Saturday Night Sewing: Tiny Pocket Tank

I finally got around to sewing up this Tiny Pocket Tank from Grainline Studio. It is a beginning project with well-written directions that are easy to follow. The pattern is a digital download that you tape together with seam allowance already included. I was recently gifted a bunch of fabrics, mostly silks, and I thought this patterned and textured black silk (or some synthetic?) would work well for the tank. The fabric was a bit slippery and did not press particularly well, so I ended up omitting the tiny pocket. I love the easy fit and drape of the top. It's a great basic for summer!

PS Grainline Studio has a new online shop.

Weekend Sewing: Cotton & Silk Tunic

Here's a super quick project I sewed up today. This is a tunic from the Pretty Straight Sewing Japanese pattern book. The fabric is a sheer cotton/silk print from J. Crew that I got from Bolt a couple of weeks ago. This tunic has only two seams that I had to sew: the bottom of the sleeve, then the side. I sewed French seams to make things neat. I cut some bias strips for the neckline and then hemmed the sleeves and the bottom and I was done! This was supposed to be a dress, but I found a hole in the fabric that could not be repaired. Luckily it was toward the bottom of the garment and remedied by cutting about six inches off the bottom.

Shoes for Sale!

I've got some shoes for sale on eBay. Check them out!

Saturday Sewing Projects: Plaid Dress & Red Ikat Dress

Most of my Saturday afternoon and evening was spent sewing up these two dresses. Both patterns are from the Hooray! Japanese pattern book pictured on the left. The fabric was purchased at the spring Bolt sale. The plaid pullover sundress was a very quick project. It has French sleeves and a gathered skirt. For the bodice, the fabric is going against the grain while the skirt is going with the grain. I think it's a nice subtle detail. The red ikat dress has a deep V neck, drawstring waist and gathered sleeves at the wrists. Initially, the drawstring was at my hip and I ripped out the channel and moved it up to be closer to my waist. Both of these patterns ran very big. I took in the side seams on the plaid dress, but made no modifications to the ikat dress. It's probably too big, but I sort of like the loose fit, especially styled with pants or jeans underneath.

Weekend Sewing: Lisette Portfolio Top

I completed this Lisette Portfolio top during my long weekend since I had Friday off. I had some Cloud 9 voile that I had purchased a while back and thought this pattern would be perfect. I had previously made the dress, which I loved. The  original pattern is currently out of print, but it's been updated as the Cappuccino dress and tunic and can be found here. This sewed up pretty quickly, though the neckband took me some extra time because I didn't remember how it was constructed even with the directions. The only modification I made was to skip the button fastening in the back and make the top a pullover. This top will be a great layering piece for spring!

Weekend Sewing: Merchant & Mills Factory Dress

Here's my second Merchant & Mills project: the Factory Dress. I love the easy wearability and style of this pullover dress. Plus, it has pockets! I used a striped railroad stretch denim in indigo stripe. Staring at it too long makes me dizzy! Like the Top #64, this pattern was very easy to follow and easy to sew. I did not have to make any modifications, though I did have some issues with my pattern layout and not having enough fabric. I think I lost some yardage doing the conversion from meters to yards and didn't make the appropriate adjustments. I was able to seam a couple of pieces together to make everything work out in the end. Seaming the center front was tricky with the stripes and I had to do it a couple of times to get them to alternate between blue and white. I almost made the front pocket in a contrasting fabric but decided against that and instead used some Liberty fabric for the inseam pockets. I can't wait for some warmer weather to wear this dress!

Sunday Sewing: The Top #64

Here's my completed Top #64. The pattern is from Merchant & Mills and I purchased it online from Purl Soho. I stopped by Bolt yesterday afternoon and picked up this lightweight canvas from quilt designer Yoshiko Jinzenji. I was really drawn to the abstract shapes and lines and the muted color palette. I considered this other print from Nani Iro, but decided the Yoshiko fabric was ultimately more wearable. I cut out the fabric last night and did all the sewing today, which only took about two hours. I made a size 10–it fits me perfectly with the top more like a tunic. I made no modifications aside from having to shorten the sleeves by about three inches and using a fun contrast binding for the neck facing. The details I love: the center seaming on the front and back, the raglan sleeves, the inset pockets and how the fabric pattern on the rear sleeves mimics the back of the top (completely unintentional). I also love that this is a pullover top with no fastenings. So simple yet modern. Can't wait to try more of these patterns!

Merchant & Mills

Recently, I've seen several references online to Merchant & Mills, a British company that offers sewing patterns and kits. There's a more thorough review of their patterns on Fancy Tiger Crafts. The only question now is which patterns should I purchase?

Yay, friendly fair isle sweater is finished!

This sweater was such a fun knit! I started it last weekend and it went very quickly with the bulky Classic Elite yarn. The pattern was well-written and easy to follow. The sleeves are knit first and attached later after the body is knit in the round. The simple fair isle pattern is perfect for beginners and adds just the right amount of interest to the knitting. The fair isle on the yoke was a little more difficult to manage since it's happening across every third stitch. I may have carried too much slack in my contrasting color stitches, but I was able to tighten them up a little bit. After grafting the underarm seams, I lightly steam blocked the sweater to set the stitches. We still have some cool weather here in Portland, so this sweater will get some wear before the higher temperatures arrive. I highly recommend this project!

Knitting Projects

Back in mid-January, I started the Trestle chevron pullover from Brooklyn Tweed. I'm using Cascade Heritage sock yarn in grey and snow. I finished the bottom-front and am now combining triangles for the bottom-back. The garter stitch knitting is rather mundane though, not to mention slow going with size four needles, so when I saw this Purl Soho fair isle sweater pattern, I got pretty excited. First of all, it's knit with chunky yarn, which means I could probably finish it in a week. Second, I love the design–it's like a deconstructed fair isle, which is so utterly simple that it's brilliant. I love the colorways of the Purl Soho sweater, but for my version I decided to use Mountain Top Blackthorn in alabaster for the main color and Classic Elite Wynter in dusty teal for the contrast color. I'll be swatching and starting this project today!