One reason to sew

Back in the day, sewing was often viewed as an economic choice - we sewed because it was a less expensive way to have the garments we needed or wanted. Today a lot of sewists feel that the economy of sewing has given way to sewing as primarily a creative outlet. The prices we pay today for quality fabrics, supplies and machines are certainly high, and correspondingly the price of ready-to-wear has fallen in many instances. But I recently received an ad from an upscale retailer that really set me to wondering.

Disclaimer:  I am not attempting to cast aspersions on this, or any, retailer. If they can command this price for this item then more power to them. Hopefully the workers actually creating these garments are paid well and treated fairly, but that’s not what I’m looking at here.

This is a popover style dress crafted from “lightweight organic linen” per the ad copy. It currently retails for $898 (US). It doesn’t appear to be lined, or have pockets. It is available in a decent range of sizes, but only in one color.

So, could we make this one less expensively?

What originally struck me when I saw this ad was how much it resembled the pattern I had just made - the About Town Popover from Pattern Emporium. Here’s a look at the line drawings of this pattern: 

Lots of choices in this pattern and its sizing is very inclusive. I think you could make a very similar dress to the RTW version above. You’d spend $15 (US) for the pattern.

As for the fabric, I’m seeing lightweight to mid-weight linen selling for about $25 to $50 per yard for a range of colors and stripes. That style of dress could most likely be made in any of the pattern sizes for 3 yards (or less).

So yes, even adding in additional costs to the home sewer - thread, interfacing, pattern printing etc. - this would be a bargain sew - with the bonus of (hopefully) a better fit for your individual body.

Where it gets trickier is sewing items from mid-range or bargain vendors for a better cost. I have yet to source Pima cotton jersey yardage for a price that would allow me to stitch basic tees for a competitive cost to RTW - I still sew some for better fit, or a certain color or style, but even non-Pima cotton yardage is getting very pricey these days. (Tariffs?)

Still, even if our cost per garment is fairly even with RTW prices, there is an area where we can do better than store bought - cost per wear. This becomes very apparent when looking at ‘fast fashion’ -these items are often so shoddily made that they can’t hope to last through multiple wears and cleanings. Even garments from mid-range retailers can fall victim to poorly sewn seams, fraying fabric, loose buttons and shrinkage the first time they’re washed. I know when I take extra care with fabric choice, preparation, seam finishes and cleaning with items I make they stay looking good through many more wearings than some of my ‘bargain’ purchases.

So, can we still say we can save money by sewing?  Or are we in it for the creativity - or both?

Sewing Blues…and a little sox

 Yes, another About Town Popover Top by Pattern Emporium. This one made in a cotton shirting - seam up the front, no facing version. I always like the sharpness of this vee finish - no worries about cutting the facing deeply enough or tiny wrinkles when it’s turned - so I like it for solids or prints that don’t mind a seam. Looking forward to wearing it when our weather swings back to warmer temps - what a crazy Spring we’ve been having here!

And to keep my blue streak going - a Style Arc Verona top sewn in a cotton voile from Mood Fabrics. This was a purchase from last Spring which languished in stash until now. I had bought some other voiles and underlined them front/back to reduce any see-through. That turned out to be over-kill for those pieces, and I spent  so much time thinking about whether to skip it for this piece that summer ended without it being made up. Spoiler alert: I skipped underlining for this top. It hasn’t been sunny enough to check out how much it shows off in bright light, but there’s always a tank top layer option if need be.

Like the last version I made of this pattern, I needed to reduce the sleeve width plus not cut them on the bias in order to fit my fabric. I think it’s apparent that the sleeves are still nicely full, and in this light fabric they drape fairly well too. And that brings me to the end of my blue period for a bit.

Sock weather is pretty much done, but it’s always a good feeling to get ahead of knitting needs. I saw this Malabrigo Sock yarn in the delicious Cereza color at  Wool & Co. and knew I needed it. It’s 100% merino, 100 g. and 440 yds per skein. I used some leftover black-ish sock yarn for heels/toes because it’s wool with added nylon and I thought it might wear better than 100% wool. The pattern is an old favorite - Blueberry Ribbed Waffle Sock, available as a free pattern on Ravelry. I’m thinking the deep red and black(ish) colors give it a bit of a Gothic Vampire look - maybe?

