Sewing for Summer in Cool Blues and Whites

I've been dreaming about summer sewing since the first hints of warmness came in on the wind this spring. The color palette was embedded in my mind... cool blues, whites, and stripes, all in linen. Blues the color of the Atlantic ocean-- just a bit moody, tending towards gray. A classic summer palette.

Interestingly enough, I have never owned a pair of white pants. NEVER. Always seemed a bit too risky. Khaki yes, but pure white, never. Adding white shirts to my wardrobe has made me bold... 6 months and counting, and I haven't ruined one yet. Maybe, just maybe, I can manage to keep a pair of white pants respectable for at least awhile.

I've had a rather large piece of natural colored Cone Mills denim in my stash for ages now... I had thoughts of dyeing it, but that hasn't happened. So, I made some of it up into a pair of Ginger Jeans. 

This is my now TNT jeans pattern, and it will be the 5th pair I've made. The first two had significant flaws, but the next two were pretty darn awesome, and I think the fit on this one may be the best yet. The toughest thing about jeans is that darn break-in period. If they're too small and they don't break in... that's the end of it. Lately I've been making them just a bit big, then having to go back in and take them in when they break in and end up too loose (which is a tedious task with jeans). So with this pair, I made them just a tiny touch tight. We'll see how that goes. 

You can read my other jeans posts here and here, but to summarize I've modified my pattern with a full bum adjustment, deepened the back crotch curve for additional butt fitting, and done a HUGE sway back adjustment. I interface the waistband with weft interfacing cut in the stretchy direction, which creates a nice firm but malleable waistband. 

New for this pair... I created a bit more space for my calves. I just widened the side seam a bit where I needed the space, but I might try a full calf adjustment next time, because I totally love the effect. I think that tightness in the calves might be encouraging my jeans to ride down over the course of the day.

I decorated these with copper hardware and gold bar-tacks. I added a little striped "label" over one pocket for a faux designer touch. 

I hemmed these jeans just a bit on the short side. I sort of hate the trend towards cropped pants because I hate having cold ankles for the 9 months of the year that it is chilly here, but I suppose white jeans are really summer pants, and I can wear boots in the winter. 

I made the pocket stays with striped linen left over from making the shirts. In certain lights, you can see the stripes right through the denim, yikes! I didn't think that was going to be a problem with denim, I would have expected it to be completely opaque. Next time I'd be more careful to use a light solid for the part of the pocket stay that is in contact with the denim. I also used the striped linen to do a bias tape finish on the waistband, borrowed shamelessly from the Sasha Trousers pattern. 

The shirts are all from the Liesl Classic Shirt pattern, you can read my post about the pattern here. I made these shirts with extra ease, for summer breezy-ness. The pattern only comes with long sleeves, but I'm experimenting with making a short cuffed sleeve. I think the sleeve on the 1/2 inch striped shirt is a bit long, but it can easily be rolled.

The blue striped shirts are both made from linen from the fabrics-store.com. The light blue long sleeve one is made from a finer grade linen that is just dreamy, and I used real shell buttons that I bought in Italy. It has a wonderful casual, luxurious feel. I love the menswear vibe of the blue and white stripe, especially when glammed up with the white denim and a red lip.

I was noticing that some of the collars on the linen shirts I was wearing constantly all winter had puckered a bit. Not so much as to make them unwearable, especially since I usually wear them un-ironed with a bit of linen rumple. But it bothers me. I was using Fashion Sewing Supply's Pro-sheer Elegance Medium fusible interfacing, which they swear doesn't shrink, and I pre-wash all linen fabrics 3 times on hot with 3 times in the hot dryer. After sewing they are always hung to dry. Something has obviously shrunk though, because I can't think what else would cause a pucker like that on only the interfaced portions of the shirt. 

What to do-- use sew in interfacing! So these new linen shirts use sew in interfacing in the collars and cuffs-- Fashion Sewing Supply's Lightly Crisp sew-in. We'll see how that holds up. Using the glue-stick baste method, it is even easier to use than the fusible. I still use the fusible on the plackets though. I could probably switch there too, come to think of it...

I finish the hems with handmade bias tape. I just love the bias finish with the stripes!

The beige and blue shirt is made from a double gauze that I brought back from Rome. I'm not totally convinced on double gauze for summer, it seems rather clingy to me, but it is wonderfully soft. The buttons that I used are super-thin shell buttons and I'm sort of regretting using them, they pop open all the time. I guess I should have made the button holes just a touch smaller. I guess I could replace the buttons... but sewing on all those buttons all over again is not an enticing task. 

I actually made a second pair of white pants. These are 7.1 oz linen, with a knit waistband. My own pattern, so comfy. These will definitely be my go-to pants for lounging about this summer. I need a few more pairs!

Is anyone else in love with cool blues and stripes this summer?

The Monday Motivation Volume 3: Summer Sewing is in High Season!

Is your summer flying by as fast as mine? I can't believe it is August already!

There is all sorts of amazing-ness in the sewing world this summer. You would think sewing would would slow down in the summer-- but I think people get motivated to sew the perfect wardrobe for their destinations. I'm certainly guilty of this, I can't count how many late nights I've had sewing up a new wardrobe item right before a trip. So rather than a theme, this Motivation will be more of a high summer round-up!

SEWING

Heather has a way of making things that you never knew you really needed until she made them. Her Caftan is a case in point. It just looks so cool and comfortable.

I'm soooo excited that the By Hand London Charlie Dress is finally accessible to us overseas admirers!

Cloth habit made a video on seam taping bras... what a lovely finish for your handmade lingerie!

