Hats!

I first started making hats three years ago. Or, rather, I made a bunch of hats then, wasn't totally happy, and didn't make anymore. The pattern I had been using was based on a round head opening. My head isn't round and I though perhaps that was affecting the fit. I had looked at the Melly Sews! tutorial back then, but couldn't really make sense of it. And then I saw the Sorrento Hat. I really wanted to like this one because 1) my daughter just bought a bucket hat 2) we're going on a cruise and the pizza parlour is called Sorrento's and is delicious and 3) it's free. As well, Patterns For Pirates also had a free sunhat with a little different shape.  Of all these hats, only the Melly Sews! uses an oval head shape. Apparently for smaller sizes, Oliver + S has a free bucket hat with an oval shape. Not big enough for me though.

First up was the Melly Sews! tutorial. I still struggled a bit with the directions. Some of the sewing steps are not well shown. The big issue is ease. This hat does NOT mention you need to add wearing ease! I measured exactly 22". In the pattern she used her husband, who's head size was in between sizes so she sized up which gave him the ease. Not a lot, but some. I went with the 22" crown and brim formulas. Yes, I can get it on, but I can't wear it.

A shame, cause I did a hack to make a pocket in the top of the crown, held closed with a snap. Like a Tilley hat though I used the snap because I wanted to put my ship card in it and wanted to make sure it was secure. I also made the hat reversible, unlike Melly's hat. Yes, then the pocket and snap are on the outside, but I dare anyone to try to steal from the top of my head. The white is a light twill and the inside is a blue floral curtain from the 90s.

Annoyed at having to do all the brim and body piece drafting myself, I moved on to the next pattern, the Sorrento bucket hat.

This pattern says it includes 1/2" wearing ease, so I went with the 22" size. Again, I created a secret pocket that isn't all that secret if I wear it reversed. It's the same fabric I used for the Roadtrip Slippers, and the white twill again. Appropriate for a trip to the sunny south again. I struggled a bit with getting the brim on, I think I just wasn't accurate enough though I had tried.

 Cute, eh?

I feel very shaded in this hat! The brim might be a bit longer than my daughter's bucket hat. This did get her approval. In an informal poll on my Facebook page, it also got good comments. I worry about white on the inside though! The brim is also the easiest to wear while sitting in a high back chair (cough lounger).

Last up is the Patterns for Pirates "Set Sail" hat. I really wanted to like this one! And I do, but I had issues. I was really digging in the stash for this. The pink and black fabric is from a dress I made Lucy eons ago. The black fabric is from some fabric from my MIL, which I used to make Lucy a pair of shorts. Don't know if I ever blogged those. I was whipping out shorts left and right for the girls the past couple years.

I'm told black isn't suitable for a sunhat. 

 Although it's reversible, I had issues with getting the brim on and the seams of the crown don't really line up exactly from one side to the other. So it feels a bit skewed when I wear it. I made the 4" brim

which is really generous--it was 4 1/4" after finished. Depending on how stiff you interface it, it is not a sitting in a chair hat. I like this design though, and can see maybe making the side or the top panel in a mesh of some sorts. I did not follow the directions to cut the brim as a full circle on folded material. I copied the 1/4 brim piece so I had a half brim and cut that on the fold. I figured if I needed to conserve fabric, I can do seams at the 1/2 way points on the brim. Also, if you want it to tilt down a bit, you need to cut a wedge out. The Melly Sews tutorial talks about this, and I did it with that one. This P4P one doesn't do that which gives it a floppier straight out look. I really wish this one had an oval body though. Just to make me happy LOL

The thing with me and hats though...even if they feel loose enough, I can still feel them for awhile after taking off. I'm just really tactile sensitive.

Rob and I went to the fabric store and picked out more fabric. I'm not sure yet what pattern I'll do. Maybe another Set Sail in the new fabric which is lighter coloured. Packing hats is never easy, so I want it to be as versatile as possible! 

