The itchy, see through, floppy fabric Perfect Shirt

Donna, my awesome Tuesday night student :) , chose this  shirt pattern to make for our current project together. We looked through my patterns and  this one really appealed to her. I have had it in my stash for a  while, I just hadn't gotten around to making it yet. This shirt has no buttons or zippers so again she avoids closures of any kind (The next item will have a zipper. Or buttons or anything. You can't avoid them forever, Donna! :) :) ) I liked all of the options that the pattern came with.

 I like to have made a pattern made up at least once before I teach it, to work out any issues  it may have.  So I got to making a shirt real quick before the next weeks lesson with Donna. 

I made a shirt but Donna is converting the pattern over to a nightgown. She has planned for it to be white eyelet , much longer and  flared out at the bottom. She is using the flutter sleeves for extra comfortableness.  ( Is that a word- comfortableness? Did I just make up a word?) 

I did not make a muslin with this.  I'm such a risk taker! No not really. This pattern didn't have any darts or any thing I needed to work out, so  I just fit as I sewed. I added some extra room to the front gather under the inset when I cut it out and moved the gather mark up the neckline.  I took up a lot in   the shoulders and the back seam .  That's it. 

 The fabric I found  I really like. It is flowy and very nice for spring and summer.   It was also   sooooo flip floppy when working with it.  I could not get it to stay in place when cutting , or pinning, or any of the process. 

For the inset, I used an  iron on  tear away stabilizer applied to the wrong side of the fabric,  to apply the lace.  I tried it without stabilizer on a test piece and it slip-slided all over the place. I couldn't get the lace straight. Because there are little stripes in the fabric, it is very obvious when the lace was crooked. 

Soooooo I iron on the stabilizer and stitched the vintage lace on with tiny zig zag stitches. They disappear nicely into lace. 

The lace is vintage lace collected over the years from thrift stores, yard sales, estate sales and who knows where else I got it from. I have had it forever. I use little pieces in projects here and there.  

 I tried it on after I got the sleeves basted in and was going to wear it during a lesson one morning to test it out before I finished off the seams, but I ended up tearing it off after a few minutes . It itched so bad!!!    It was insanely itchy!! There are little tiny clear threads running through the fabric which gives it a really  neat tiny shimmer in the sun.  However those little tiny clear threads are evil little imitators. Any cut edge of fabric  that touched my skin  had those little tiny threads in it. Sooooooo each seam in this shirt is either french seams or bias tape / binding covered. Every one. Not a raw edge anywhere. Even  where the bubble on the end of the sleeve attaches- all covered in binding. So my quick  little shirt which should have taken no time at all took a few days.

Inside the shirt, the seam allowances are covered in bias  tape binding.

     The edges of the neckline are in binding of the same fabric but packaged bias tape could be used in place of  it and look awesome. I pulled out some black bias tape to see if I could do it on this shirt but  the blacks were different .  :(  However, on Donna's nightgown, white bias tape will be used.  This will speed up the construction time on this a lot.

     The sleeves were super puffy on the first go round. I had added some extra room in the sleeves for my massive shoulders  and that created a some super pouf at the  top sleeve seam. I risked the itchiness and put it back on to take this  picture of the sleeves before I took them off.  Those sleeves were  costumy. I wanted a vintage feel to the shirt but sometimes too many details can look like  a costume.

      I like the bubble a the bottom of the sleeve.  I wasn't sure about it when I was making it but after wearing it a couple of times- it is very comfortable.

Here are  the sleeves getting ready to have the binding attached and some top edge  'pouf ' removed. .

      I took pictures outside this time as it is a black shirt and those haven't been showing up too well in photos inside my dark dungeon house. Here is the shirt in full sun so you can see all the details ... and right through it.

Look Dad! I am on the Internets in a see-through shirt!


