Still at work on the kitties over here. The stripey one looks kind of funny with his middle missing, but that's today's job. The rest of him needs more work as well, but it's getting there, slowly.
But even when I'm drawing, I'm thinking about sewing, which is the thing I'm crazy about right now. I'm all set to make these pants out of a linen blend fabric from my stash:
They're just slouchy things for summer, and this pattern is from the Burda magazine from 02/2007. Here's the schematic, for anyone interested. They have pleats, a fly zipper and wider legs. I thought that would be easier to fit than skinny leg capris.
I also scored a cool Vogue Paris Original pattern off eBay. It's a vintage Claude Montana, who I think did some of the best suits around in his day. I think this one is a classic.
Both the dress and coat have interesting features. While I don't know if I'll ever construct these garments, although I'd like to, I gain a lot just by studying patterns.
Hope you're having a great day!
Yay, my blouse is done, and I'm happy with how it came out, considering how long it's been since I've sewn any clothes. The pattern is Vogue 7906, which has five different views, the other ones with long sleeves. I like it well enough to try one of the long sleeved versions.
The blouse was made with "sea island cotton" from my stash, and this fabric is pretty unforgiving as far as needle and pin holes left from picking out threads. In this more fitted garment, I also think it shows folds and wrinkles in places that might have been worked out if I had done a muslin beforehand. (Muslins for me are kind of like gauge swatches in knitting; I'll do them if I think I'll really mess up, but otherwise . . . ) Anyway, I'm happy I used the cotton for this project, because it's what I intended to use it for. Here's the back:
And the front again:
And here are the button loops that consumed me in the last post. For my money, they turned out well. I also learned how to use a really cool feature on my sewing machine, the button sewer on-er. It was really easy! I thought it would take less time to sew the buttons on than to read the manual and learn how to do it, but it didn't--the machine sews much faster, stronger and more accurate buttons than I ever could.
This project was not without its "doh!" moments. For example, I couldn't figure out where the buttons should go, since they weren't marked on the button band, so I kind of eyeballed it. It did not occur to me to make sure to line up the two sides before starting to sew the buttons on. The buttons were beautifully sewn, but the two sides didn't completely match when they came together, not so much that I had to snip all the buttons off, but still . . . Anyway, it's an encouraging outcome for me, and I look forward to sewing something else and looking through patterns. I'll be working from my stash, so that will dictate what is to come.
I'm still working on the kitten drawing and have moved on to the darker one now. Today I got most of the work on the head done, except the eyes and nose, which were done earlier, and will keep going on the body next. He looks a little weird with just the head floating there, but this will change soon enough. Then I'll have to come up with some suggestion of a basket for them and a background. I think these two guys are so cute. The tiger striped fur of the darker cat will keep things interesting.When I'm not drawing, I've been sewing. I'm working on the cotton blouse mentioned in the last post that is an "Easy Vogue" pattern; however, it's not all that easy for me. It's a sleeveless blouse, so there aren't any sleeves to deal with, but an odd neckline, facings, and button bands all make it challenging for this rusty sewer. I'm worried about the size I chose being too small. I do enjoy it just for the process, though, and said when I started that it's okay if it doesn't end up fitting, I will have learned something along the way--but it sure would be nice if it did!
My mom taught me to sew when I was young, and I still remember sitting on her lap as she showed me how to use the old green Singer that weighed a ton. As a teenager I would tackle projects that I didn't know were hard, like a ruffled sundress or a pleated skirt, and they would turn out fine for the most part.
I love fabric stores. It's the way they smell, I think, and all the possibilities of finding something wonderful. Libraries have the same effect on me, but not "new book" bookstores, or clothes stores for that matter. Anyway, I was in Joann's yesterday and found two new patterns, on sale of course:
I got this one because I want to try sewing knits, and the other one because I liked both the pants and the skirt. I've already read up on them on Pattern Review, and I know there are some errors in the skirt pattern, which I've corrected on the pattern sheet in my copy. We'll see how it goes!
Today I get to share a really useful technique for those of you who sew, and that's how to make button loops or spaghetti straps. I just learned this and have to share in case anyone out there is looking for a solution.
I've always avoided spaghetti straps and button loops because I never could get the darned things turned. Most instructions tell you to thread a needle, attach it to one end, and work it through backwards with the eye first, "turning the fabric as you go." Well, for me, the result was lots of cursing but no turned button loop. I also know of devices called loop turners, and I have one but have never gotten it to work for me. So in the past I just gave up in frustration and either made them with the stitching on the outside, or else just didn't make things requiring spaghetti straps or button loops.
Until now. I'm sewing a blouse and it calls for 7 button loops for the front closure, and I really wanted them to look nice, so I thought I'd give it another try. After about an hour of no success turning this long, tiny thing, my husband came home and we both worked on it. He's a techie type and came up with the perfect idea for a loop turner that he could probably patent. But I did some more searching online and found a solution so simple and brilliant I'm still amazed by it. It came from Woody on Pattern Review, but she didn't have pictures to illustrate, so I am offering this tutorial with pictures.
Here's how to do it. Cut a strip of your fabric on the bias. Mine is 1 1/2" wide but for narrow straps it doesn't have to be this wide. It can be quite long.
I sewed 1/8 inch in from the fold for mine (it depends on how wide you want your straps/loops). I used a narrow zig zag stitch and stretched the fabric towards me as I went. I think this will make the loops stronger and less likely for the thread to break on the finished strap--I got this bit from the Sewing Divas' blog.
Trim the seam. I trimmed mine about the width of the seam I just sewed (don't make it any bigger, for sure). I tapered the seam a bit towards the end just to make the feeding through process easier. 
Now for the cool part. About 1/2 inch from the end, snip the folded edge up to the stitching, making a hole into your tube.
Insert one half of a bobby pin into the end, and the other half into the hole you just cut. You might want to bend the end of the bobby pin that flips up a bit just to make it straighter and easier to get into the tube.
Then start pushing the bobby pin through. The coated ends make it easy to slide through, and once you've jiggled that first end through (unlike other methods, this should take seconds), it's smooth sailing. Really!
When I finished turning mine, I gave it a steam with my iron and stretched it a bit to plump it up (that's why you want some seam allowance inside--to give it some roundness).
There, all that frustration turned into elation! As you see, you can make incredibly small spaghetti straps using this method (and no jabbed fingers like my poor husband!).