Loungers

Last year, everywhere I went on the internet, I saw:

I have documented here my desire for some flowy, floral pants. Not necessarily this type of floral. Don't these look comfy? They were in ads, in Facebook groups, everywhere. I heard they were the "Portlander Pants". I never bought the pattern though because 1) I have so many patterns 2) I don't have much experience buying this type of fabric online and 3) It could easily cost $60+ if I were to buy the fabric online! Yikes! So they stayed at the back of my mind.

Late last year(?), Sinclair Patterns came out with the Sunset Loungers pattern. I'm part of their FB group and it was offered free for a while when it was released. Okay, step 1 done.

The community band I'm in was doing their spring concerts. For one, we didn't need to dress up but my black pants were just too heavy. So I tried on a couple black skirts/skorts I have. Nothing fit right! I know I've been naughty with my eating this spring, but this was still a bit of a surprise since I was still wearing a lot of other clothes! Plus, these skirts were store bought, and not built for me. Why should they fit right? We have a "Music in the Park" night coming up and it's hard to dress for. Often it's quite warm when we're setting up and starting, but then when the sun sets, it's much cooler. I decided I needed some black, flowy, knit pants. Eleven or so years ago I finally caved and bought some black yoga pants and discovered how comfortable they were and how they could be dressed up. I've come to realize I'm not a leggings girl. I need a bit of width at the ankle to balance my upper half. Those yoga pants aren't black anymore (in the past, I have dyed them), and the back seam is quite thin now. It's time to make my own!

I went to FabricLand with the intent of finding a lightweight black knit. Shouldn't be too hard, right? I really wanted something with a lot of natural fibre. I did have some heavier ponte leftover from THIS dress, but it's so heavy and very similar to the black pants I already have. After going through Fabricland I found some lightweight black knit. There was no fiber content listed. It had stretch, it was soft, it seemed like it would work. There wasn't a whole lot of it, but I'm short so I crossed my fingers.

OMG.  I want to marry these pants.

I tried something new. I asked my husband to "take a picture of these pants". I'm surprised he didn't get down on his knees to take the picture. I noticed he angled the phone rather low. So I suggested that he could include me in the photo too. 

I think I was trying to show how high the waistband comes. I did the yoga waistband. I was using the petite sized patterns, and it still came so high! 

In the back, because the fabric doesn't have to travel over curves, it came up even higher, but it had slid down in this photo. The first time I wore the pants, I could see my underwear print. So this time I tried a thong. Well, I have pants wedgie. Not good either. I think I might make a few pairs of boy shorts. I don't want anything too long though because I want to keep the feeling of wearing nothing. 

I folded the waistband over, and it's pretty much perfect. The drawstring now comes out between the layers though. That's okay. Next pair, I might shorten the waistband, contouring it so it's not as wide at the back. I might add some power mesh/net across the front. Either in the waistband or the pants. I don't know which. Maybe I'll lower the rise a bit but then the pockets need adjusting. 

I did metal eyelets for the drawstrings. I tested them, and saw I needed two layers of interfacing. However, after a couple days, one started to pull out. You could see the interfacing, so I coloured that with a laundry Sharpie, and then put some nail glue (I'm out of Fraycheck) around it. 

I want more of these pants. Like, now! Heavier ones, patterned ones, maybe even shorts? I haven't had knit shorts in a super long time because I didn't like the lack of structure over the belly. But with sewing my own (and my own underwear), I can change that! I think my next pair will be grey. I still have more of the grey from THESE pants. Probably enough for a pair. This time they won't have droopy butt. I also have a heavier grey that I bought but it turns out it had no stretch. It's very similar to pants Rob has and I thought I might make him some...but he can buy his own. LOL. 

 

THE Dress

Every once in awhile, the average sewist wants/should tackle something a bit beyond their comfort zone. When I found this fabric at Value Village, I immediately pictured a dress with full skirt.