When the photos loaded up on the computer I realized this shirt is see through. (My husband: Yea I noticed that, I thought you knew.  Me: Noooooooooooo I did not know it was this see through. Thanks for the heads up on that one,  honey :) )  And the majorly see through part isn't even on good stuff- like my boobs. :) :)  It highlights my stomach.  Not groovy.  In the wearings after these photos were taken, I wore a black undershirt. Problem solved. :)

This  is as glamorous as it gets, standing in the front yard, in the overgrown winter garden, in a see through shirt whilst the elderly neighbor walks his dog past.

I love this shirt. After solving the  King Henry sleeve pouf and the Itchy and Scratchy  problems it has become the Perfect Shirt.  It is extremely comfortable and  I have worn it  many times now. 

Kayla's Holiday Skirt

         Kayla made this skirt in December/ January.  We were trying to get it finished up for holiday parties but life intervened. It does that sometimes. Two  of my Saturday Girls -Nina and Kayla both made skirts.  I don't have  a picture of Nina in her skirt  for you but I will pester her until I get one :) !

           We used the First Skirt lesson, that everybody that takes lessons from me does if you want to  make clothing. I cover a lot  in that skirt lesson so when we do a pattern, it makes more sense!   We changed it up a bit : instead of using one width of 45 wide fabric, we used 2! 90 inches around! This skirt has an elastic   waist.  It also features an attached 'crinoline'. Organza  is cut to the same measurements as the skirt and then when the casing is sewn down at the top of the skirt, the crinoline is sewn into at the same time.  The crinoline is not itchy as it is just one tiny hem at the bottom. I put in the crinoline hem for the girls-  organza can be slippery but everything else was sewn by them!

      Kayla  is my girl for really taking a pattern and making it her own. I love it.  I present the idea and the plan and she takes it and runs with it. Some times I have to rein her back in just a tiny bit so that we have some chance of completing the item in this lifetime. :) :)   For this skirt she added pockets AND a ruffle at the bottom. And it looks awesome!

      The incredible  amount of  fabric ( 90 inches around! )  is pulled up by the elastic at the waist. This along with the crinoline gives the skirt a bit of pouf without  looking like a square dance costume. Perfect for middle school holiday parties!

      When Nina put in the elastic she was shaking her head at me.  She did not see how 90 inches was going to fit her little skinny mini waist. She was sure  it wasn't going to fit her and I had to tell her over and over told her to trust me, it will fit. When we got the elastic and I had her try it on she was so funny. Oh, it does fit!!

        Kayla did an amazing job at this skirt!  It took a bit of patience there at the end because each step took a while to complete.  Hemming  150 inches of ruffle takes a lot of patience!! Ruffling it and attaching  it takes even more! She hung in there and got it done.  

 Great Job Kayla!!! :) :) 

Molly's Birthday Dress

My niece  Molly will be one year old this month!  I made her a birthday dress & coat.

 I used a Simplicity re-issue 2629 from 1948. I made the little dress in the upper right corner of the pattern envelope and the pink  jacket  pictured under that to go over it. 

  

I followed the pattern  except I cut the dress much shorter. Molly is crawling a lot and I didn't want the dress to be so long that it caught up under her knees and could hinder her crawling . Babies get very annoyed by that! I added pin tucks by the bottom hem.  I also added a lining to the inside of the coat .  The lining makes it much more comfortable to wear and much easier to get on and a wiggly baby! :)
Here she is in the dress:

I embroidered little bunnies onto the dress & jacket. 

 The instructions for the bunnies are in  Sew Cute Couture. This book is lovely to look  at but I doubt I will ever do any of the smocking in the book.  Seems very   time consuming. I love some of the embroidered embellishments  in the book. It uses buttons and embroidery and they are all adorable.  The simplicity pattern came with a pretty floral design but I  liked the bunnies better. The bunnies are boullion knots with lazy daisies for ears.  I love these bunnies for a baby item, even better as it is near Easter!

Those were the tiniest buttons I have ever sewn onto anything. 

The pintucks were very time consuming as they needed to be just perfect to look right.
I love the tiny lace on the sleeves.  I bought the tiniest lace I could find. 

Here is the little jacket over the dress.

Some of the purple fabric marker is still  visible around the bunnies.
I marked lines on the fabric so the bunnies were evenly spaced  and level. 

