Favorite and Fails: 2018 Sewing Year in Review at Unlikelynest

2018 Sewing Year in Review at Unlikely

A week into 2019... hopefully not so far in that we can't take a look back at the best and the worst of 2018! Mostly the best ;). 

Most popular makes (based on blog hits and Instagram likes)

Sequin Amy Jumpsuit, Frida Jenny Overalls, Wiksten Kimono in doublecloth linen, Italian Print Amy Jumpsuit

I'm so proud of all of these, and I love wearing them! I haven't made so many show-y pieces since before my kids were born, lately I've been more focused on basics. A special thanks to Heather of Closet Case and Kelli of True Bias for the encouragement with the #sewfrosting challenge. 

I am very honored to have been featured in Closet Case's Sew Frosting Highlights (in the Oonabaloona category!) and in their 2018 Favorite Makes of the Year, Patternreview's Member of the Month (December), and Helen's Closet's Wednesday Weekly.

Most worn

Liesl/Kalle Shirt dress, Black linen Amy Jumpsuit with Wiksten Kimono, Liesl Shirt with Ginger Jeans, Kalle Shirt with Ginger/Sasha Pants.

While I love pulling out the fancy stuff for an occasional pop in my daily wardrobe or a special occasion, most of the time I prefer to allow my style choices to play a quiet background to my busy life. When I was in Rome for 4 months, I wore had about 5 Liesl and Kalle shirts and 3 pairs of Ginger/Sasha pants, and I wore these non-stop. This summer and fall my Kalle shirt dresses have been central. Lately I've been living in my Black Linen Amy Jumpsuit and Jenny Overalls.

Speaking of basics, I've been fairly successful in my RTW fast this year. Bras and socks are allowed in the "fast" rules, and I definitely did buy these. I felt a little bad about purchasing a Patagonia down liner jacket this year, but I decided that it just would not be time and cost-effective to make this item. I'm really glad I purchased it thought... it works great with my trench coats and my wool coats, singificantly increasing the range of temperatures I can wear them in, and it is incredibly warm and light.

Black Linen Jenny Overalls

Most popular sewing posts from the past

Tilton Asymettric Wool Blazer, Hey June Lane Raglan, Ginger Jeans Pocket Inspiration, Personalizing the Helen's Closet Blackwood Cardigan

Burberry inspired trench

It's interesting looking back to see which posts have become most popular, they often aren't the ones I would have expected. The trench post is very expected-- I imagine many sewists attempt a classic trench at some time in their sewing. It also makes some sense that the Ginger jeans pocket inspiration post is popular... whenever I make a pair of jeans those back pockets are like a black page staring at me. The possibilities are endless! I should make a new post about tees... the Union Street tee by Hey June is actually my current go to. 

Favorite makes from past years

Kalle Shirt Dress, Missoni Cardigan, Wool Coat, Anthracite Cotton Trench

I haven't made any coats this year, but I so very much appreciate the ones I've made in past years. The Anthracite trench was amazing in Rome this year, and lately I've been wearing the long wool coat all the time with my jumpsuits and Kalle dresses. This summer I lived in my original green Kalle dress. For some reason I've loved wearing my zigzag cardigans this year- the earth-tones Missoni cardigan was made way back in 2013.

Sewing fails

I am terrible at blogging my sewing failures! I know I should... it is very helpful for me to read about patterns that didn't work out for other bloggers. But taking photos of failures is just so depressing. So, for now, a list. Also, just to note--just because these patterns didn't work for me, it doesn't mean that they won't work for you!

--Tessuti Robbie Pant-- The Robbie looked great on Karen Templer and so many others. Technically the fit is fine... but that wide waistband hits me at an awkward point, and ends up rolling down under my mom-belly, which means the crotch lands at my knees... not a good look for me. 

