Endless Combinations Pieces Two and Three

This weekend I completed piece 2 and 3 of the Endless Combinations contest.

First, I made a bottom to go with the tunic/sweater that I made earlier. I decided to make a pair of "skinny jeans," although I hesitate to call anything that I wear "skinny." I had ordered some stretch denim when it was a "Deal of the Day" at Fabric.com. One of the pieces was a very dark gray, almost black. It was much thinner and much stretchier than I normally use for jeans. Therefore I just set it aside until a project came along that it would be right for. Fortunately, with the extra stretch it was appropriate for this project.

I do not have patten for skinny jeans, and certainly did not relish having to alter another jeans pattern, so for these pants I started with the Jalie Stretch Jeans (2908), and traced the pattern down to the knee level. Then I just flipped through my stack of Burdas until I found a narrow leg pant, and used that to trace from the knees down. This way I didn't have to worry about alterations to a new pattern, since I had made the Jalies twice before. Since the denim was nearly black, I used grey thread to topstitch...which is admittedly a touch wobbly:


Second I made a blue turtleneck from rayon slub knit jersey from Fabric.com. I had made this turtleneck before, so no surprises there.


Both the pants and the turtleneck coordinate with the tunic sweater, so this give me three items to build off of for the contest. Here are the finished items, the turtleneck and jeans:


And both coordinate with the original piece, the striped sweater tunic:


I don't really have anything to add about the construction of these pieces, since both are from patterns that were made before. The stretchier denim works well for these jeans given the close fit, especially through the thighs. The close fit, though, it was makes them work well in lieu of leggings.

Next up will be either a shirt to go with the jeans, or a jacket to go with the turtleneck. The turtleneck is a great pattern that will most likely be used again and again.

Beginning the Endless Combinations Contest

Today began the Endless Combinations contest on Pattern Review. I got home from work a little early so I decided to go ahead and start my first piece.

Per the plan, I started with a striped sweater tunic to wear over a turtleneck and narrow legged pants. I have been collecting an absolutely ridiculous number of inspiration photos, so I decided to make a little storyboard for each of the pieces, with the fabric and pattern that I had decided to use:


For this one I used a striped wool sweater knit from Sawyer Brook that has both black and grey (colors from my original SWAP that is now over half done) as well as turquoise and blue, colors that I wanted to work in via the Endless Combinations.

I used Butterick 5528 as a starting point for the tunic, but I did a significant amount of contouring to keep it from being boxy. I also changed the neckline, sleeves and hem to have a binding since I didn't like the way my fabric looked just hemmed. Here is the final product:


Here is the neckline with the binding:


With the cut-on sleeves and the simple shape, there was quite a bit of fabric left over, so I made a scarf. I used the 3-thread rolled hem option on my serger, finished the edges of a couple of big rectangles of fabric, and joined them to make a big scarf:


From here, my next step will be either a turtleneck to go under the tunic, or a pair of narrow cut pants, since I have vetoed any options that involve leggings. I am currently trying to talk myself out of a pair of skinny jeans. But, I have a length of graphite-colored denim with lycra that when it arrived was much stretchier than I had anticipated. However, it could work for a pair of skinny jeans. I must think on this...

Piece Four of the Endless Combinations

Today I finished the fourth piece for my entry into the endless combinations contest, a Chanel-style boucle jacket. This jacket coordinates with the blue turtleneck (Item 2) and my next piece will be a pair of pants to go with the jacket.

Short boucle jackets seem to be a popular item this year:


Since the boucle jacket would be appropriate given current style, I decided that I would use McCall's 6041 as a base.

I had long avoided this pattern because of all the home-ecky stuff they had sewn to it in the photo and the illustrations. However, as it turns out, it is a pattern with "good bones," including a two-piece sleeve and multiple cup sizes. However, there were also some fit issues such as a very wide sleeve and extremely short bodice, so make a muslin first.

I lengthened all the body pieces by 1 1/2 inches, since I did not want the jacket to be quite a short as illustrated. I wanted it to hit me at about hipbone height, and not at waist height. Most of the lining pieces are made from the same pattern as the jacket pieces, but not the center back, so make sure if you lengthen you lengthen that piece, too.

In my muslin, I also found the arms to be HUGE. So, I narrowed them significantly by slashing starting at the bicep, and overlapping the pieces to narrow them. I also shortened them by 1 inch.

I also left off the pockets and minimized the trim, since I thought it looked very overdone.