The lining was not attached yet. 

The entire lining was  hand sewn in. I didn't want any stitch lines visible on the outside. 

The sleeves are pinned up and ready to be hand sewn in. 

I put a little label in the jacket  & the dress.
It has the year on it so it can be dated in later years. I am going to try to
 put labels in everything I make from now on. 

Inside out front

Inside out back 

Molly was getting sleepy as it was near bedtime.

I was very happy the little coat fit her perfectly! I made the 12 month size and  hoped for the best.

 Molly loved the coat hanger  best of all. 

Sleepy baby. 

When it warms up a bit, I am going to take more pictures of Moly in her dress and then turn them to black & white. If I print them on super glossy paper and rough the up a touch, they will look like 1948 prints ! :) :)

Saturday Girls

 Today was a wonderful day! Today is Saturday and I teach 5 girls throughout the day starting at 9, ending at 4:30.  Today all the girls remembered all of their stuff, sewed slowly and carefully and had fun! I love days like this! 

I am so proud of them, I took pictures today to show off thier creations

At 9 am each Saturday Kayla comes  dancing in the door.  She is so much fun to start the day out with. She makes sure I am awake! She finished her  apron today! Kayla did such a wonderful job of stitching the bias tape onto the edges of the apron

See me in the reflection of the mirror? I am waving at you! :) 

 Kayla added buttons onto the top part of her apron for embellishment. We had planned a pocket but  she changed her mind and just wanted to add  buttons.

 See me again? Behind Kayla?

Izzy is next at 10:30. Today we covered her sewing notebook. I am having each girl keep  a sewing notebook. I write in it each week what we did, homework and our plan for next time. It helps to keep them ( and me! )  on track with what we are doing. We use a plain black & white composition notebook and cover it with a  fabric of their choice.  It is a great one hour project  and they love to use it each week.

Izzy is cutting out her interfacing. 

Izzy chose a piece of leftover fabric from my daughter's  bedroom valances.  I keep all fabric scraps. :)  They are great for projects like this that don't need too much fabric.
Izzy did a fantastic job of hemming the inside  pieces and slowly stitching around the entire  cover!

The outside of her notebook

The inside cover of her notebook. 

Nine is at 12. I am so proud of Nina today!!! But look at these photos- Nina  is even more proud of herself. Look at her smile!  This is the practice version  we made to test out a pattern for a summer dress. We made a shirt first just to check for fit. 

Nina really used her sewing skills on this one-  gathering,  a nice hem, creating straps- she did it all herself! I did put in the zipper for her, we haven't covered those yet.  She will shop for fabric for her dress this next two weeks and we then  start on her  dream version. 

We had 10 minutes left in lesson and she decided that the shirt just needed something. So we looked in my ribbon  box and she found a ribbon that she liked and  we added it where the bodice connects to the lower part of the shirt. She is also going to add buttons where the straps meet the top of the bodice.
I just love how  confident she looks! She is so happy with her work and she should be!

 That smile is fantastic! She is so proud of what she made!

Tori is at 2. She is working on her Pajama pants. Here she is cutting the material. We have already made the muslin version, tested it for fit, altered the pattern to make those adjustments and are on on the real thing. I love the fabrics she chose. She is  doing a black & orange zebra print on one leg and black on the other leg.  They are going to be awesome!!!

I did get a picture of Tori smiling but she would not want me to post it here-  I caught her mid laugh so.... not the most flattering angle! :)  So you get serious Tori face as she is  cutting out her fabric. 

Haley comes to lesson at 3:30. Haley is finishing up her circle skirt.  She is my last lesson  of the day and such a sweet girl- I really enjoy teaching her.  :)

Haley learned the  lesson of wash your fabric before you make your item with this skirt . She found a lovely fabric with small flowers on it, washed the fabric and the flowers disappeared!! She still wanted to use it for the skirt,  so we did but  it is good that the fading happened before she made the skirt. 

Haley put in a lovely half inch double fold hem on her circle skirt. 

The front of her skirt

The back of her skirt. 

The skirt isn't totally finished. We just need to finish off the button flaps and stitch down the waistband.