--Tessuti Demi Pant--I think that there is a reason that I don't own any elastic waist pants. The crotch-waist area on this pattern was a total disaster for me... I ended up just chopping the whole top part off and adding an elastic waist that sits on the hips. I love the way the fabric is folded at the hem, but I also was testing this in a linen that didn't have sufficient body to really show off the cool architectural design of these pants. So, a fail for me, but you might have better luck!
--Deer and Doe Myosotis--This is such a spectacular fail for me that I'll probably blog it later this year once I get over my disappointment. Such a lovely pattern, made in a lovely fabric... but the style just looks dreadful on me. I thought perhaps I was going to put aside my dislike of gathered skirts on me... but no, not happening.

Sewing for family

Princess and Pilot, Concert outfits, Christmas PJs, Annual Swimwear

The only family sewing I've managed to blog is their Halloween costumes, the Princess and the Pilot. I also made the Cosi Swimsuit, which was very easy and a great fit for my daughter. Unfortunately the Pattern for Pirates swim trunks didn't work out for my son, I don't know what happened there, but the fit was so off that they were unrecoverable, good thing his ones from last year still fit!

The kids got new outfits for their piano concert, including an Oliver and S. Buttoned up Buttoned down shirt for my son and version of the Girl Inspired Princess Dress for my daughter. Everyone (except me!) got home made PJs this year. My daughter requested a nightgown, so I made her the Ellie Inspired Beautiful Dreamer, with significant fit modifications, in a gorgeous flannel by Dear Stella called Foxtail Forest Treetop Party. For the boys I used the free Pattern for Pirates PJ pants, which was spot on for my son but could use some work on fit for my husband.

Patterns

Bunny Lovey

Velveteen Rabbit

It's incredible to see all of your Bunny Loveys and Velveteen Rabbits! I should do another roundup post on these, there are so many beautiful ones out there.

So, I could keep on, but I think I'll leave it at that! It's been a great sewing year.

Happy New Year!

Midnight Blue Sequin Amy Jumpsuit for #sewfrosting

When Heather and Kelli announced their #sewfrosting challenge, the first thing that jumped into my head was a holiday-worthy Amy Jumpsuit. 

The Closet Case Amy Jumpsuit is sort of the perfect simple silhouette to sew try out a wild fabric. In this case... midnight blue sequins. I've never sewn sequins before-- in fact, I've never owned an all-over sequin garment.

I bought this fabric when I was in NYC for other reasons and just happened to find 30 minutes to swing by the Garment District. I can't remember the name of the shop I bought this in, but it was filled with sequin fabrics and very close to Mood.

I did make one tiny modification to the pattern this time around. The straps on my previous versions sit a bit wide on my shoulders and tend to slide down, so I moved the shoulder straps in by 1/4 of an inch in both the front and the back. You can see my previous Amy here, btw.

Apparently, under all those sequins, most sequin fabrics are mesh. Who knew? So instead of sewing the facings, I made a full lining by cutting a second copy of the pattern pieces in navy rayon bemberg.

I cut out the sequin fabric with my rotary cutter. I didn't bother engaging in any sequin heroics like removing them all from the seam allowances-- I just sewed right over them. Neither the sequins nor my machine seemed bothered by this, no broken needles or skipped stitches. Other than their being sequin bits all over my sewing area, no harm done.

Otherwise, I kept things super simple. I skipped the zipper and pockets. I hemmed the lining by machine, and the sequins with hem tape, by hand.

For the straps, I made double rouleau straps from my lining fabric, spaced the width of the wide straps that come with the pattern.

With all of those sequins and the full lining, the jumpsuit feels delightfully swishy. It is a lot of fun to move around in.

However, despite the full lining, the sequins are still sort of scratchy under the arms and even where they press on the lining. I guess one does not wear sequins for the comfort factor!

Frida-alls: Frida Kahlo Overalls with Removable Bib

Frida Kahlo was never known to wear overalls.