I used a single row of narrow trim, with a silver base a few sequins:


The pattern also provides pieces and instructions for a full lining:


I did not use the instructions for the lining, however, since it involved extensive hand sewing (my least favorite thing in the world), but instead used the instructions from Threads Magazine for bagging the lining by machine.

The boucle has a distinct horizonal stripe, but is also somewhat loosely woven. As a result, I had a heck of a time getting it to match:


The jacket fits well into my Endless Combinations plan, and provides a source for further coordination. The next item will be a pair of pants to match the jacket and the turtleneck.

Piece Ten and Preparing for the Endless Combinations

This weekend I have been continuing to whittle away on my SWAP and also started to prepare for the Endless Combinations contest that starts on Monday. The first thing that I needed to do was to decide what I wanted to make with two yards of wool sweater knit that I got from Sawyer Brook:


My plans have been to use it for one of the starting points of my Endless Combinations wardrobe (which starts Monday), but I have been hemming and hawing about what to sew with it. A crew neck? No, too boring. Cardigan? What did I just make...still boring! Turtleneck? It is really too heavy for an inside layer. But nothing was really appealing to me until...I received an one of the endless emails that I get from Max Studio because one time about 3 years ago I ordered some pants from them:


The advertisement appealed to me for two reasons. One, everything was black and gray, just like my wardrobe! And two...I loved the styling of the sweaters, especially the sweater dress/tunics. So I went snoop shopping:

From left to right, starting with the top row:

1. Max Studio, $138; Banana Republic, $110; Max Studio $118
2. Banana Republic, $98; Michael Kors, $1995; St. John, $604
3. Donna Karan, $695; Tory Burch, $285; Brunello Cucinelli, $595

I really like the look of the short-sleeved tunics. Can you see it with a boatneck, worn over a turtleneck? Kind of like this....


This is Butterick 5528, that based on the line drawing is just two pieces...a front and back each cut on the fold, which are both made from the same piece, and a separate neck scarf.

The only concern that I have is the overall shapelessness of it. Since I am not a willowy illustration...or a size zero catalog model...I am always wary of anything that is bulky or boxy. So, my solution to this is that I will use Butterick 5528 for the kimono sleeves and for the neckline, but use a tracing from my Butterick 5522 dress for the shaping at the waist and the center back, possibly turning the back into two pieces.

Because I am making a frankenpattern for this, I started by making a muslin. I have a mystery knit that I bought at Hancock's about a month ago that is a kind of a burnout in an abstract pattern. It is a cream color, and I ended up with about 5 yards of it because I initially wanted 2 1/2...but there was a stain along the selvedge and they kept rolling out more fabric to get past that stain. They ended up giving me 5 yards, and when I got home...the stain totally washed out. So now I have enough of this fabric to make a tent with. I drew the pattern for the muslin to look like this Max Studio sweater:


My muslin revealed to me a couple of things. First, I have no clue how to draft a boatneck. The one I drafted was way too wide. I also made the sleeves too long, and I also needed to do a bit of work on the hem, which flared out...probably because I used a dress pattern to draft the muslin. So, for the final version, these things will be very easy to fix.

Given that the muslin is complete, I should be able to start on the sweater when the contest starts. If the sweater works out then the second piece for the Endless Combinations collection will be a blue turtleneck to go under the sweater (jersey in the upper right corner):


To go under it, I have purchased a copy of Burda 7447, a narrow pant:

Because let's face it...I'm not going to do leggings. I didn't do leggings the first time leggings were in style. There are three constants in this world....death, taxes, and my chubby knees. So the next best alternative is a narrow pant. I have the gray wool in the photo above, or I could do a black RPL, or possibly the gray corduroy that I purchased for this contest:


So that should be the first three pieces for the contest, with the blue turtleneck will also coordinate with the striped boucle; and the gray pants will coordinate with the gray/black/brown jersey.

For the turtleneck I will use Burda 09/2010/121...sort of.


Because the Burda version was drafted to a 44 and I typically use a 46, I used my TNT tee to draw the pattern for the body, and used the Burda pattern to draft on the turtleneck. I then made a version using the purple stripe fabric that I had in my SWAP plan:


I tried to match the stripes, and did OK on most of the top:


But, because the top that I used to draft the body is made so the front bodice is longer at the bust than the back, there was no way to avoid some mismatch. But, if anyone points out that those particular stripes don't match, I will punch them right in the eye. Because they will be seriously invading my personal space!!