It's 80% rayon, 20% linen. I would go back to what I had tried in my first few dresses--lining, fitting, precision---before I had the skills and knowledge to really accomplish it.

I was disappointed after I washed it. It seemed to develop dark streaks.

It's like something washed out of the fabric and left short streaks. And I noticed this little flub (right of centre, towards the lower half) after sewing together.

 As documented earlier, I started the muslin. The pattern only went up to a 16, which, sadly, this spring was not even large enough for my upper bust. However, I still have a 16 frame, so I went with that and did the FBA.

 The neckline needed adjusting. I changed this, and the straps, and tweaked things a bit. It wasn't lined, but it seemed good. Though I had some pouffyness above the bust, I thought taking it in a bit as I sewed would be the easiest answer.
Then I got busy. Finally I realized I needed to get this done so I could wear it to Megan's grade 8 grad, which was going to be about a week earlier than it normally is!

 I made my own piping with leftover navy from Megan's Moxie shorts. Oh yeah, need to blog those. I used Handicrafter cotton yarn. I measured off what I thought I'd need ("3 packages of piping" was all the pattern said), wound it into a little skein, and threw it in with my laundry (in a mesh bag!). New skill--piping! I sewed it together and then the instructions say to turn right side out through a shoulder. Ummmm. The shoulders were already seamed. I could not figure it out and it got stuck. I watched a video and she took a safety pin at a lower edge and fed it through, and bingo!

 Not sure what this was to show. Maybe that my lining seemed too small?  I had a lot of issues. You need to baste the lining to the bodice and I don't think I did it carefully enough and it wasn't lining up and the dress looked more padded than lined. I redid it and it's much better, but still not like the pattern picture.

 Sure doesn't look very fitted here.

 The bodice seemed to droop a bit over the waist. Don't know if that happened because of the heat, or not getting things lined up, or if the mostly rayon fabric grew during handling. I'm going with the last one because that would also explain why the lining didn't line up. Also, the fabric wasn't wide enough to do the skirt front in one piece! There's a seam hiding in there.

 A decent job on the zipper. I don't understand the lapped part though. I don't see how it can smoothly lap over when it's the same as the seam allowance. Hard to explain. But I watched some videos and they all were the same, so I guess you just fudge the bottom.

 I couldn't seem to find any of my hook and eyes so I rushed out to buy some, but then didn't get a chance to sew it on before the grad.

 I wasn't following the hem piping instructions. It sounded to me that the piping strip would be showing. I saw tutorials that have you cut a facing and basically you sandwich the piping like doing the bodice piping, then sew the top of the facing down. I didn't want to cut more fabric. So while I was getting the hook and eye (I had to make an earlier trip there for a zipper. I was not very well organized this time), I looked at hem tape and bias bianding. I found some very basic instructions on how to do it but I couldn't quite wrap my head around it until doing it. They had wide bias tape in navy which was a great match to the piping. I laid it on, figured out how it should be sewed, and then promptly did it wrong.

I hand stitched the top of the bias tape to the dress, using very tiny stitches, widely spaced. Not visible on the right side at all. I like the additional weight this adds to the very light fabric, and how clean it looks from the inside. Not that anyone really could see the inside hem, but you know, sometimes when you sit, it shows, or if you bend over, reach up, etc.

 It was a chore to get a picture of me, since the day was all about Megan (aren't most days? LOL). You can see how the bodice seems to roll over the piping at my underarm.

Megan wanted us all to not clash. She vetoed Lucy's dress because it was "too blue".

 Okay. First up, Seeing those shoes with the dress....Although I felt tall my legs actually look short!
I didn't know where to put the waist of the dress. The seam was supposed to be right at the waist, but my waist is quite high, and it would have almost been an empire waist dress. I had hoped the piping and the gathers would hide that the waist was not at my narrowest point. I did raise it a bit after the first round of basting but I was also worried it would end up too short. I think it needs to go a bit higher still. I learned a long time ago, that little changes (1/2") can make huge differences. It also doesn't fit as slim under the bust as the model. And it seemed a little tight above the bust/armhole. I'm hoping to shed a few pounds this summer though.