Sara's Helga Shirt is casual and elegant, and soaks up the gorgeous sunlight in her photos. I was so inspired that I made my own Helga... details in a future blog post.

It was so bold and generous of Megan to share how she manages full-time mom-hood and a small business. If only my juggling of mom-hood and work was half as sane!

Sew Anemone's Bird Print Bailen Top is so well fitted, and such a playful print.

I love A Colorful Canvas's thoughts on making the Sophie Swimsuit into a tankini and her tutorial for adding a back band to the full suit.

FABRIC

Some fabric that I've been admiring for summer makes...

I ordered linen from the The Fabric-Store for the first time this summer, and I was impressed at the quality for the price. Such a gorgeous selection of colors. I decided on the 5.3 oz and it substantial without being heavy, and very soft.

I am so in love with the digital print linens at Emmaonesock. They are pricey, but oh so lovely.

Also at the top of my stash is chambray and double gauze from Imagine Gnats. Beautiful quality, and they were on my doorstep before I knew it.

EDIBLE MAKES

Blueberry maple jam is one of my favorite things to make during blueberry season. So amazingly delicious, and very simple.

Did you know that you can make your own Hot Cocoa Mix? I just made up a batch for our camping trip this week!

Seed Race

I have a secret: I have silently scoffed at those that start plants from seeds. Why waste the time, just buy a few plants at the garden store and be done with it! But that was before I had a whole yard at my disposal, and after only 6 weeks of glorious summer I am bored to tears of the myrtle monoculture I have acquired. Now, I secretly long for lush, tall borders of easy care, deer-resistant perennials. But at $15 a plant, all I can hope for is a tiny postage stamp of a garden.

Enter seeds. I don't have a great history with seeds. I'm haunted by childhood memories of molding peat pots, with nary a green spec to lighten the mood. And those were tried and tested varieties from the Burpee catalogs that my parents favored. Whatever am I doing with tough perennial seeds, where the jargon is tinted with unfamiliar vocabulary like "scarification" and "stratification?"

Not to mention the fact that it is midsummer! But, there may be hope. There are some in the blogosphere that sing the praises of starting perennials in June and July, with the thought that ample light and a half season head start will make for successful beds next summer.

So I ordered a sampling from Swallowtail Seeds, chosen for their excellent selection of deer-resistant perennials. Echinacea in 3 varieties (including the most common), Echinops (blue globe thistle), Salvia in Rose and Merleau, hardy Geranium, Balloon Flower, Foxglove (poisonous Digitalus!) and several varieties of Yarrow. And, just for kicks- Basil seeds-- I know, either perennial nor a flower. I just wanted some Basil, and I needed to make $30 to get free shipping!

I decided to go for the coffee-filter method of germination, for two reasons: 1) the possibly irrational fear of moldy peat pots (see above) and 2) the immediate gratification of seeing seeds sprouting!

I also happened to have a bunch of unbleached coffee filters just sitting around, so they were perfect for the task. Plastic baggies and a permanent marker (for keeping track of varieties, methods, and dates) were also readily available. Shown above: tiny balloon flower seeds (Platycodon grandiflorus, "Astra Blue").

The method is simple. Moisten the coffee filter (wring out any excess water). Sprinkle seeds on half of the filter. Fold into quarters, so the damp paper is in contact with the seeds. Place in a labeled baggie. (Above: Echinacea Purpurea, Purple Coneflower).

And then, there is the question of stratification or scarification. Basically, the idea is that perennial seeds expect to lay on the ground through winter, then come up in the spring. Stratification simulates the cold of winter. Scarification simulates the beating the seed coat might take over the course of a winter. The seed packets did not specify either... so either the vendor has taken care of this, or they think it is unnecessary. I suppose I could call and ask for clarification (none is given on their website)-- but I haven't done this. There is no clear consensus from any source I have found on the web, although I really like this database of seed information from "The Backyard Herbalist."

I'm conducting my own little experiment. Some seeds go right out onto the porch, where it is warm and they get lots of indirect light. These are the seeds I'm pretty sure won't need any extra help-- the Basil and the Globe Thistle (Echinops), and a few Hardy Geranium seeds (I have no idea what to do with these). Samples of almost all seeds have gone into the back of the fridge-- I figure I'll leave them there for at least 2 weeks. And some, I have frozen in ice cube trays for 48 hours.

These will either be a great success, or a dismal failure! Most sources say you will kill your seeds if you freeze them. Logically, though-- what better way to simulate winter, than a bit of ice? Stratification and scarification all in one. Anyhow, it's only a few seeds of each variety. After their 48 hour deep freeze, I put them on coffee filters in baggies on the warm porch.

I don't know how keen I am on the ice-cube tray thing overall... some of the seeds were very hard to handle, and I ended up spending a bunch of time fishing out little tiny seeds, one by one, from melting ice cubes. The Salvia seeds had the added challenge of producing a slippery, gelatinous coating... beautiful though!

I started my seeds 2 days ago... and my basil is already sprouting! There were signs of life after 24 hours. Incredible. I'm waiting for the first pair of leaves, then I'll transplant, carefully, to soil.

And after 48 hours, a single sprouting Globe Thistle (Echinops) seed. Which is also remarkable... germination times are listed as 15-30 days! But this is not so surprising... the thistle is like a weed, it makes sense that it is quick to sprout.

Incidentally, I am reserving a portion of my seeds for an experiment in winter sowing. All of the Foxglove is on hold... from what I've read, foxglove can behave sort of like an annual, and is very easy to start from seed with winter sowing. I also plan to try winter sowing the rest of the Echinacea and Echinops. And anything else left over!

The great seed race is on!