About Town Popover Top

 

My first experience using a Pattern Emporium pattern - About Town Popover shirt and dress. The look is casual, but a cut above the usual summer tee. There are plenty of style variations to choose from - cap sleeves, short or long  sleeves, cropped length, shirt length, dress length, front with a seam and front without center seam. Whew! There are several fit variations too - no bust darts, and two darted fronts - each sized by how much dart uptake needed. 

Sizing is determined (for the top) by your upper bust measurement and there are guidelines included for determining whether, or what size, dart is needed. In fact, at 70+ pages of instructions you’ll be hard pressed to find details that are not covered! Some sewists love this, some don’t, but even if you don’t it is arranged to make it easy to find any details you want/need to refer to. 

This top is version ‘no seam’ front with no darts - ‘tall’ cropped length, sleeves adapted to 3/4 length and bias binding instead of ‘built in’ cuffs provided for in the pattern. Everything went together smoothly and the fit was good. I had been a bit skeptical about basing my size on upper bust measurement, but it worked out fine. I did narrow the shoulders just a bit. Fabric is a soft cotton chambray. The rose color will work well with denim, other blues I have, and it looked good with the olive cargo pants I had on when I tried it on after sewing, so it should be a frequently reached for top in my warm weather wardrobe. Win!

Building Block

I’ve really been dragging my feet when it comes to getting back to sewing. Gardening, knitting, spinning, baking — anything but sewing it seems. Why the reluctance, what’s holding me back? In a word - “block”age. My tried and true shirt blocks no longer fit very well, so it’s back to the drafting board to configure something better. 

I’m not sure what the technical definition of a block is, but to me, it’s a basic, no frills pattern that has been adjusted to a comfortable, attractive fit and that can be sewn ‘as is’, or adapted to produce other styles by changing necklines, sleeves or other elements. I’ve used two Connie Crawford sloper patterns - now distributed by Islander Sewing  - CS1201, darted blouse sloper, and CS1301, shoulder princess blouse sloper. I started with the darted blouse. First I traced off one size smaller. I thought this would give me a slightly loose fit without looking oversized. Measuring my upper bust and full bust, I thought I could leave the dart uptake ‘as is’ - spoiler alert - that was not my best decision! The neckline was just a bit smaller, so that meant drafting a new collar stand. I used the instructions in Patternmaking Made Easy by Connie Crawford since the sloper pattern does not include any collar or stand. For this test garment I did not draft a collar for the stand. The pattern provides a set-in short sleeve. I lengthened it to 3/4 length, narrowed the bottom and drew a 2 inch facing for the hem opening when I realized I wanted the cut length to be close to the finished length. And this is what I ended up with:

It’s OK - wearable - but the pattern will need further tweaking before it’s ready to serve as a base for other styles. The biggest problem is the bust dart - it’s just too big. I also want to further reduce the circumference, not by a lot, but just to give it a slightly closer fit. Also, the shoulder seam could come in just a bit more. I’m hoping version 2 will be good enough to trace onto sturdier oak tag and serve as my new darted shirt block. It’s so much more fun to be able to just cut out and sew!

A Small FO

 

Some days you can handle a big, complicated project, and some days you just need a quick FO (finished object) — and sometimes a quick, fun project is anything but!

I’ve been trying to up my casual wardrobe game and a small accessory seemed to be the way to go. Do I have any scarves in my closet? Why yes, yes I do. Do I ever wear the scarves I already have? Hmmm, not so much. Does this idea make sense? Well, if you have to ask…

At any rate, the Holly Bandana by Susanne Muller was chosen, and I decided to try a new-to-me yarn to make it — Pure Silk by Knitting for Olive — 100% silk (bourette), 250m/50g ball in color “Blue Tit”. 

