The right skirt length

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

One of my immediate wardrobe needs is two skirts: one black, one gray. I have already picked out the fabrics and made a mock-up in muslin. Now it's decision time: which length is better? The longer length looks more grown-up, the shorter looks more like me. (And what does that say about me?)

Front view:


Side view:


Back view:


For this pattern, I used the bottom part of BWOF 06/99 #125, which is originally a dress pattern. I'd made a muslin mock-up of it for the red and aubergine dresses. For the skirt, I just ripped out the empire seam. I left the zipper long because I didn't want to waste it. I put elastic around my waist and pinned the skirt to it. Because as a dress it had a lot more ease in the waist than a skirt would, I had some extra fabric to contend with.

I could take some of the ease out at the side seams or I could put elastic in the waistband. There really wasn't a good place for front darts because they would be pointing to nothing. It took me a couple of nights to come up with a solution.

You see, I have this dream about wearing skirts that have a regular straight-cut waistband, with a belt. Unfortunately, with my curvy body, it is nigh impossible to make a skirt like that. I finally came to terms with this fact a few days ago after putting on a 1 1/4" elastic and measuring the top and bottom edges separately. There was a 2" difference!!! There's no way a straight-cut waistband is ever going to look decent on me.

Soooo.... the solution is a contoured waistband or yoke. I used the yoke from BWOF 05/07 #112, cut it out in muslin, sewed up the seams, and pulled it on over the skirt. First I adjusted the yoke for proper fit, then pinned the bottom of it to the skirt. When I took it off, I traced the yoke's bottom seam line onto the skirt, took the muslin pieces apart, and made a new paper pattern, adding 2" in length to test it out. The mock-up skirt above was cut from the new pattern.

Please help me make a decision about the length by leaving a comment.

Patching the closet holes

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

I have done some serious wardrobe planning in the last few days. Do you know how much paper and ink this takes? I have several copies of the worksheet, all with various check marks, crossed-out words, highlighted sections, etc.

I have identified three major issues:

1. I only have a few favorites in my main wardrobe and I keep rotating those, neglecting the rest.
2. I have next to nothing decent for wearing around the house. This is because I usually wear the mock-ups of new knit patterns, unfinished hems and all.
   
3. I need some decent sleepwear, of the kind I wouldn't be embarrassed to take on a trip.
   

My solutions:

1. Following Jennifer Skinner's wardrobe planning approach, I identified my favorites and created outfits around them. I'm modifying it to include the weekend so I'll have 7 bottoms. Also, I'm going for three tops each so I'll have summer, winter, and year-round choices. I will need to make some of these items.
2. The unfinished, often not perfectly fitting tops have left the building. The best of the non-favorite tops from #1 will move to the at-home-wear capsule. I will need to make two or three pairs of casual pants (likely denim).
3. I'll have to look through my stack of Burda WOF for inspiration and patterns to make some nice sleepwear.
   

I have identified immediate needs (as in, I don't have any of this item and need to make it ASAP) and future needs (as in, this will need to be replaced sometime in the upcoming season but until then, it will do). I am already pulling fabrics for the immediate ones.

I like the whole organizing aspect of this particular wardrobe planning approach because now I can hang the bottoms in the order I plan to wear them and put the tops in order as well. No more mix & match. Instead, it will be Monday - first bottom plus first top, Tuesday - second bottom plus second top, etc. On laundry days, it will take just a bit of planning (aka following the worksheet) to get it all set up.

I have holes in my closet!

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

Well, not the kind of holes through which something could fall. Rather, I am missing certain important garments. Let me explain...

Elizabeth (ejvc on Stitcher's Guild) posted some links to a wardrobe planning expert's articles about wardrobe capsules on yet another thread about wardrobing concepts, capsules, simplified dressing, etc. What is it about these things that we find so fascinating?

Anyway, said wardrobe expert Jennifer Skinner has an interesting, new-to-me approach to creating a functional wardrobe. You can read all about it here: Step 1 and Step 2. She even provides a handy-dandy worksheet.

I thought I'd play with it a bit and take a look at my own closet. Hmmm.... turns out I really love my black wool pants and can't live without sweaters and twinsets. On the other hand, I have no favorite skirts and not only that, but I also have no shoes to wear with skirts (well, one pair of knee-high boots, that's all). How did I not know this? Oh, and I also have multiple black twinsets. The things we learn...

I'm adapting the plan to fit my needs so instead of 6 bottoms with 2 tops each, I'm using 7 bottoms and 3 tops each. The bottoms are two pairs of black pants, one pair gray pants, one black skirt, one gray skirt, and two pairs of jeans. All except jeans are wool crepe or tropical wool. The skirts have yet to be made but I do have two non-favorites as placeholders.

I'm listing 3 tops for each bottom: one year-round, one summer, and one winter. I couldn't find 14 year-rounders, nor did I want to say goodbye to any of my cashmere (winter) sweaters or silk (summer) blouses. My colors are mostly black/gray/white/red/pale pink.

I planned out additional small capsules for homewear, sleepwear, gym/swimwear, and casual summer. (If those are not real words, I apologize.) Everything else is out of the closet and headed for storage downstairs. If I miss something, I'll bring it back and it will stay in the closet. The rest will be going to Goodwill a year from now.

It'll be interesting to see if this gives a new direction to my sewing. I will have to replace things as they wear out, of course. But I also want to incorporate a few dresses and perhaps start wearing a knit top with a boucle jacket instead of a sweater.

I should also say I'm not looking to have the smallest wardrobe possible. I just want it to be organized, with outfits that work for me every time and project a consistent image.

What a difference!