However, I think she'd probably consider it, if she were here today. She was known for mixing cultures and time periods in her dress... traditional huipil blouses with contemporary flowing skirts, colonial earrings and revolutionary rebozos. These overalls combine traditional workwear with contemporary fabric designs, and mixes utilitarian with the trendy in the form of a bare-shoulder top. 

The fabric is a Frida Kahlo tribute print by Alexander Henry called Frida's Garden, in cotton canvas. I was a little worried that it would be stiff for a garment, but it washed up soft and supple. My original idea was to make overalls in a dark floral, which I thought would be help make overalls evening-out appropriate and be an excellent entry for #sewfrosting. However, when I came across this Frida print I flat out fell in love. I came across it on Fabric.com, and the picture and description was for the black Frida's Garden in cotton canvas... but when it arrived, it was the cream background. Since the print was even more lovely in person, I uncharacteristically ignored this blatant breach of fabric ordering etiquette and just went with it. 

Oops, my backstrap is twisted! Didn't notice this until I uploaded my photos!

Do I think Frida would approve of this melange of her painting symbolism? Well, that's hard to say. But having painted herself into much of her oeuvre, we know she isn't shy about her imagery. The designer has filled her garden with the monkeys and parrots she famously painted portraits with, in addition to lush vegetation, ripe fruit, snakes, and eyes and arms on canvases. As well as a few of her most famous quotes:

Pies para qué las quiero, si tengo alas pa' volar.

Feet, what do I have need of you for when I have wings to fly?

Tengo ganas a vivir. Ya comencé a pintar.

I desire to live. I already have begun to paint.

I wasn't quite sure what to do with the pattern on the legs, so I mostly let chance decide. I'm not quite in love with the off-set twinning happening in the front, but oh well. I did carefully choose what would be on the pockets though. Frida with monkey on the front left with the "...fly" quote, and Friday with parrot on the right back pocket. 

The pattern is, of course, the Jenny Overalls by Closet Case Patterns. I seem to have difficulty making a pattern just once- you can see my black linen overalls here. The fit of the size 16 was nearly perfect last time, so I mostly stuck with that. The only change I made was to grade the bib from a size 16 at the waist to a size 14 at the top, since the bib on my linen overalls seems to provide a bit more coverage than the pattern pics call for. 

But the biggest change is... the bib is removable. Ta-da....!

I thought these would look cute as pants. Mia (@sewnorth) has a tutorial on Instagram. I didn't follow this to the letter. She added an extra layer to her waistband for the buttonholes... but my canvas was quite thick, so I just made the buttonholes on the inner waistband without alteration. 

Thinking about it now... wouldn't these buttonholes be better horizontal? I didn't really think about it... Mia made hers vertical, and I just followed along. However, with a horizontal buttonhole there would be less worry about the size of the buttonhole fitting on the waistband, and possibly more security against the vertical stress on the bib. Next time! 

The buttons on the front bib are about 1/2 inch, four of them, mostly because that's what I had on hand in my recycled button stash.

I also totally freak'in forgot to add extra to the bottom of the bib when cutting it out. So I added a button band at the bottom.

I did the button sides again (Closet Case Patterns has a tutorial) and realized that I could use the top button as an anchor for the sides of the bib. It is just a little tight to fit the extra thickness on the button, but very doable since jeans buttons have a good shank (is that the right word?). 

The double buttonhole on the inside of the waistband is from me not realizing I could reuse the waistband button. The horizontal buttonhole is the one that I use. 

These jeans buttons came from Wawak. They are really nice quality, and very reasonably priced, as long as you are ordering enough to get free shipping. 

The straps each have one big button in the back (1 inch?)

The overall hardware is from Amazon. I'm not sure what really nice overall hardware feels like, but this feels a little less than workforce quality, but it does the job.

This version came out a little bit tighter than my linen overalls. This is actually a good thing, since the pants need to be a bit tighter to stay up. This is probably in part because the cotton canvas has much less give than a linen fabric... but I think it is also because I was a bit more precise sewing these, for whatever reason. I'm pretty firmly in the stretch pants camp... so we'll have to see whether I find these comfortable for daily wear. 