I told her to please tell her dad that I did not plan  for this skirt to be this short! :) :)  She wanted it this way . She promised me to wear leggings underneath :) !

this week

I love to see in progress photos on other sewing blogs. So I thought  I would put one.
I took  pictures of my sewing room as it pretty much has everything  out that I am working on :

  Mid picture is a chair with leftover bits of red, blue and floral home dec fabric. I am making chair pouches for my daughters third grade class.  Those kids are tough on their pouches, I repair them sometimes but her teacher asked for new ones so as I come up with leftover fabric bits, I am  using them to make the pouches. . 

Next to the chair are green & brown cushions. Those are for my mom in laws deck benches- these cushions have taken a couple of weeks to make.  They are  100 inches long and I designed them with a  hinge  attachment in the center so they fold up very neatly as well as ties to tie them to the bench.  All that is left on those is  to put them on the benches and  then fold the ties to the right length and add velcro so she can easily take them on & off the benches. Here they are yesterday, I took them over to check over everything.

I hadn't sewn the cushion together yet,
but I did take over the top piece so I could check for tie placement. 

The cushion fits perfectly!

To the right of the cushions is  dress & coat for my niece for her birthday in march. I used a repro 1948 pattern and embroidered bunnies on the front.. I have taken TONS of pictures of these sweet little things. and will post them soon ( after her birthday- her momma might read this and I don't want her to see it yet:) )   Under that is a purse that is being made as an example for a lesson. 

My beautiful baby, my sewing machine sits on its padded stool. It is rarely off the table, but when it is, it has a cushy spot to rest. 

hmmm.  The picture is a bit grainy. sorry :) 

I finished the sewing room valance this week! Look at that thing- it is huge! 105 inches long finished.  I hand made every rose. 16 of them!   Right now the edges are pinned down  to train the trim at the bottom to stay folded where I want them to. I will have better pictures of the valance when it is completely done . Underneath the valance, I installed a traverse rod ( changed the draw from right to left, go me!)  and sometime in the next year or so I will make floor length  pinch pleat panels to go on the rod.  

To the right of the valance hanging on the door , is  the Father Christmas coat. After wearing it during the holidays, my dad had a few small adjustments he wanted me to  make: I added buttons down the front  (just for some extra oomph), I am adding belt loops ( the belt wouldn't stay up unless he tied it too tight to be comfortable ), a snap in the back to keep the hood in place (  The hood is so big that it sometimes  falls in his face :), and making a hat. Just a small round hat.  I have to get more velvet to make the hat. Somehow I thought I had more of the fabric left, like a yard & a half, but  I looked through my fabric closet ( ransacked. tossed fabrics in all directions. had the entire sewing covered in piles of fabric.) and   I couldn't find it.  So the hat is on hold until I make it back out to Joann's in greenbrier. Next week maybe. 

On the table is  sweaters and pants  that need buttons sewn back on - they belong to an older neighbor. He is a sweet man and  since his wife passed, he has had no one to sew on his buttons. He is very happy I am across the street now :) Then behind those,  there is the pattern and fabric for a pair of boxer shorts for my hubby. I am going to make them for his birthday. I am making a practice pair out of some skull fabric as a practice pair and then once he has worn them and given me feedback on how they fit   I will make a pair out of Doctor  Who fabric! 

He picked this fabric- Melting TARDIS.

No shot of my sewing room would be complete without my buddy, Sophie.  She is by my side all day long.

My devoted  sewing assistant. She keeps me safe from squirrels.

 I went to an estate sale this morning in my dream house. It is  in our neighborhood  and I walk by it weekly and   sigh.  This house is lovely  and I want it. I will never be able to buy it so  I went to the estate sale mostly just to see inside of my house  ( it should be my house). I love to go to estate sales in my neighborhood because  the lady of the house always had a sewing stash - I just have to find it.  Today they had the sewing stuff in the garage. So I was out there for a while sorting through boxes of sewing implements. Most of it junk but  I found these two mini bolts of trims- perfect for my purses! For $2 a piece!!