Absolute Luxury

The SelfishSeamstress would be proud. I made something expensive just for me: a silk nightgown. Of course, DH has cuddling rights but actually it's just down right self indulgent.

I made this Burda 12/2008 #114 nightgown as a dress last year. At the time, I thought that I might want to make it as a nightie. Still, this silk fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics was not purchased for nightgown purposes. Actually, I bought it on a whim to make this Burda pajama set:
I thought this Burda 11/2009 #134 camisole and panties were so cute. I still do. I spent a good bit of time searching for the right lace, bought numerous samples, and never could find the "right" lace. The main problem is that I don't wear baby doll pajamas. Get REAL! I would only admire them from a distance. I haven't worn anything like this to bed since I was 3 years old, if then. I don't remember. Whenever I go looking for a fabric in my stash, I fondle this gorgeous fabric. I just never could think of anything realistic to make from it. This weekend I was playing with my stash because I was bored of working on the M5393 shorts. I was feeling self indulgent and the nightgown was the result. There is still fabric left that may show up as a top one of these days.

Now, back to shorts that I am determined to finish this week without getting into anymore stash mischief.

The Bad Boy Dress is Ready to Go

This Burda 08/09 #113 was made from a panne velvet fabric that acted like a bad boy the entire time that I was sewing. I even used a roller foot. The foot helped but the fabric was still a challenge. When I wasn't fighting the fabric, I was fighting the confusing Burda instructions. In the middle of this "exciting" experience, some thread got caught in the bobbin case. Big Bertha (my Bernina) simply refused to move along the fabric. Naturally, I thought it was the fabric, the needle or the tension. I nearly panicked. I finally tried to sew on some cotton and, of course, it didn't sew any better. I even rethreaded and didn't notice the caught thread. I didn't see it until I tried different thread as a last ditch effort before taking it to the dealer. Of course, my machine is due for her annual check-up, but not in the middle of making a dress! When I saw the problem I felt so STUPID. There were so many times that this dress almost went into the waste bin. Now that the pain and suffering has subsided I do like the dress and plan to wear it to a concert next week. After looking at the picture, I don't like the tights and shoes with it. I look too much like an old maid school m'am. (Note: I'm referring to the dowdy look. I know a number of single school teachers who look quite chic.) The major difficulty that I had with the Burda instructions were the direction for attaching the facing. I did read Dawn's blog where she just eliminated them and added stretch elastic for support. I planned to do that until I started working with the bad boy panne velvet. It just didn't hang smoothly and got bunchy and ucky looking. Sooo I went back to studying the directions for facings and, finally figured them out. At least, I think I did and was able to attach the facings. Here is the bodice before the facings are attached. There is a lining piece that is sewed right sides together to the front section and turned inside out before attaching the side fronts. I used a stretchy knit fabric that did work well. The center front section is gathered.

Here the facings are attached to the back, sleeve, and side front in the standard manner,
I sewed a piece of seam binding to the front edge to control those gathers. I would have preferred to use stretch lace but only had red and bright blue colors (ugh for this dress). I then folded the front edge level with the facings and hand stitched to the lining.

After attaching the bodice and skirt, I started to sew the casting for the elastic at the waist. Fortunately, I did a "try-on". Sewing the elastic where Burda said created a muffin top and made me look like someone from Alice in Wonderland (can't remember the character's name). Anyway, it looked ridiculous. I did remember Carolyn's wise words: just because the pattern says to do it one way doesn't mean you can't do it differently. I put the casting and elastic below the waist and on the skirt rather than the top. Yep! It's done and ready to go. The blood (from pin pricks), sweat, and tears didn't even stain it!

Since I finished this dress, I made a pair of pullon pants and the HP Sunshine top that I'll post about when I get pictures. Today I traced the pattern for a pair of shorts. It was 80 degrees and I was ready to wear them. I certainly was not in the mood to sew the wool skirt that is cut out and ready to sew. Who knows - We could have temperatures in the 30s next week! Meanwhile, I'm dreaming of Spring and Summer and all the great new patterns out there. My February Burda even came today with several tempting garments crying to be made.

