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...

Thread Theory Jedediah pants

My cousin saw my velvet persephone pants last year and was inspired. He wanted me to make him some pants.

I bought various fabrics at Mood and chose the best contender.  I don't recall what they were, but this is a soft cotton twill that is brushed on one side and has a slight twill weave on the other.  The soft side is nice but it attracts all the dust, so I opted for that side in.

I cut this out in January before I moved and would have loved to have time to complete the pants, but of course once I moved I didn't sew and then once I sewed I had so many UFOs and it wasn't til Jason saw my jeans in September that he started to whinge a bit and I thought I better get on with it.

Here they are:

Making stuff for men is pretty easy. They tell you a waist measurement, and eventually an inseam, and you cut the size belonging to that waist measurement and then you cut that inseam.  I added some moderately subtle detailing on the pockets and lots of labels on the inside.

Here is proof of a happy owner:

In terms of the instructions, I recall them not being very good, but my memory is now fuzzy.  I have made pants a few times and so any confusion that I had was allayed by experience even if the instructions themselves were not easy to follow.  My cousin likes the pants but he thought there was too much shaping at the hips and wants them a bit straighter, so I will probably make them again sometime in the next few months.

Tilly & the Buttons Zadie dress, upcycled take 2

I made this dress just about a year ago, using upcycled tshirts and size 3, which matched my measurements on the size chart. See it here.

It was huge and it was long. (Oops I didn't shorten for the second version 4" like I said I should.)
I didn't like it at all, I didn't enjoy the process. I felt like I was over this dress before I started - my enthuasiasm for it was years ago and I just couldn't get there again.

But I still felt like I had to try again.
So take 2, in more upcycled tshirts, size 1, (I match size 3 on the size chart) with a 1/2" shortening through the bodice.
I'm not sure I needed to shorten it. The skirt felt proportionally too long, though overall the fit was good.

I would recommend sizing down if you are between sizes, but not by 2 sizes. The tshirt jersey is much thinner than the ponte type jersey recommended for this pattern.

I knew pretty early on that I hated this pattern.  I loved the main tshirt I was using, and I think initially I'd hoped I would love the dress. It didn't happen.  I just don't suit this style anymore.  The instructions are still ok, I still hate instructions with color photos.  I did a lot of shortcuts because quality wasn't on my radar.

This is wearable.

Also, after about 8 months as a pile on my floor under my sewing table, it's gone, and that was the main benefit of finally working through it.  Thank god...for lockdown? The pile of UFOs under my table is magically GONE!!

She Wears the Pants no. 15: Draped Cardigan

After I made no. 12, the draped minidress, I was less secure about my choice to size up to a M for this cardigan as well, but I forged ahead. My waist and hip measurements are M but my bust is S, so in this cardi I thought it was meaningful that it fit well about the hips.

The fabric is a drapey merino and tencel blend. It's a beautiful fabric, but it's relatively heavy and has quite a lot of drape for a loopback knit.

The pattern - I found it hilarious and so much fun to make!  It comes together really quickly and there's just nothing quite like Japanese patterns, I mean, the entire body is one single piece.

What I did determine: you should pull tension on the neckline binding between the shoulder seams, and then pull NO tension on it for the rest of the length of the cardigan. I pulled a little bit on it the whole way along, and I find the neckline is too loose, and the cardigan pulls inward because of my binding.

AND it's very big.  I like the sleeves a lot.  But the whole cardigan goes halfway to my knees!  Those models might possibly be really tall, but also my knit is heavy and has a tendency to pull downwards.

I'm happy about this result, but also disappointed, and I had to pause and remind myself that just lately I was confirming the need to make something multiple times before you get it right.  I'm not going to bother with buttons this time around - I had thought about interfacing the button part of the band, which would be wise if you can figure out which part it is!  It doesn't need to be stretched so the interfacing won't interfere that way - I would definitely interface in future, especially on a lighter knit.

There's nothing in my stash that works for this, but I definitely want to try again. I've been doing a lot of Alabama Chanin experimentation, and actually I think this might work perfectly with 2 layers of overlock cotton - they aren't very stretchy, but the two layers creates a substantial result.  There's room for improvement.  (I don't think I'll size down until I've tried a different fabric first.)

She Wears the Pants no. 12: draped minidress

I was allowing myself to thumb through my Japanese pattern books for inspiration...and sure enough, inspiration was waiting for me in She Wears the Pants, by Yuko Takada.

I picked out no. 12: the draped minidress, realising I have exactly the fabric for it, and I was enticed by how simple it was, but also how clever - the grainline isn't at the centre of the front piece, presumably to alter the drape of the front.

Problem: my chest is 32.5, which is a small, but my waist and hip are solidly a size M.  I decided to size up, and I sincerely regretted that later - I didn't think through silk jersey, and how it would be better for it to be too small, and very clingy, rather than too big.

I sort of went my own way with the bindings doing a kind of hybrid bias binding on them, but otherwise the pattern was very simple.  Tracing the pattern, I thought about my previous experience trying to copy a Japanese dress (here) and how a very simple appearing decision like an offset grainline can make all the difference to the pattern.

You only trace 2 pieces. You measure your own bindings, and you mirror imagine the front piece to create 2, whereas the back is cut on the fold.  It was one of the simplest Japanese patterns I've ever traced out.  Of course adding seam allowances, a minor irritation.

Though my jersey was slippery, overall this is a very easy sew.
It's just like the model! Even the weird, hunched over look!  In my pictures I promise I'm not hunching. I do have a blue dress under it which shows at the hem (obviously and at the chest).

Not hunched over, for real!

You see I really should have sized down.  A size down would have indeed been clingy, not a bad thing in this fabric, and it also wouldn't have draped down to my belly button.  It may not quite show my belly button but I look down and see a lot so it feels like it exposes more than it does!   The weight of the drape comes directly from the shoulders so the bindings are a good support.  I really like how nicely finished this is, and how easily it came together.

As it is I'm happy with this experiment. I wore it to dinner at friends (they are part of my shared isolation bubble, no judging!) and layered a bra top under it and it was great. Also, looking over the book again the model is wearing a top under it so possibly it drapes down to her belly button too.

Thoughts:
size down if you are in between, especially in a heavier weight fabric
the front drape flips inside out at times, so a fabric that doesn't have an obvious reverse side is better.
easy dress!