How Many Sizes of Gingham Can There be in One Shirt?

I had a bunch of red gingham fabrics in different sizes that I was holding onto to make a summer dress. Maybe a Myosotis or another maxi dress but nothing was working fabric & pattern wise so the fabric sat.

Then I saw this shirt online at Soft Surroundings. This isn't a trendy or fashionable site. It has comfortable clothing for women my age who want to look stylish yet comfort is a huge factor in deciding what to wear.

Since I've been on a shirt making tear and am currently looking for different versions to make, this look caught my eye. I could purchase this shirt because the site does offer plus size garments. However, why would I when I own plenty of fabric to duplicate it?

Since I'm taking creative journeys now the challenge of duplicating it really appealed to me. Working out all of the details, choosing fabrics, buttons, making decisions about the construction and fabric layout is way more enticing to me than loading it into a cart and purchasing it.

Supply List ~
1 yard of 1" red/white gingham fabric from StyleMaker Fabrics
1.5 yards of 1/4" red/white gingham fabric from Fabric Mart
1.5 yards of 2" red/white gingham fabric from fabric.com
13 - 5/8" white buttons from the button collection

Pattern ~
I combined a couple of patterns to start this shirt's journey.  Vogue 8772's front pattern piece was used for the front. OOP Vogue 7700 yoke and back pattern pieces were used for the back piece. The sleeves and cuffs are from my TNT shirt pattern especially since I chose to make them longer without the roll up cuffs.

Cutting and Construction ~
Choosing how to place the fabrics and cut them out are what determines how and if this shirt works. While the inspiration shirt only uses two different types of plaids, I decided I wanted all of the red/white gingham fabrics I had to work in this garment. That meant taking my time to work out placement.

My first thought was to make it exactly like the shirt. So one front and back each of the larger and medium sized gingham. Sleeves from the larger sized gingham and collar, undercollar, front band and cuff from the smaller gingham cut on the bias.

Here are photos from the first arrangements...

Just ignore the junky sewing cave in the background

I was too lazy to stage this shot...

The back as I originally envisioned it...didn't work for me

After this I got discouraged. But isn't that the way it always is in the middle of a challenging project?  Whenever you're stepping out and going your own way...you do start to wonder what the heck? Changing out that back piece and making a couple other changes, got me to the finished shirt. 

BTW, I wasted quite a bit of fabric making this shirt. I cut the sleeves twice...once from the largest gingham and again from the smaller gingham. It wasn't my intent but as I worked with the elements of the shirt, I kept changing things until they worked to me...so fabric waste.

A Few Photos ~

I honestly went back and forth a couple of times on whether I liked this shirt while I was making it. But it is me...definitely me and by the time I was done I knew it would work for me.

This is one of those I had some fabric, I choose some patterns (not worried about whether they were current or not) and made a shirt that I wanted to make. This is my sewing now because this is how I dress daily. A shirt, a pair of jeans and when it's colder a cardigan, sweatshirt or hoodie to go over everything. I'm finally content with my wardrobe.


...as always more later!

Style Sew Me Madison Cardigan

In my continuing quest to have different cardigans and toppers, I've wanted a Madison Cardigan (Style Sew Me Patterns) by Eryn since it first came out.  But y'all know my rules, no PDF Patterns and no patterns that aren't graded up to my size.  While Eryn originally offered this cardigan as a PDF pattern with larger sizes, the minute she started to sell them as paper patterns, I was on that!

...then the pattern sat. Cause with all things, I can buy it faster than I can make it! However, now that the temps are changing, this will be a great sweater jacket for this season.

Supplies ~
3 yards of polyester open weave knit from Fabric Mart
1 yard of black pleather from the collection via Emmaonesock
5 yards of black pleather binding from Pacific Trimmings

Pattern Alterations ~
Sleeves:
I heard on the interwebs the sleeves are a little tight which was posted by someone slightly smaller than me. Ok alot smaller than me *LOL* but I always check sleeve width because of my bodacious biceps. 

I knew I wanted to change them up a little to make them work better for me. The cardigan has a two piece sleeve which makes it special but I will admit that at 16" wide at the biceps it was too small for my arms. Also I'm lazy and didn't want to figure out how to alter both pieces so I taped them together and made one sleeve piece.

• I proceeded to make alterations to the one sleeve piece by slashing and spreading up the center of the sleeve.  
• That gave me some more space but I wanted several more inches than that provided. 
• Then I added a 1/2 inch to either side of the sleeves body which will make the sleeve wide enough to wear a full sleeved shirt under it. 

This was my final sleeve piece ~

While it keeps the original sleeve cap shape, I've widened it to encase my arms. Now I'm not a pattern drafter and this may not be the correct way to add width to the sleeve...actually I would bet that it's better to adjust each sleeve pattern piece...but I wanted this finished sleeve...

Back Body:
I did a pivot and slide on the back piece which is supposed to be on the fold to add additional inches to my abdomen and butt area. Again while the largest size will "fit" around my body I wanted a little ease so that it would move with me.

Construction ~
This is an easy pattern to sew.  There are no funky instructions and the instruction booklet is clear cut. I LOVE that the seam allowance is printed clearly on the first sheet. It was easy to highlight so I wouldn't forget that I wasn't sewing with 5/8" seam allowances.