This piece makes the tenth for the SWAP (of 17) and also gave me an opportunity to check the fit on the turtleneck, which I like. A little hint for this top...I did have to craft a little tag from some bias tape, otherwise there was no way to tell what was the front and what was the back. You might also want to check out the tutorial on the Pins and Needles Blog for photos of finishing the neckline.

Piece Nine, and a Finished UFO

This weekend I decided to continue to work on my SWAP for winter, so I made my 9th piece (of 17), a black knit shirt. I know, I know...black clothes are boring...boring to make, boring to photograph. But, hopefully my messing with the settings on the camera will have lightened the photos enough to make the details of the shirt visible.

I had set aside for part of the SWAP a length of black rayon jersey and decided to use it for the Hot Patterns Deco Vibe Mighty Aphrodite Draped Tee:


I purchased this pattern along with my recent order from Fabric.com It was a bit tedious to cut out...huge pieces, that had to be cut in a single layer....but it went together surprisingly easily. After puzzling out the pleats at the shoulder, it was a simple top to make. The back neck facing is sewn right into the armscyes, so it doesn't flip out, which is a nice touch. Here is the finished product:


Here is a close up of the rouching:


If I make this again, I may start the rouching higher on the side, for example, here:


To figure out the pleating at the shoulder, which I initially found confusing, I sat down with my pattern tracing and some tape and just started folding and pleating until I got it right. Basically, everything gets pulled up to the shoulder seam...there are no openings in the shoulder or gathering. Once you get it, you will smack your forehead, but I did find it confusing at first.

Here is the finished top on. Never mind the fact that I am glowing...I tried to lighten it so you could see the details of the shirt, apparently I only succeeded in making myself translucent:


Since I did not want to sew anything that I might want to use for the Endless Combinations Contest on PR, I decided that I would dive into the UFO box...and decided to finish a version of the Hot Patterns Classix Nouveau Pyramid bag that I had cut out about 2 months ago:


I had made this bag once before for my niece....from, of all things, white vinyl. What a miserable fabric to sew!! This one I made from an upholstery-weight woven in a zebra print. I used for the lining a cotton from stash, and a black twill for the handles:


Instead of velcro, I used snaps for the bellows pockets:


Here is a shot of the lining:


And here it is ready to go. Other reviewers have said that the bag is overly large, but I didn't find that to be the case...big bags are "in" right now. Plus, a big bag makes you look smaller!:


So here is where I stand with my winter SWAP, the purple ones are the ones that are finished. The ones in blue are the pieces that could potentially coordinate with the Endless Combinations plan:

1. Dark heather gray wool jersey (dress)
   
2. Wool blend flannel-Burda pants
   
3. Periwinkle charmeuse (shirt)
   
4. Grey/black print charmeuse (blouse with bow)
   
5. Black and grey herringbone suiting (lined pants)
   
6. White jersey knit-3 Graces Tee
   
7. Purple jersey knit with diamond pattern-Butterick 5525
   
8. Purple/ivory cotton shirting eliminated, replace with black and grey knit for McCall's 5978 twinset cardigan and New Look 6735 tee from leftovers
   
9. Heather gray knit (shirt)
   
10. Silk Tweed suiting (skirt)
    
11. Plum jersey knit-3 Graces Tee, also New Look 6735 Tee from leftovers
    
12. Black jersey knit Mighty Aphrodite Draped Tee
    
13. Black boiled wool knit-Cardigan/Jacket
14. Orchid stretch shirting-Butterick 5526
    
15. Plum and orchid striped jersey (shirt)
    
16. Gray cashmere wool suiting (pants)
17. Black rayon challis with purple/orange trim-Hot Patterns Deco Vibe Delicious Dress

Now that I have finished the 9th piece, that means I have passed the half way point!! I am feeling very confident that I will actually finish this plan!

So my plans for next week is that if I work on anything, it will be one of the items that will NOT coordinate with the blue fabrics for the Endless Combinations plan, since that contest does not begin until November 15th.

I hope everyone is having a productive weekend...and used that extra hour for what else, more sewing!