Burda 08-2009-110 High Waisted Skirt

I love this skirt and love the fabric. Actually, it was easy to make. I took my time with it because I used Dawn's skirt facing tutorial and made a walking vent for the first time (much easier than I thought!). The fabric is from GorgeousFabrics and is a dream to sew and wear. I like the blue so much that I want to buy more fabric in the color (after I do some stash reduction!!). Unfortunately, I don't have anything to wear with the skirt until I finished a blouse that is currently in progress. I made the belt loops about an inch and a half lower than the pattern. The skirt seemed to look better with my short proportions. Most of what height I have is in my legs. Here's the skirt on Dolly:

In MHO, the inside of the skirt looks a lot neat than what I usually do. I wish that I had thought about matching the patterns on the lining. Oh, well - next time!

Because I happened to have some binding that matched, I bound the hem of the lining. It hangs so well that it was worth the little bit of extra effort.

I'm off to hem a t-shirt in some more wonderful fabric from Gorgeous Fabric. The t-shirt is just standard but the fabric is a lot of fun.

Progress

Sewing has been more challenging this past week. New skills just take a while to learn! Most of the sewing has been good with a few clinches. (I made sure my seam ripper was handy.)

The pockets are ready to be sewn on the Burda 02/2009 #115 jacket. I know at least one of the individuals who reviewed this pattern put the pockets on before doing the hem and facing. Burda instructions have you sew the pockets over the hem and facing. This time I decided to go with Burda so the pockets are waiting. I spent a lot of time preparing the pockets because I really want them to be exactly even and the same size. So, I used a variation of a tip from Shannon Gifford. (Note: Her courses on PatternReview are excellent.) She suggests tracing the pocket without seam allowances on cardboard. For these pockets, I used template plastic which, IMHO, is easier for tracing than cardboard. The first step is pinning the pocket pleats on the pattern:

Then, I traced the pocket and flap without seam allowances. The pattern slipped a bit with those pleats pinned so I checked and corrected the tracing. I labeled both pieces, partly because I'm scatterbrained and partly because I may use these tracings for pockets on another garment.

Then, I cut out my traced patterns and used them to iron the seam allowances over them. The ironing was easier and more accurate. I checked my accuracy by folding the pockets and flap at the center mark to make sure both sides were the same. Then, I checked the pockets and flaps to make sure they were the same size. They were! (Before making the pleats and pressing the seams, I added fusible interfacing to the top of the pockets. I do use pockets and want them to be stable.)

Here's my big clinch:

The linen I used has some lycra in it. The fabric must have slipped because the upper sleeveon one side was cut way off grain and hung crooked. I ripped and carefully pinned this sleeve so that it would hang on grain. What a pain! The difference between the upper and lower sleeve is not big so, hopefully, I can just shorten the sleeves a bit and still use the sleeve bands. Naturally, I did not have enough fabric to cut another top sleeve! After the fact, I remembered a tip that I read somewhere (can't remember where) to press fabric with a dry iron, spitz with water, and iron parallel to the selvage. I tried that with a skirt I cut out last weekend. The fabric lies so nicely. I guess I've been steaming the fabric out of shape. That won't happen again!!

The collar is ready. I really worked on it. The points are pretty good but I sure wish I could do them better. I know, from past experience, that the points can only take so much fiddling before a hole appears. I used Pam's tutorial for the collar except that I didn't have to turning tool she used. That tool is on its way to me now.

I had to read the instructions for installing the collar several times. Finally, I figured them out. The front facing is only sewed to the notch for the end of the collar before the collar is sandwiched in between.

I did pin the CB and shoulder points to check the fit first. We'll have to see how this works.

Then, I moved on to doing another collar for a shirt that I had cut out. I just had to try that collar again quickly. It was sort of like someone who comes close to drowning in a pool. They had better get right back in (assuming there is no physical damage, of course) and start swimming. Otherwise, a lifelong fear of water can occur. I certainly don't want to have a lifelong fear of pointed collars. Here's my blouse V2634, in process, that I hope to finish this weekend: