Stacker jacket by Papercut patterns

Well this has a dumb name and I keep wanting to call it the slacker jacket...that didn't stop me from wanting to make it.

I liked the simplicity. Didn't realise it was lined - I would have happily gone with it unlined but following the directions was easier so I found a nice lining for it which had been in my stash for ages. It's a quilting cotton from Hawaii. I used silk to line the sleeves.

This came together really easily. I knew from the start that I was making it for a friend.  I stopped before putting in the buttonholes because my sewing machine hates buttonholes.  It took me until lockdown to get on with it (also because I had no rush while I couldn't mail things...)

Fabric: beautiful corduroy from Miss Maude. I was a tiny bit sad to give this away, this fabric, I just can't think of what else I want made out of it.

I made this in size 3. That matched the size chart and the fit is exactly right.

I think I might have gone with too big buttons but I pulled them from my button stash and they were the perfect match.  When I finally did the buttonholes things went surprisingly well - two buttonholes were great, one was slightly messed up and the top one, where there's a nearby seam, was a hellish catastrophe.  About as expected.  I have become pretty skilled at using a bar tack to supplement all the bad buttonholes I've made lately. They look terrible but luckily are usually hidden by buttons (you know, as buttonholes are.)

I noticed that there's only like a cm between the buttonhole and the edge of the fabric, so hopefully they will hold up ok.

I keep being surprised by how beautiful this jacket is!

Few thoughts:

The sleeves are slightly dropped which makes them seem droopy to me, but definitely makes them easy to fit, because you don't need to worry much about the armscye fit like it a more closely fitting jacket.
Also, the pockets are similar to other things I've seen lately, for some reason tall skinny pockets are in vogue - they are good for storing objects, but they are bad for hands.  Just so you know.  

Paper Theory LB top

As I was prepping this pattern, which was totally a late night spur of the moment purchase (I blame everything on night shifts!!)  I berated myself for buying another shapeless, drop shoulder top.  Don't I already have more than one similar pattern? I mean I have the Califaye Rumi top, and the Toaster sweater...I suppose they are all a tiny bit different. Meaningfully different.  Somehow.

Luckily the simplest patterns can hide some magic, and on accident I got this one right. The fabric is a knit jacquard from The Fabric Store, it's a blend with merino, but I'm not sure what else. The combo of this fabric and this pattern is just perfect. Alone I think the pattern might be a bit boring, but the fabric livens it up.  Because it's an airy pattern, it would also be good for those rather heavy warm knits, that will boil you alive if they are too fitted. 

I made size 8, which matched my measurements.

It's a very technically simple top and it didn't take long to make. I was so satisfied that I immediately riffled through my stash for a scrap to make a woven sleeveless version.

The sleeveless version is made of silk noil.  It's great!
It...also looks quite a bit like other tops I've made recently like the Strata top and the Botany top.

Here it is under the Botany top - it's wider and longer, but without the curved hem or the curved underarm of the Strata.

Overall a simple pattern that's surprisingly versatile.

Halfmoon Atelier Strand dress in cherries

I was a pattern tester for this dress pattern.  I made the size 3, and it was consistent with other patterns by Halfmoon Atelier.  My measurements are 33-27-37. I'm 5'4" and I didn't change the length.

My dress is the first iteration of the pattern. The shoulder straps were adjusted afterwards to be slightly narrower.  The wide fit is fantastic on me.

This pattern has a v-shaped bodice which is in 2 layers, sandwiched between two shoulder straps that work as facings, and then gathers down from there in 2 layers.  

Initially I thought I would stop before the hem ruffle. But in the end I made the full length dress and I love it. The length is not quite full maxidress, which makes it more versatile (I bicycle!)  The bodice straps as facing are supportive for a variety of fabrics and they make a nice clean finish, though they are quite a bit of work.

I keep thinking I would most like to put elastic in the waist, but the tie, loosely done, doesn't bother me and so it has stayed. Usually I don't like a lot of ties around my waist, but I only put the bow on one side instead of having one on each side, and since it's loose, it doesn't need adjusting for me to pull it on.  Having the dress tied at the waist creates a really different silhouette, so it's nice to be able to go from loose to gathered.

I am lucky I got to make this dress in September and wear it for the hottest part of the year before the Making zine came out!  The fabric is rayon from Cotton & Steel, and rayon was a great match for this pattern.

Other notes are that it's important at the front V to baste each side - I did them separately, in order to have the best control.

