Upcycled Halifax Hoody by Hey June patterns

Hi!  Welcome to Flagstaff!  And a new (borrowed) sewing machine and there's a Goodwill next door.  So instead of like, dipping a toe into the waters as far as the Singer Quantum Stylist is concerned, you know, with a dress made out of quilting cotton or something, I dove right into the deep end with an upcycling project even more mismatched than my Geodesic. 

A cream cashmere sweater (ladies small) with a hideous cowl.
A blue silk-cashmere blend sweater.
And a cream sweatshirt.
This time they were cheap - about $10 for the lot. 

I suspected that the sweatshirt was unwise but it was a perfect colour match and it was right next to the sweater on the rack.  The weight and drape of the sweatshirt didn't match the sweater knits at all, but also I was in the women's section, and I learnt on my last sweater that you need a men's L or XL to get two sleeves from one sweater.  So I had to do even more patchworking to get this to work out - first on the back, and then on the sleeves.

The pattern is the Halifax Hoodie by Hey June patterns, in a size S.  This is view B, I think.
The pattern is a little complicated because after tracing you have soooo many pieces and they don't all go for the same variation.  But I was tracing in Ukraine and wanted to have everything ready, so I also traced it all at once instead of just as I needed, which added to the confusion.  (Except I didn't trace the hood.  WTF?  I wanted to make the hooded version next...)

All of my bands are from the blue sweater, obviously.
My main hiccup was the armpits.  They were pieced together, and multilayer as the original sweatshirt was multilayer in that spot, and so they are super bulky.  I have gone over that a few times increasing the seam allowance a few mm at a time until I got the best fit on each side.  The bulk contrasts with the softness and drape of the cashmere - to the point that I was wondering if they were too terrible to keep.

I also only have one bobbin so when I ran out of white thread I had to stop, and do the final finishing later.  The finishing was pretty lazy on this - I realised after the fact that I HAD to topstitch the back seams down or they would lie really badly, but I didn't iron much (possibly that also shows).

Overall the sewing machine was ok!  I kind of hate sewing machines that have three things:
1. needle threaders
2. thread cutters
3. automatic needle down position

and I haven't figured out how to disable no. 3 yet.  The other two are just in the way, occupying needle and vision space.  Ugh.  Why do people like these things?  Am I just being stubborn?

At the end I totally thought this project was stupid.  It's all patchworked, it's big, the seams hang out...but then it got cold and I wore it out of the house and got a lot of compliments.  Funny how that changes an opinion!  Also, the sweatshirt sleeves are stretchy so it's great to just slide up my arms, and is really warm and cozy!  So in the end it's not a loss!  I'm going to do this pattern again but I will use the XS and shorten it a few inches.  I know this particular variation was supposed to be oversized but I think I'll like it more smaller.  In the meantime I compared the pattern pieces to assure myself the other variations will be smaller, and I'm going to try the zip up hoody (yeah after I reprint the hood pages).

 My photos were taken inside No Basis in Reality, a new shop that just opened in Flagstaff.  The focus is on locally made and ethically produced clothing and housewares. The shop's owner is also the owner of my borrowed sewing machine : )  I think I mentioned that my goal for this life phase is to take better pictures, so thanks Kirsten for taking super photos for me!

Blueprints for Sewing Geodesic sweater & some upcycling action

And sometimes something is just absurd but fabulous.

I was trying to figure out if I had a "before" picture. I don't. This sweater is made up of three sweaters.  I bought them at the Mercer Island thrift shop, which by dint of being a thriftshop in an elite, rich neighborhood, means they weren't so very cheap - like $10 each.  The sleeves were the body of an XL man's merino sweater (eck, replete with holes that I still have to fix), the pink was a lighter weight J.Crew merino sweater with dubious shoulder zips, and the black was a silk-cashmere batwinged, possibly cowl necked ladies monstrosity.  The weights are slightly different but didn't cause problems when sewing.  I used the body hem of the man's sweater for the sleeve hems so I didn't even need to sew anything on, and I used the split hem from the pink sweater for the sweater hem (and managed to keep the split!) and for the neckband I used a cut edge of the bottom band from the black sweater (the neck band wasn't optimal.)

The pattern, of course, is Blueprint Patterns Geodesic sweater.  I made a size C/D but honestly could have gone down for a more fitted look.  Along with the instructions you get a page of history about Buckminster Fuller and the Geodesic dome!  It's so fabulous!  Not to mention some of their other patterns!  I haven't tried the others yet but I'm definitely going to make a Saltbox tee at some point.

I think it's a pretty boxy shape - the sleeves could be narrower as they reach the body and the back, weirdly, hangs down really wide away from the body compared to the front, but because I'm short waisted and short anyway, it all works.  The neck is also a bit undefined.  You cut out a mess of identical triangles to make this top, and for the back and front neck you just scoop out the top triangle a little.  Maybe it would be better if the back triangle were not scooped at all, and the front were scooped more?  Something to consider.  I recommend not scooping at all until you have sewn it together, and then trying it on for fit prior to scooping to your heart's content, and then applying the neck band.  For the body, the triangles are sewn across, and then the two rows sewn together, which makes it easier to get that all-important center point to match.  On the front (naturally on the front) I tried to help this along by easing around that center point so as a result the center is sort of worn and stretched out.  Arg.  At least it matches! 

Delving into fabric recycling has taught me a few things.  First is that you can really make extra seams anywhere as long as you then press and even topstitch them down.  (One sleeve here was pieced but it's mostly in the armpit.)