The top I'm wearing with the pants is a Liesl Classic Shirt in tencel twill, made about a year ago. 

The top I'm wearing with the overalls is brand new, made to wear with my growing overall collection- the Closet Case Nettie. The original pattern is for a bodysuit and a dress, but I just cut it off at a hip length and then did Heather's tutorial to make it off the shoulder. The fabric is a rayon jersey from the stash. It was a super quick sew!

So what do you think, should I take these overalls dancing?

The Princess and the Pilot-- Girl Inspired Princess Dress Pattern, Self-drafted wings pattern

So we finally had a sunny afternoon to get some good pics of this year's Halloween costumes!

It is probably no surprise that my little princess wanted to be a princess. Actually, she wanted to be a queen... probably inspired by the Olivia book about how everyone wants to be a princess, and Olivia wants to be herself and not like all the rest of the princesses, so in the end she decides she'll just be a queen.

Apparently, queens need to be dressed in pink, glittery gowns that go down to your toes. Those were my instructions. 

I was feeling a bit pressed and wanted a pattern that would just tell me what to do without any fuss. The Big 4 pattern companies are full of princess-y dresses, but my experience with their sizing for children's patterns has been dismal and the thought of toile-ing and altering them made my head hurt. 

I decided to take a risk on an independent designer, and I bought the Girl Inspired Princess Dress pattern. I couldn't find a single review, so I was just praying that the pattern was a good one. The photos were lovely, and the style of the dress is the perfect fairy-tale princess dress with just enough decoration to be sweet and classy.  The lifted overskirt that shows the tulle underneath is just adorable!

I had a moment of panic when I downloaded the pattern and the grading looked a bit-- let's just say-- unconventional. However... when I sewed up the lining in my daughter's size by measurements (8), the fit was perfect. I did change the shape of the bodice so that the waist didn't curve inward... my daughter has a nice little round body that does better with a more barrel shaped bodice. And I did increase the side seam allowances (the pattern has 3/8 inch seam allowances, which seemed skimpy to me). 

The directions were also excellent, and they lead you through the process of making a fully lined dress with all seams enclosed and no hand sewing. Yay! 

For the skirt, the pattern just gives the dimensions of the rectangles, in many cases using the entire width of the fabric and gathering to fit. Unfortunately my ruffle attachment would not work with the tulle! But it turned out to be not so bad just gathering the traditional way with two rows of basting. 

The back is closed with buttons, which is a lovely detail. 

I purchased the crown and the earrings on Amazon. I almost bought another of those plastic birthday crowns, but at the last minute I thought perhaps I would see if I could find something a bit nicer. The crown is actually quite sturdy, it feels like it is made of metal and the fake gems are very glittery. 

The queen was head over heels over the earrings. They are a bit flimsy, and the white rubber pads are always falling out, but with a bit of care they seem to work very well for her, and she is able to wear them for hours without pain (or so she claims). 

The queen declared that she needed special shoes and a wand. The shoes were purchased at Target, and we made the wand together from fabric scraps and ribbon and a piece of a dowel.

Leo is very into planes right now, so I had the idea of making a plane or some wings. Cardboard would of course be classic, but seemed like it would be cumbersome, so I thought that perhaps I'd make some in fabric. 

I put the idea into google and lo and behold, these wings by Hanna Anderson popped up. They were almost exactly what I had in mind, and I almost bought them on the spot, until I took a closer look and realized they were actually sort of plastic-y and not nearly as cool as the idea in my head. For instance, what little wimpy jets those wings have!

So I sat down and came up with my own pattern. I used a super-shiny knit fabric from Joannes, and a bit of stretchy orange knit for detailing and the straps. Inside of the wings I used 1/2 inch foam. The jets are two sizes of seltzer bottles (since we don't drink soda!) stuffed with colored cellophane and held on with stretchy straps.