I really love clean finishes and though you have to work for this one - you fold over the SA on the inside shoulder straps and then topstitch it down - it's really worth it.  I like how this, as a dress, gives you waistband options - it looks quite different to me when it's loose (maxidress!!) and when the waist ties are tied tighter.

The neckline reminds me a bit of the Peppermint magazine free maxidress pattern, though the fit of the dresses is quite different below there.  Here's my version.  I like both patterns - the Peppermint dress is obviously more of a shapeless sack, which can be really nice when it's hot outside. This dress takes a bit more work to make, but I think the result is more refined. 

Adventures with Alabama Chanin, part 1.

This took a long time for me to commit to.
When I first saw Carolyn's Alabama Chanin projects, I was kind of like ew, why would you spend so much time on one or two things??  Then at some point I got two Alabama Studio books, one for me and one for my mother.  I'm not sure which came first, but I bought the book for myself when I realised the base patterns that come with the book are really simple.  I wasn't convinced about hand sewing, but I certainly could use the patterns!

More recently I realised one reason hand sewing felt out of reach is because I have no faith in my ability to do it, so I also got the Alabama Chanin hand sewing manual. I thought that having it lying around increased my chances of actually learning to hand stitch and the book does have more detail than the design books. 

Recently, in a totally random burst of enthusiasm, I got a few of the patterns printed out. I have the Alabama Studio Sewing Patterns book.  The printing was quite a bit of effort. The patterns are on a CD.  They are unstandard paper sizes.  My local print shop is very friendly with me due to my frequent A0 service, but for this one I had to stand around the computer while they pulled up the patterns on CAD and fitted them to printable sheets.  So if I have one beef, it's that the patterns should be available for A0 and A4 printing.  The A line dress was so wide that we ended up turning it sideways and printing it across three sheets or something crazy like that.

Unfortunately I was sort of guessing which patterns I wanted, so I ended up with the skirt, the corset, and the A line dress, though I wasn't interested in the dress particularly.

During my recent and amazingly timed trip to the States, I bought a bunch of supplies from Alabama Chanin itself!  I got three colours of organic cotton and the button craft thread that is so highly touted.  Plus I got to do all the prewashing and drying at my parents house, such a luxury!

Now I wish I had bought more thread - I've sourced one place in Australia that sells it too, but they are sold out and seem to depend on infrequent restocking. Also New Zealand is many months behind on receipt of international parcels...

My first project was the A line dress.  I don't really like the green fabric I ended up with, but I thought if I liked the top I'd wear it, and if not I can always give it away.  I wanted to see whether the size chart fit was good for me.  I also wanted a no stress chance to try out the hand sewing.  I cut it in an M, which matches me on the size chart pretty exactly.  I did all the seams on my overlocker.  I top stitched and did the bands by hand, learning as I went along, and I'm happy with the result and getting better at the Cretan stitch.

But: I really don't like this trapeze fit.

Putting the top on for the photos I can see that it fits nicely in the back.  I could certainly play around with this pattern - removing a lot of the trapeze from the front to see if I like it more that way - but I'm planning to make the less flared dress next and so I'll probably leave this one for now.

I moved onto the corset.
I was really excited by the corset!  So excited that I made three in one day!
First, size M, 2 layers.  The problems were - generally too big, gaping in the front, needs the shoulder adjustment, and about 1" too long in the waist.

Because the pieces are so small, and overlocking is so easy, I went straight into version 2: single layer, size S, with the shoulder adjustment and 1/2" removed at the waist.  There are no lengthen shorten lines, so basically I removed length right above the narrowest part of the waist.

My enthusiastic shoulder shortening brought the armhole up a bit too close, and there's still a lot of pooling in the back, but I thought there's also still pooling in the front, so I went onto version 3: Size S, 2 layers, with the shoulder shortened only on the front, and with 1" from the waist.  I'm happy with this version!  Enough that I'm committed to the hand sewing.

Still had to think about how to finish the first two corsets, which, while modelling, I realised aren't that bad after all and do deserve lives as clothing.  I decided to just add normal bindings and I topstitched the seam allowances down.  It was absolute luck that I had an abundance of rib jersey in the exact matching shade.  

Number 1, with green lining, size M:

Number 2, single layer, size S:

This has totally whetted my appetite for more Alabama Chanin. As I get better at hand sewing, and watching my corset come together, it's interesting to see how the item becomes emotional because you have invested more into it!  I'm debating ways of using 2-layer jersey that don't involve an airbrush gun or flower designs. More adventures to follow...