Working In More Color

Carolyn told me on the last blog that I had better share what I ordered while I was hobbled by my foot...Well, I didn't put that design wall together with Fabric.com for nothing! I pared down what I had set up there and placed an order for some fabrics that I thought would tie in with the SWAP that I had already started for winter. To recap, the items that I have finished so far are:

1. Grey wool pants
2. Purple rayon jersey drape-front shirt, plus a scoop-neck tee from the leftovers
3. White rayon jersey drape-front shirt
4. Lavender jersey cowl-neck shirt
5. Orchid stretch poplin princess seam shirt
6. Black, purple, and orange rayon tunic/dress
7. Black and grey cardigan with scoop-neck tee to match
8. Black boiled wool knit blazer

That leaves the wool knit dress, 2 charmeuse shirts, 2 pairs lined pants, a lined skirt, and 2 knit shirts. Of the remaining items, only one (periwinkle charmeuse) is not some shade of grey, black, or combination thereof. One of the advantages to this is...everything matches. But a disadvantage is it is a bit boring. Working the purple and orange into the dress was a step in the right direction, but I wanted to find an additional color to work in...and settled on blue.

The top is a wool/mohair blend boucle. On one side, there is a very distinct horizontal stripe, but if you flip it to the other side, that stripe is muted (both sides are shown in the photo above). Second, is an italian wool sweater knit with black, grey, blue, and turquoise stripes.

The sweater knit is on it's way....I TRIED to order it from Fabric.com...but apparently dawdled too long and it was sold out. But, since the rest of the fabric was on its way, and the whole point of the blue fabric was to work more color into the SWAP, I found the same fabric on Sawyer Brook's website, and purchased it at twice the price (sad face).

This new set of fabric allows me to continue with my "Garanimals for Grown-Ups" plan...as most of the blue items will coordinate with the gray items from the original SWAP. So, if the last set are the purple monkeys...these will be the blue giraffes.

Since this is a new set of fabric, I was thinking of joining the Endless Combinations Contest on Pattern Review. Incorporating the two fabrics above, here is how I can see this working:

First, the boucle will coordinate with a new blue rayon slub knit for a shirt and brown/grey worsted wool for pants or a skirt that I also purchased from Fabric.com:


The blue will also coordinate with the sweater knit, and the pants fabric will coordinate with a printed rayon. They rayon also coordinates with a grey corduroy that I purchased for a skirt (all three fabrics are new):


From here I can build out into other fabrics in the stash....For example, that same print will coordinate with both a brown denim and khaki twill in the stash...how about a pair of brown jeans and a twill jacket?


The same brown denim pant will coordinate with a printed rayon knit that I bought in Texas and also a white burn-out rayon knit that is new:


That white burn-out knit will also coordinate with a black RPL for pants and a gray rayon knit:


Which of course will both coordinate with the boucle that we started with and the sweater knit that is on its way:


Because black, grey, and white is also incorporated into my original plan, much of what I sew will also coordinate with the items made for that SWAP, which I plan on continuing to work on through the winter.

For the patterns, I plan on using the following:

1. Boucle (new): Collarless jacket, McCall's 6041
2. Sweater Knit (new): simple crew neck, probably from New Look 6735
3. Blue Rayon Knit (new): Burda 09.2010.121, turtleneck
4. Worsted wool (new): pants, probably the Burdas I make all the time
5. Gray Corduroy (new): Pencil skirt, possibly with added cargo-type pockets
   
6. Printed Rayon Knit (new): Hot Patterns Mighty Aphrodite Draped Tee
7. Khaki Twill (from stash): Butterick 4610, no lining, but topstitched like a jean jacket
8. Brown Denim (from stash): Jalie Stretch Jeans
9. Brown and White Floral Print Rayon (from stash): Hot Patterns Draped Tee, or another Three Graces Tee
10. Burn Out Rayon (new): Three Graces Tee
11. Black RPL (from stash): Hot Patterns Marrkesh Pant
12. Gray Rayon Knit (from stash): Hot Patterns Draped Tee

I have to say I am really loving the printed rayons...perhaps I will start with one of those! Today I am going to prewash and go through my patterns, I will let you know what I cook up!

Online Fabric Shopping

This week I was home part of the week, rattling around the house, because I am a clumsy person. Yes, spectacularly clumsy. Tuesday at work, I fell down a flight of stone steps. I work at Webster University in St. Louis, and Tuesday I tumbled down the front steps of Webster Hall:

I managed to injure my pride much more than my body...although I did sprain the heck out of my left ankle. I tried to tough it out at work but after about the 14th instant message from co-workers saying "GO HOME," I took the hint and took myself home. The drive home was miserable, since I drive a manual (Jeep Wrangler). When I got home, I commenced calling my Mommy over and over until she FINALLY picked up, and agreed to come take me to the urgent care.