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

I ordered Pamela's Patterns' T-shirt Makeover pattern on a whim. I was ordering tracing paper from Nancy's Notions last weekend and this pattern just caught my eye. I picked it up from the post office this morning and tried it out right away.

I used a T-shirt we got for volunteering at the Special Olympics event earlier this year. The print is off-center but that was the least of this T-shirt's problems. I don't think I've ever seen a T-shirt this twisty. Then again, I don't usually wear T-shirts because they often look like this:



And I prefer that they look like this:



Quite a difference, eh?

The T-shirt Makeover pattern has two pieces: Front/Back and Sleeve. You cut off the sleeves, fold the remaining T-shirt in half along CF/CB and recut, then cut new sleeves from the old ones. The shoulder seam and neckline remain intact so all you have to do is sew in the sleeves, sew up the side/sleeve seams, and hem the bottom of the shirt. You can play with the neckline if you like. I didn't hem this one because I was just testing the pattern.
Not bad for a first try straight out of the envelope, what do you think?

Debbie Cook did something similar a while ago and posted a really cool tutorial about it, too. I remember looking at her pictures back then and thinking I should do that. Then I didn't think about it for a while and eventually I forgot all about it. And then I saw the pattern at Nancy's Notions and went for it. Now I think I'll never wear another shapeless T-shirt again.

Coat prep and musings

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

I'm all about the coat these days. I just can't get it off my mind. I want three - black (about to be cut out), gray, and red. Different lengths, too, so I'll always be ready for any occasion. A girl can dream, right?

Dreaming or not, I did wrap the lovely black coating in damp sheets this morning to preshrink it. I'll steam the heck out of it tomorrow and let it dry. On Sunday it should be ready to cut. The coat pattern is now on oak tag to help ensure its survival. I still have to make the lining pieces.

Other things that I'd like to make are a fur-trimmed cape and several cool-weather dresses. Dresses like these from the February 1956 issue of Rundschau magazine.


Or like this vintage Vogue pattern.


I think wool jersey and wool crepe would work quite well for these styles. Not that I'm looking forward to cold weather, but fall sewing is always fun.

New coat mock-up adjusted

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

Previous post: first try-on before adjustments.

Today I pinned out the extra length in the back, tapering to the front/side front seam. When I put it on, it still wasn't quite right and it dawned on me that maybe I need to shorten all three pattern pieces by the same amount. So I tried that. I pinned out 1" all the way around, just above the original bust point to bring it where it should be.

Here's how it looks with a belt, front view first:



I really like the side view:



And the back view - has something reminiscent of the 1940's about it, doesn't it?



Sometimes when I look at these pictures, I think the shoulders look a tad too wide. So I compared the muslin coat with my favorite winter coat (the only winter coat I have, which is why I'm making a new one) and it's actually about 1/2" smaller. Definitely not too wide then.

My husband doesn't like the shape of the collar. He showed me, cupping his hands around it, that it should be pointed. It's an interesting idea and reshaping it wouldn't be a big deal. What do you all think: pointed or rounded?

I am pretty happy with it so far and can already see several incarnations of it in my mind. This length as a regular coat, shortened for a car coat or topper, different colors and fabrics, some trim... Yes, I know it's summer but we had a cool rainy day that made me contemplate a wardrobe full of coats and knee-high boots.

New coat mock-up

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

After the fiasco with the Vogue pattern morph, I wasn't sure I wanted to sew another coat anytime soon. Alas, as a member of the Great Coat Sew-Along, I figured giving up was not an option. Neither was reworking those two patterns.
Burda WOF to the rescue! (I love that magazine; I'd cut my sewing teeth on it and I often wonder why I even try using other patterns when BWOF works so well.) This is BWOF 12/06 - #120.

Anyway, here is my first mock-up. Probably the last, too, because the adjustments needed are minimal. Here it is belted, which is how I prefer to wear my coats. (Red belt borrowed from the robe Babbette the dressform usually wears.)



And here it is without the belt. I'll need to raise the bust point. There may also be an FBA in the works, judging from the diagonal lines but I'll wait to evaluate that until after I adjust for erect back. I think the extra length may be contributing to the look. I'm not sure if I should shorten the sleeves a little bit or leave them as they are.








So far, I really like it. The hem hits me right below the knee, not that you can see it with the dark jeans in the pictures. I'm debating leaving it as is versus shortening to above the knee. I think I will wear this coat with skirts and knee-high boots, so shouldn't I have a bit of leg showing?

PS: Excuse the slightly dorky pictures - my paparazzo was already winding down and getting ready for bed when I pleaded with him to take some pictures. Great guy that he is, he graciously agreed. Tired guy that he was, he thought nothing of the door hardware visible in the view finder.

Ugly coat mock-up

Posted by Alexandra at Studio Alexandra

I am so disappointed!
I sewed up the muslin expecting to verify the adjustments and tweak the fit. Instead, I found that the extra width around the hips doesn't do me any favors and I hate the neckline.

The back and side views aren't too horrible even though there certainly are things that need to be fixed.



But the front - oh my gosh, I've never seen anything uglier! Even ignoring the extra length pinned out above the bust, this is definitely not what I had in mind.



This is why I like to make mock-ups - I can throw this away with nary a guilty feeling. No nice fabric wasted on a hopeless project. So... in the trashcan it will go.

I have looked through my Burda WOF collection and decided to go for #120 from issue 12/06. I'd love to show you but the Burda website is having some problems with the image server and the picture may not show up.


I'll work on the mock-up tomorrow and if it turns out that this coat isn't right for me either, I'm just going to have to wear a poncho this winter.