I changed up the order of construction where the sleeves where concerned. I sewed them in flat to insure that I hadn't altered the sleeve cap too much when making my alterations. I also added some seam tape to the shoulder seams to stabilize them - this isn't mentioned in the instructions either. Otherwise, I followed them as written.

Working with Pleather ~
My challenge came because I added pleather bias binding and used pleather for the sleeves.  This caused me to sew slower, use different feet and pressing. I don't follow "the rules" when working with pleather.

1. I pin it - making sure to pin within the the stitching line
2. Use a silk organza pressing cloth folded several times to press open seams
3. Press it with steam just on the lowest setting possible.

Two things I DO NOT do ~
   - I don't press directly on the pleather, sure way to ruin it
   - I don't remove stitching - those holes remain - so stitch purposefully.

Adding the Binding ~
I really had to think about how to add the binding without totally making it look wonky and handsewn.  After thinking it through, it became a multi-step process to add it to the cardigan. The thing I need to stress is this is a SLOW technique. If you rush this stitching it will show.

     * I added binding to the neckline area first. Making adding the binding a 2-step process.
     * First I added the binding to the back of the neckline, pinning it to the mid-point of the binding.
     * Stitched it down the center of the pleather binding.
     * Then folded the binding over and pressed it close to the edge, using a teflon foot.
     * Stitch setting was on 4 to give a looser stitch look.
     * Pressed it down using my clapper to make it as flat as possible.
     * Repeated the same process for the side and back of the cardigan.

This was not a fly by the seat of my pants sew. I thought everything out carefully before I started working on it. There were quite a few things that could have gone wrong to send this project south. The sleeves and the bias binding were the most complicated portions of this make...and I need to say this again...it was a very SLOW sewing process. Oh and I left the sleeves unhemmed.

Finally that question everyone asks when I sew with pleather.  How do you launder it?  With this one it will be washed on delicate in cold water on a very short cycle then laid out to dry.

A Few Pictures ~

I could see adding another one of these to my wardrobe in a really interesting sweater fabric.  Otherwise, I probably won't make this again - more because I own a lot of cardigans and this one is very distinctive. I got a compliment from one of the neighbors on it as we were taking pictures so I think one is enough for now. 

Would I recommend you purchasing this pattern?  
Yes definitely. I think it's important to support indie pattern designers of color especially when they make patterns in my size and PAPER patterns.  Grab a copy of yours here.  You won't be disappointed with your finished garment! Oh and this isn't a sponsored post, just a happy customer posting about a great new piece.


...as always more later!

I'm All Good

I know it's been over 20 days since I posted to my blog and about 7 or more days since I posted to Instagram...and it's because I've been working.  October has been extremely busy at my day job so I haven't been sewing. I've been sleeping, reading and watching Netflix/Amazon Prime on the weekends instead.

The last weekend of September I flew to Houston to stay with one of my bestest friends who is recovering from breast cancer. So just drips and drabs of sewing here and there.

The last shirt I worked on still needs buttons...

...and the sweater & pleather Madison Cardigan that needed the sleeve hems is still waiting to be finished.

I started another shirt...

...and I promised a friend at work a dress to use as the basis of her Halloween costume. It's been made and this weekend I will work on the fit and finishing...

So there is some sewing going on but nothing cohesive, bloggable or instagrammable.

Thank you to those of you who reached out to me. Honestly if it was something more than work, I would have posted about it on the blog. So if I disappear for a couple of weeks in the future and don't say anything - don't worry it's definitely work related. LOL!

...as always more later!

September/End of Summer Sewing

I do these end of month updates mostly to remind myself of what I've sewn and to keep track of my fabric in/out totals.  I'm late this month because I haven't felt much like sewing or doing anything sewing related...and surprisingly I'm good with that.

I accomplished my summer goals of adding more maxi dresses and a couple of maxi skirts to my wardrobe. I was thrilled that I was able to use a TNT pattern to get the maxi dresses I wanted. And my Doctor changed my medication so that by the end of the summer, the swelling I was experiencing went away, I lost a few pounds, and I was finally able to wear some of the knee length dresses I'd made in summers past.

Overall a good summer of sewing. 

Now to September totals...
I did buy fabric in September though it was my intent NOT to do so.  

I bought 24 yards of fabric from Chic Fabrics (NYC), fabric.com and Fabric Mart.

I cut out 26.5 yards of fabric so while I had 2.5 more yards out than in, my YTD totals still need some work.

Total In YTD:   289 yds
Total Out YTD: 237.25 yds

The only good thing here is that those numbers are close. At the rate I'm going I'm not sure I'm closing the gap by the end of the year. It is what it is because honestly I love fabric and I'm thrilled that I'm being much more conscious about what I purchase instead of just purchasing everything.

Garments Made...
I made four garments in September and finally shared the Mysotsis Maxi Hack that I completed in August. A garment a week works out about right especially since I spent one weekend altering a pattern and cutting out pieces for future sewing.

I've made my list of items I want to sew for the fall/winter season wth a theme - "Comfortable and Warm!" I have a couple of new patterns to use, a couple of RTW garments to knock off, and a bunch of shirts to sew! I even plan on sewing some solid color shirts...y'know some basics.

Here's what's been hanging out on my dressform...

...it's almost finished 'cause like I said earlier my sewjo is on hiatus. I do have a cut pile for when it returns so I will be ready to dive in and continue making...


...as always more later!