The pattern comes in two sizes — S for a head scarf, and M for a neck scarf. I made the smaller version, but knitted it with a slightly larger needle (a 3.25mm instead of a 3.0mm) so it probably hits somewhere between a S and a M. It’s well written and easy to follow - no complaints whatsoever about the pattern. The yarn however — to be honest, one of my least favorite knitting experiences of all time. It is not spun from long silk filaments, but rather made up of ‘waste’ fibers of silk. It has a ‘cottony’ feel, and this particular yarn is three plies of bourette silk thread. It is categorized as ‘fingering’ weight but it appears much more of a ‘lace weight’ to me. It splits at the drop of a hat, and felt rough passing through my fingers. However, it was just one ball of yarn and very useful for me to learn that it just isn’t a good choice for me - to each her own.

Here’s a closer look at the stitch pattern - a simple lace, just enough patterning to keep it interesting, but simple to memorize. 

Cherry Blossom time

 

You could get whiplash from the changing weather here lately - sunny and hot one day, snow soon after. Nonetheless, it’s time to think of Spring and I’ve been shifting into lighter warm weather projects.

This is my version of a Rowan design by Quail Studio ‘Interlace’  The pattern suggests Rowan Cotton Cashmere yarn, a blend of 85% cotton/15% cashmere - 50 g./137 yard ball (US $17.50). While this is probably a lovely yarn, I went with a different choice - Cascade Ultra Pima Fine, 100% Pima cotton - 50 g./136 yard ball (US $7.50). I love cashmere, but I’m not a fan of blending it with cotton, and let’s be honest - I was happy to spend less money on a yarn that I believed suitable to the project.

This is a simple design overall, and I didn’t change too much - except for length - I took about 2 inches off the body, and about 5 inches from the sleeve length. I also felt the sleeves were too wide for my taste, so I used the stitch count for a smaller size, which (luckily) worked out fine.

It should work well as a light cover up for warmer weather over a tank top or short sleeved tee, and coordinate with either natural colored or navy linen slacks - fabrics purchased, but still dithering about pattern choice. 

One month later…

 

…a new cardigan. This was not one of my favorite makes, more on that later, and I was glad to finish it up just in time for another round of snow. We don’t seem to be getting the worst of the current nor’easter here (knock wood), but it’s disruptive nonetheless. Why is it the shortest month of the year feels like it drags on forever  with such wretched weather?

The pattern is  Port Jacket by Ozetta (Hailey Smedley). The yarn suggested (and used) is Lettlopi by Istex, 100% Icelandic wool, 50 g/100 m. I wasn’t expecting softness from Icelandic wool, but this lot seemed really harsh and tended to stick together, making the knitting process not so pleasant. The hand did improve with a nice warm bath and the stitches settled down too. I kind of wondered if the stickiness I noticed in the yarn might have been due to it’s having been sitting around for a bit - could natural oils in the yarn have dried and perhaps hardened a bit? In any case, the moisture and gentle wool wash (Soak brand) gave it a much nicer feel when completed. 

As this is a new to me designer, I didn’t want to stray too far from her vision. So, in choosing which size to make I went with my actual bust measurement (40”) which was a size L. The pattern indicated that sizes XS - L had 12 inches of positive ease added. This seemed like more than I would want, but I went ahead and kept to size L. I think I would have been happier with one size down, as the stiffness of the yarn coupled with so much ease is more bulk than I really like. I did veer from the pattern in a couple of things. I have tried to get with the German short row love that a lot of younger designers seem to have, but nope. I’m always willing to learn a new trick for a better result, but I’m fine with my standard wraps (or the YO method used in a lot of Falkenberg makes). I also balked at using the Italian bind off for the main body - there was no way I was going to use a strand of this unplied, slightly kinked, sticky yarn in a length of 150 + inches to do a sewn bind off -I shudder to even think of it! The Italian bind off does look lovely on the sleeve cuffs though. I also chose to use handcrafted buttons instead of the recommended toggles. These were long term (25 years?) residents of my button stash, and they help to elevate the look. I don’t think the artist (Arel) is still making buttons, but they were from The Hands Work, Pecos, New Mexico.