The wings strap on with backpack style straps with quick release buckles, and there are elastic straps for his hands or wrists to go in. 

It is a great costume for a 3-year old with lots of energy-- he was just flying from house to house when we were trick-or-treating. 

The hat and goggles were from Amazon, cheap but effective.

Another successful Halloween! The kids love their costumes, so I expect they'll be favorites for dress-up for the rest of the year. 

Where's the Hoedown: Closet Case Jenny Overalls in Black Linen

When Closet Case Patterns release the Jenny Overalls, I bought it immediately-- for the trousers, not the overalls. I figured that I had been wanted to try the high waisted pant trend, and Closet Case's version was likely to be a good fit for my body.

I had absolutely no intention of ever making the overalls. I have never owned a pair of overalls. I have never even considered owning overalls. Overalls are for painters and kids.



Then Heather posted her overalls, and all of her lovely testers started showing off theirs, and suddenly overalls are IT. I was especially moved by A Colorful Canvas's musings-- she had similar concerns about the juvenile nature of overalls.

I thought a bit about making a removable bib, but actually, I think I'd fit the pants differently as pants than as overalls. Without the bib, there is a need for the pants to fit tighter to stay up on their own (at least on my body shape), but with the bib and straps, the fit can be a touch more relaxed.

I made a straight size 16. Or I think I did... it's possible I graded down for the hips. Looking back at the size chart, should have graded down for the bib, perhaps two sizes, but alas that didn't occur to me. It's fine, but in retrospect I think it is probably higher and wider on me than it should be. 

I did make a muslin before cutting my fabric. The fit was super! I was expecting to have to fix gaping in the back and the crotch curve, like I do on most pants, but there was nothing that needed changing that I could see. However, seeing the overalls on my body in thrift store not-quite-white mystery poly fabric made me second guess the entire project, and I spent a couple days talking myself back into cutting my real fabric. 

My fabric is my favorite 7.1 oz linen from Fabrics-store.com. I love this weight for pants, it holds up reasonably well and is soft to wear.

I used Heather's tutorial for the button sides. I tried to extend the sides to accommodate the buttonholes as suggested, but it turns out you'd really have to extend not only the sides, but also all of the pocket pieces, and I didn't properly anticipate that. So the buttonholes extend past the facings, but as Heather says in her tutorial, that isn't really a big deal since the pocket fabric provides plenty of support for the buttonholes.

I used cheap jeans buttons that I bought on Amazon. I generally try to avoid cheap hardware, but I had a hard time finding the shiny silver finish in a set of buttons that hit the price/quality mark for me. I was super careful installing the buttons since the soft metal deformed easily and I only had the exact number I needed! I was worried they'd just come off, but so far so good.

I also added belt loops. Since my weight fluctuates and I was making these a bit on the loose side, I thought it might be a good idea to have the option to wear a belt. Also, on this kind of garment I think the belt loops are a nice detail.

And the verdict is... I LOVE these. I want to live in them. The fit is surprisingly flattering and comfortable. I also love playing with pairing them with the more fitted and feminine tops that I haven't worn for years, as well as my favorite collared shirts. I really want to try them with an off the shoulder tee and a peasant blouse-- of course I own neither of these items, so I'd have to sew them!

I haven't taken them off since I finished them! I probably need another pair. I haven't been much into patterns lately, but something about these makes me want them in a large floral print. Alternatively, stripes, or perhaps indigo linen.

Further renditions will have to wait though... halloween sewing is about to invade my sewing space!

So, what do you think about the appropriateness of overalls at work? My husband's response when I wore these for the first time was, "Where's the hoedown?" I was hoping linen with shiny hardware would elevate them from weekend wear. Of course, a nice blazer would solve the issue, but also sort of hides them. What do you think, are those of us that want to wear overalls to work delusional?