all buttoned up.

I left my mirror dirty just for you.

T-Shirt weather has been slow in coming this Spring and now it appears we're skipping straight ahead to tank tops.  As much as I loathe my bare arms, I turn into this bitchy/delicate flower in the heat.  I unpacked our summer bin yesterday to turn it into our winter/sweater bin and to search out long lost summer clothes.  I found a bunch of t-shirts that I've been having a hard time letting go of.  So, armed with my new found confidence in knits, I set about seeing what I could do to alter the ones I wanted to keep but either looked like they had come from the pit stain factory (me) or were a tad too little/big (mostly little, sadly).

I put the shirt on and stood in front of the mirror with a felt pen (I used a water soluble one) and drew a line from my shoulder to the underarm seam (following my bra strap) and then another for the neck.  If you can let go of the sleeves, you're also letting go of any, er, restricting bits.  Then you can do one of two things:  If you make the shoulders wide, you can turn down the edges twice and carefully top-stitched the whole shebang, taking care not to stretch as you sew.  OR, you might cut out strips of ribbing about two-thirds the circumference of the sleeve (you'll stretch the ribbing out as you sew) and attach to the raw edges (check the seams of your favourite ribbed t-shirt for a visual how-to). 

This is my favourite way to tackle such a modification partly because it was so easy to transfer what I learned from sewing patterns out of this book to doing my own thing (and because it's cuter).  It's what I love about following patterns (however painful) initially, because regardless of the outcome, I end up learning so much.  

edited to say:

People have asked about sourcing knit ribbing, and how you go about buying it.  I think they used to make cuff ribbing in strips a bit like really fat bias tape, in sweet colours and stripes.  Has anyone else seen this?  I think this is usually only done commercially now, and the only ribbing I've managed to find comes are solid colours, woven into tubes and bought by the inch or yard off the bolt.  If you were skinny enough, you could just buy a couple of yards and pull it up over your booty to make a tube dress.  Also, if you were crazy enough. I bought some lightweight ribbing locally at the Depot and a whole lot more heavier 100% cotton, cream coloured (extremely dye-able) ribbing at Rose City Textiles.  Sewzannes.com has it online.  

happy mural's day!

When Sam was barely two he started drawing these beautiful stark faces.  They had wispy hair and wide eyes and perfectly oval heads.  He's also draw tiny little words.  Then he stopped.  I've tried all kinds of things to get him interested in some kind of art.  He would cut, but not paste.  He's paint for about a minute and then "be done".  I know it's normal and I don't want to push, but man-o-man I'm getting a little impatient.

I think it's coming around again.  Last week he woke up and wanted to make a mural (thank you Sesame Street).  We put together some thank you cards using Sarah's sweet stamps.  I've taken the word "can't" out of my vocabulary when it comes to drawing.  It was something that Lori had written about at some point, "don't ever say you can't draw something, your kids will pick up on that" (or something like that).  HELLO?!  Thank you, Lori.  It was something I heard and believed very early in my life, all the while jealously watching kids create and draw with great abandon (even if they weren't good or whatever). It was nobodies fault-- it just was.

Steph has written about this whole thing too, and I take a lot of comfort in the way she approaches creating with children.  I've been trying to draw more--  just doodle around on paper when he's around.  We broke out the pastels after a trip to Amy's where Sadie has the whole saturated colouring thing mastered.  Mostly, I get tired of drawing/building/making things for him when he claims he doesn't know how.  Usually he does and he's not the sort of kid where a little gentle cajoling can get him in the mood.  He needs peer pressure.  Hah!  And confidence.  I'm working on instilling the latter, since boring moms can't do much about the former. 

***

I just got back from the post office-- WOW!  They weren't kidding when they said that last summer's postal increases were just a precursor.  Holy Flat Rate.  Get ready to pay a lot more for online shipping.  On the upside, the new postcard stamps are pretty cute. 

Sew U Home Stretch: Before and After

Before:

I'm sitting here with Sew U Home Stretch in my lap having just read it cover-to-cover and I'm so stoked to get started on something.  I don't have a serger and have sewn knits before with my conventional machine, but with mixed results.  Everything is fine until I try to finish the edges and then it usually goes to hell.  I've spent the week sourcing stuff (ribbing mostly and FOE from Sewzannes).  I've narrowed down my start pattern to the tank top (made from the tshirt pattern), then the tshirt, THEN the hoodie (made from the raglan pattern).

After:

Project 1:  TOO BIG!!  The tank top is too big in almost every way.  I tried to rescue it by sewing in the sides and the shoulders... mmm, it's wearable but only because I made it out of cream 100% cotton rib knit, so it's completely opaque/almost sweater-like.  This was my first attempt at attaching ribbing to neck/arms, and I'm confused as to why I waited so long as it is very easy and cool looking.  The inside seams are pretty sloppy.  The ribbing came from Rose City Textiles here in Portland and the whole project cost about 6 dollars.  I'm insecure about taking a picture of me wearing it, as I prefer to delude myself into thinking it looks fine so that I'll wear it out.

Project 2: Still Too BIG.  I started a size smaller (medium) and still ended up sewing up the sides until I got it right. I cut down the sleeves to cover a botched attempts at 1. making rolled hems with my conventional machine (edges stretched and frilled out) 2. attaching FOE at hem to cover rolled hem (Paul made one of those faces that indicated if "you can't say anything nice...")  3. finally overlocking the edges and top stitching it all down (much better).  The inside seams at the sleeves are again, very sloppy.  The jersey came from Sewzannes  and is very lightweight and sweet.  It's also cheap, so the project (minus the book) cost less than 7 bucks.  I've been wearing it all day and I'm happy even though we've decided that these are not my best colours.

Project 3:  Phew.  It fits at a Medium (I might make it a size larger if I were to use heavier knit/fleece).  The only problems I had were my own-dumb-sewing and even so, the whole thing came together in an afternoon.  The jersey is from ages ago and the ribbing is the same stuff from the tank top.  The whole thing with zipper cost about 12 dollars.  I've been wearing this one a lot and I still like it, but the difference between the two (one being a real pattern and one being a fake one) is pretty profound.  And my interior seams are quite nice.

So.  Honestly, I'm still having some problems with hemming but I think I need to be patient and troubleshoot more thoroughly.  The book is so good.  It's not just the 3 patterns, it's that the 18 variations on those patterns are very different from each other and of those, I would consider making a whole bunch of them (minus the flashdance top.  And maybe the peasant thing).  I know that there is some frustration with the sizing only going up to a Large (Amy listed the measurements here) but I'm going to go out on a limb and say that the basic patterns would be fairly simple to make bigger-- especially if you own a sleeve/neck curve, which the book recommends you have anyway.  Simplicity manufactures the patterns for the book and also publishes Wendy's individual patterns which are printed up to size 22.  The only other issue I'm having is taking pictures when it's all said and done.  Do you see that dorky far away look?  I was trying to stare down some hoodlums walking by.  Hannah where are you???  We need to keep you on some sort of photographic retainer.