.  It's not really flexible enough to be resized for a 6-year-old boy and sort of move with the new shape and dimensions of the shirt.  Also, the collar now looks a little 70's Saturday Night Fever, which I don't actually mind but it's very exaggerated on the new shirt.

The bodice falls off the shoulder by a good inch and a half, which is not how shirts are made today, but this is exactly how the illustrations look on the pattern envelope.  The thing that got me was the extra ease in the sleeve.  I tried to sew in one sleeve using the tutorial on Mary Nanna's blog, which is credited to Palmer Pletsch, and I got sleeve poof!  Sleeve poof is not in the pattern envelope illustrations, so I assumed it was operator error in trying out the Mary Nanna --> Palmer Pletsch method.  I sewed in the other sleeve using the 2-lines-of-gathering-threads technique I'm used to, and that sleeve came out poofy, too!  So I'm thinking I will need to shave a bit off the sleeve cap to eliminate the poof.  I was going to try to fix it in this shirt, but Louis wore it all day yesterday and it didn't bother either of us.  We'll go with it.

BTW, this pattern is so OOP that I don't know if I should bother doing a PR.com review -- what do you think/ do?

I still have a dress I made during my Vegas trip I haven't shared with you.  Next time....  Hope you have a great weekend!  xo

150. Fall inspiration from W Magazine 2009-06

Hello from the tropics! It seems mega-tropical by this pattern of 103 humid degrees, every single day!  There's nothing like a hot summer day to make you wish for the kind of weather you can layer in.  All other criticisms aside (GiniferGoodwinyou'readollbutidon'tbuythebadgirlimageyou'retryingonforsize), the June 2009 issue was full of the most inspirational clothing photos I've seen in a long time.  Not necessarily inspirational as in "do something about it", but inspirational as in "this is something special, way out of the ordinary, and really beautiful".  Here are a few of my faves:

Chanel, of course.  Classic, luxe.  Isn't it beautiful?  I don't like double breasted jackets but, with the lapel and scarf, and the trim, I'm sold on it.  And have you seen the Chanel ad from the same issue, with the black jacket that looks overly bedazzled in the very best way?  I'm predicting a future DIY project and tutorial for someone on the WWW.

All of these are Alexander McQueen but I can't take my eyes off the sculpted houndstooth number in the middle.  The asymmetrical neckline, the mounds of folds, the wrapped bodice... wow.  Next time you need to blend in with houndstooth wallpaper, a la Garden State, you'll know what to wear.

Ralph Lauren.  The long silk gown is so romantic and dreamy.  Paired with the silky vest and crisp, cropped blazer, it's a study in texture and contrast.  In my dreams, my hair is grown out and I'm wearing this ensemble, riding a horse at twilight through a dense, foggy forest.  (OK, that's not true at all.  But you see why I went there.  Just look at her.)

 

I totally, completely saved the best for last.  I was on the airplane flipping through this magazine a few weeks ago when I came upon this image.  Of course, in print it's much bigger.  I kid you not, the Rodarte leather jacket (left) took my breath away.  I assumed it was lack of air  pressurization in the airplane but Louis and everyone else on the plane was fine.  Yesterday I was going through the mags to rip out images to save and recycle the rest, and this jacket, again, drew air from my lungs and held me in a state of suspension for a few moments.  It is absolute and utter perfection.  All the buckles and straps look vaguely random and haphazard, but there's a lot of intent and meaning and vision.  

This image, once I catch my breath, might just inspire me to motion.

All images from Wmagazine.com.

149. Vogue 2975 (finally!): Modern Muumuu Done Right

Wish I'd kept better count of all the summer dresses I've sewn so far.  Maybe I'll re-cap at the end of summer.

I bought Vogue 2975 to make a summer dress from 2 years ago!  Never quite found the right fabric for it, or maybe I didn't have a very clear vision of what I wanted mine to look like.  No vision problems this year:  Summer 2009 is obvz going to be the summer of barely-shaped muumuus!  In Las Vegas, I got my hands on a gauzy, bright floral-printed cotton and saw the muumuu potential.  

Side note: last summer I tried my hand at McCall's 5654 and it was a total, complete muumuu.  Don't feel comfortable wearing it and I may need to refashion it into something else.  It taught me that I need some shaping in my muumuus, at least fitting at the bust and definition at the waist, even if there is tons of ease at the waist and hips.