Second, and more important, is that you don't tend to get the real fit of the pattern by doing this.  Mixing up fabrics, textures and weights, cutting corners when things almost match up, using bindings from the original sweaters - all turns the result into something just a little extra unique.  I would love for these recycled efforts to work as true muslins for further projects, but I think that they aren't great representations of the original pattern, or at least they obfuscate potential size/fit changes that might need to be made.

And yesss that is foreshadowing for the next project. How'd you guess?

Jamie Christina Mission Tank upcycled variations

I had plans for this pattern, and I decided to start by upcycling.  It wasn't optimal in terms of creating the perfect pattern, but it was nice to get some new tank tops!

The first one you may recognise.  It was a Burda cardigan, that became a Burda sewn-shut cardigan, and the truth is that the very dry rayon does not flatter when it's too big.  I needed a size smaller and this drove me crazy.  So I was very cautious when changing the top into a tank because I really love this fabric.  I had to cut two fronts.  The length was just the length of the Burda top without the hem, and some of the shaping below the waist was lost.  I added about 1-2 inches to the outer side of the back shoulder on the pattern, just eyeing the change, and I removed 1" permanently from the front shoulder strap as it's perennially too long.

The one major loss was all the curving lines in the Burda top.  I think if I had managed to make that top perfectly - ie the right size, the well-supported button band, etc, it would have worked out.  But life is full of ifs, right? And I'm really happy to have a wearable item which is a nice useful basic.

Number 2 was a Skunkfunk shapeless top from the Humana store (used clothing from Europe, and cheap!) in Mariupol.  My creative juices were whetted endlessly by the things in the Humana but I didn't usually let myself buy things I couldn't wear locally.  For no good reason, this was the exception.

The changes were basically the same - I was trying to include the bottom band but it was slightly gathered, and so it was hideous and had to come off.  I again eyed the extra width for the shoulder, and again lost some of the shaping below the waist.  I have not hemmed this one because it seems like a hem band will get in the way of the tank's stretchiness.  It's a very stretchy rayon blend.

These were a lot of fun to get me more used to the challenges of upcycling clothing!  But in terms of my perfect Mission Tank I think I'll have to follow the pattern next time in order to actually choose how much shaping I want. 

Merchant and Mills Camber Set in Thai ikat (plus an obsessive look at wide shoulder fit problems)

I am happy (happy?) to finally be done with this pattern.
This is it.
Not because it's perfect, but because I finally understood that I do not like shapeless woven shift dresses! Why did it take so long to figure this out?  This dress, also, UNLIKE what the M&M website says, should be made in something really drapey.  Not linen type fabrics.  At least, I think that would get rid of the big expanses of space problem. 

I kept the shoulder widening which I had done previously for the last iteration of this dress - on the back, but not on the front.  I didn't make any other changes, the dress is a size 10.  I eased the front of the shoulder into the back without problems. 

My shoulder, and the dress shoulder, are just NOT in the same place, and I have a lot of pulling at the front

First I thought I was being very smart by adding knit sleeves.  But you see now all the weird ways my shoulders and this pattern don't get along - a lot of space in the sleevehead, especially in the back, no room in the front of the shoulder.  Now I finally suspect it's all due to having sloping shoulders, not just due to their wideness.

So those knit sleeves were a no-go.
No problem, sleeveless!

Except it's just not very flattering.  Expanses of space.  Reminds me of the Inari.
It's going to turn into a tunic with a nice high low hem and side splits, because I love this fabric.

The fabric: brought back from Chiang Mai in Thailand, it's a soft cotton ikat, medium weight.  It of course doesn't drape but it looks like it'll soften even more with use.  So overall this can be salvaged, but it made me reflect on how easy it is to go astray with style.  Style is a subtle thing, isn't it?  Have you made something over and over again before you realized it wasn't working because it just wasn't your thing?

Itch to Stitch Davina Dress

This dress fulfills so many of my dress desires so despite having basically no time, I tried to sew it prior to leaving on my Asia trip (um last year.)

The fabric is from the Delft market.  I used a size 2, which seems true to size, and did one very cool thing - I got it printed out on A0 paper!  It was 12 euro, so not really cheap.  The stripe placement caused me some anguish and added to my cutting out time, which I also did in Munich (um also last year), and then when I got to Seattle I had no time to sew it together before my next departure.  Thus it languished. For a year.  (You're catching the theme right?)

So yeah, back in Seattle, hellooo little Necchi!  I dusted off this shit and got to work.
I read the pattern instructions to understand the order of elements, but after awhile I didn't bother anymore.  So I didn't really notice that some things specifically said to sew with machine, and others specifically said to serge.  I think this pattern needs to be serged at the waist, although maybe a three-step zigzag would work.  And as I learned, that can't be avoided. The result is a clean finish with both the bodice and waistband totally enclosed and no open seams except on the skirt, which is one layer. 

I made the entire dress, and when I tried to put it on I couldn't because the waist would not stretch.  It actually took a few days for me to accept what I had to do, and pull the stitches until they broke.  Unfortunately, because it is an enclosed waistband, the options at present are to handsew the gaps invisibly from the outside, and hope that enough stretchiness remains, or to undo the waistband entirely and start again.  At the moment, I'm not sure which option I'm going for.

Anyway, the pattern comes together quite nicely with no major mishaps.  I put a huge effort into the stripe placement.  Maybe it was a hopeless attempt.  It looks pretty haphazard.  But are the sewists the only ones who notice??  This is definitely a casual dress because of my fabric, but I think if you use a single colour or a really nice fabric, the pattern could look quite classy.

Fit was spot on.  I would hem it, of course, a few inches shorter than my photo.  But another theme in life - I was about to pack up and leave so this dress stayed behind, and will be dealt with some future day.