At the urgent care I was pronounced unbroken, but merely badly bent. I was issued an ankle brace, a prescription for some lovely painkillers, and directed to stay off of it as much as possible and keep ice on it. My mom was nice enough to trade vehicles with me (since both my car and my husband's are manuals. It took her 3 tries to find reverse, didn't realize it had a 6th gear, and couldn't find the controls for either the windows or the lights so the exchange has been quite giggle-worthy...in the meantime, my dad who has NEVER been allowed to drive my Mom's new car is quite peeved that I scored the Escape Hybrid). So here I am, hobbled, not even sewing!

Since I am confined to my chair, the only thing I can really do is play on my laptop...so of course I am shopping for fabric!

But this brings to mind various questions I see repeated from time to time on Pattern Review, and even questions that people have asked me through this blog:

"How do you buy fabric online when you can't TOUCH it?"

"How do you know if you can use it for the garment you want it for?

and probably most often:

"How do you MATCH fabric online?"

The first two have the same answer...return it if it isn't right! Ordering fabric online is never something you want to do when you are in a hurry. I try to avoid situations where I have a deadline or if only the most perfect of perfect fabrics will do. If it is imperative that the fabric be exactly right, the best thing to do is to order a swatch. But, this is going to set back your timeline significantly.

Also, as you become more experienced with fabric, you will be able to more easily determine if particular fabrics are going to be appropriate for your project. Also look at the descriptions...most sites will tell you "appropriate for jackets and coats" or "use for shirts or dresses." This will give you a hint as to how the fabric will drape, feel, etc. Which is not to say that I am not sometimes surprised when I recieve my order! But more often than not, I can easily re-deploy the fabric for a different garment.

There are two stand-out sites that I can think of that help with this tremendously...one is Fashionista Fabrics and the other is Gorgeous Fabrics...the owners of both I happen to know are expert sewists, as they are both members at PR!

At Fashionista Fabrics there will be photos of the fabric lying flat so that you can see the details of the print or weave...but there will also be a photo showing the drape:


This will give you some information about how the fabric will hang, and how it will behave. At Gorgeous Fabrics, you always get a recommendation for patterns that would work well with the fabric in the description. Then go look at those pattern recommendations, and see if that is like what you were thinking:


One of the reasons that Fashionista and Gorgeous Fabrics is so great in depicting and describing their fabrics is because the owners of both ARE sewists. As a result, they are fantastic at helping their fellow sewists understand the products they are offering.

However, that leaves the issue of how to match fabrics; or given the varations in computer monitors, digital cameras, and if the color you are seeing is representative of the fabric. At Gorgeous Fabrics, you can find in the description a reference to the closest Pantone color, but to use this, you will need a Pantone Color Guide, which is not cheap:


So how do you go about matching fabrics online when either the retailer does not include pantone information, or if you don't have a pantone color chart? One of the things I use very often is the Design Wall at Fabric.com. I suspect that the design wall is something of great use to quilters who need to coordinate lots of fabrics, but I use it to see if fabrics go together for outfits. Granted, there are a couple of assumptions that I am making here, one of them being that all the photos of the fabric were taken with the same camera, edited in the same way, and not altered in any way:


However, I have been placing my fabric orders this way ever since I started using Fabric.com and it has consistently worked well for me. This way I can be reasonably assured that I will not end up with any "orphan fabrics," which is how fabric stashes grow!

You can also utilize websites like Polyvore to do this when using sites that do not have services like the Fabric.com design wall. Or you can just email the company and ask..hey, does this fabric match this one? Although I suspect that Fashion Fabrics Club humors me in this area, as the office manager is the mother or one of my high school classmates, and the step-mother of another! They do also offer thread matching...and in your order form, you can tell them how many spools of matching thread you need. I do this ALL THE TIME.

Occasionally I do still end up with a fabric orphan...sometimes these fabric orphans are passed on to my neice so she can use it in her learning to sew. Or, if it was exceptionally inexpensive, I may keep it for use in muslins (knits especially...I have grown a large stash of knits because it can sometimes be difficult to find comparable knits for use in muslining patterns).

In the end, I do usually wind up with fairly well-coordinated fabrics...and have been able to talk myself out of any number of large-scale prints (I am a sucker for a print) due to my inability to find ANYTHING that coordinates with them.

Happy Fabric Shopping!