Back to Vogue 2975... 

It met the new muumuu requirements for fitted bust and definition at waist.  Well, this dress in size 6 is fitted at the bust if you have a 33" bust.  I don't, so after I made my usual petite alterations of taking an inch from the bodice in the waist and another inch in the hip, I put the dress together and tried it on, and it gaped at the bust.  After exploring a number of options for reducing the excess fabric (pinching an inch from the front and an inch from the back, taking in the princess seams, taking a fraction of an inch from every vertical seam all around), it became clear that the excess fabric was all in the front, and, surprisingly, taking two inches from center front was the best way to go.  So, at least for this dress, I've added an extra pleat at center front.  I don't particularly like it when I stand back and look at it, but the floral is so busy that it isn't distracting or obviously bad in any way:

Funny, too, I omitted the zipper.  It still slips on over my head.  Taking it off requires a little negotiation, but not much.  Worth it to me to skip the zipper.  Also had to add some pockets.  This dress is so full that some fluffy, puffy, rounded, elasticized pockets called out to me.

I like the shape of this dress, I like wearing it, and I'd highly recommend this pattern even to beginners.  It's marked Average but that's probably a rating for the jacket.  The dress has only 5 pattern pieces but looks much more complicated.  I made this at my mom's house and she doesn't use tracing paper, so marking out the pleats took a long time -- I marked and sewed some of them incorrectly, had to unpick them, and start over.  

If I can find the right cotton I would like to make this again in a LBD version, with a pattern modification to reduce the front by 2 inches.  Hopefully this doesn't mess up the pleat placement too much.  I'll keep you posted if and when I get to that point.  :)

My review of Vogue 2975 on patternreview.com here.

148. Simplicity 2970 for my graduating girl

Louis and I are home after two weeks in Las Vegas.  What a great way to kick off summer vacation!  It was a meaningful trip for a few reasons... not sure how many of those things I will get into here on the blog, but there's one I'll share now.  My niece, Jessica, graduated from high school!  

Jessica was born my senior year of high school.  Up till then, my older sister getting quite large with baby, and I knew she was close to her due date.  About a week before her due date, my parents whisked me away to the hospital and I was told the baby was coming.  (It all seemed like magic then, like, "How do they know the baby's coming today?"  Now I know firsthand how it all works and it seems like... a different kind of magic.)

I watched with wonder as my sister groaned in agony every few minutes on the tiny bed in her private birthing room, with a variety of beeping machines attached to her.  My mother stayed at her side, smoothing my sister's hair from her face.  Everyone was so quiet, talking in hushed tones.  I vaguely remember my brother-in-law intermittently, quietly, getting styrofoam cups of chipped ice for my sister from somewhere down the hall.  

It seemed like this pattern of her groaning/ curling in fetal position and then just looking generally uncomfortable went on forever, until suddenly, the doctor came in and my dad and I were sent to the waiting area.  But I couldn't wait.  I stood outside the door and not much later heard a cry that made tears roll down my cheeks.  

The next thing I remember was going in to see my sister (exhausted) and the baby.  Her name had been picked out months before, but there was still one surprise: the thatch of bright red hair on this baby's round, healthy head.  It was her signature feature for a long time -- shocking red hair offset by dark brown eyes.  

It feels like not long ago that I heard this baby's first cry in this world.  I couldn't be more in awe of who she has become, or proud of her and her parents, who raised this beautiful, smart, confident young lady.  She likes going to the fabric store with me, and this weekend she picked out Simplicity 2970 and bright floral cotton fabric for a summer top:

This is a familiarly constructed garment for me -- similar to my beloved New Look 6239 -- and it went together in an hour or so, not including the time it took to select a size, lay out, and cut.  Unlike that big newborn baby (almost 9 lbs), the full-grown Jessica is 5'8".  (!!!!!!)  I thought at first that I might need to lengthen the bodice, but I took all the measurements and the size 16 all the way through worked well in the end.

She likes it and now that I know this pattern works for her, I will probably make a solid-color version and a jumper dress for her.  I might post a pattern review tomorrow at PR.com but tonight I shall sleep.  I'll post my other sewing projects from Las Vegas soon.  Hope you're all doing well managing into summer!