 It started to rain just before we had to go. And like every year, it was hot in the gym. It had been a nice day up until dinner and then it got humid.

Yes, I have a piece of hair going from my nose to my ear. You know, like those girls with the little gold cuff on their nose that's connected with a chain to their ear? (Sarcasm. It was hot. I didn't care.)

I have very few dresses that have a distinct waist seam. It's not how I roll--being very short waisted with a large bust. I'm glad I gave this a go though, and I learned a ton. I love the piping. I'm not too afraid of lining now. I can FBA a princess seam bodice. But I don't think I'm going to start making dresses with a horizontal waist line. Though I realize that was necessary to get the fullness in the skirt. If I did this one again, I'd leave out the waist piping. Though it does add a nice detail and logical separation between the gathers and the bodice....

Still Here

June was SO busy. Even with Megan away at camp for a week (so I didn't hear "Mom, I need to go to..." every day), I was still really busy. I know I did some sewing...I finished the dress to wear to Megan's graduation. What else? Oh, two pairs of Sequoia pants! Sunset Lounger pants! A shirt for Rob! A swimsuit! I thought I had posted about that one. Oh, I did! Back in May! Really?! Okay then. Let's go with the Sequoia pants first.

April (I think is when I made these), I had some time when I couldn't work due to my truck being "in the shop" (stuck in the driveway, awaiting parts and good weather to put them on). I found some dark brown corduroy fabric in my stash and thought "I've been wanting dark brown wintery pants". I have some linen blend but they're not good for winter and have no pockets. I have the pair I made without a pattern, but the brown is not dark. The way spring was going, I was pretty sure I could still get some use out of heavier pants.

 I don't know why, but my phone wanted to wash out these pictures so badly. I did side pockets, making sure my phone would fit this time. My phone is a bit smaller than when I made my first two pairs, so that helped. I got some brown snaps from a friend, but they were a little lighter  than I was hoping. And, even though I didn't interface the flaps, and I used a plain cotton for the inside of the flap, I couldn't get the snaps to work. The prong wasn't long enough.

 Before I was even done, I saw that these were basically going to be like wearing a Swiffer.

 For the waistband, I followed most of the instructions, but I didn't stitch down the elastic. I don't think it has very much stretch when you do that.

I cut these a little bigger than the grey pair, because those were fairly close fitting and this is a much thicker fabric. However, once done, it was clear they were too big. I took in the waist elastic, but that resulted in a lot of bunching. Like when a little kid has to borrow someone's pants and they pull the drawstring really tight. So I took the pockets half off and took in the side seams. That helped. They are still pretty loose. Very comfy though. And indeed, it was a very cold, wet spring, so I did get a fair bit of use out of these. I didn't do the little straps because I knew I wouldn't roll these up into capris.

I wanted to make a new pair of dark blue pants from a proper pattern. While I was pleased with my first pair , since making the Sequoia pants a few times, I knew I could do better. I was cleaning up my dining room and found a tag from Value Village and on the back, I wrote "Blue sheet". I totally forgot I had already got some fabric! And I had just been looking at Fabricland! I dug through the basket in my laundry room where I throw the sheets instead of folding them and bingo! The tag says Queen size, $5.49. It was a a fitted sheet, so I had to cut the elastic off and cut open the corner seams. It's 60% cotton, 40% polyester. It has a sort of brushed feel to it. As I was working, it looked like some of the pieces were a different shade. Not sure if there had been some fading, or it was a light thing. No one has mentioned it though...

 I chose a nice print for the inside of the pocket flaps, and the facing on the front pockets. I didn't have blue snaps so I used black.

 I fused the fly interfacing without thinking it through and to sandwich the interfacing between the layers meant my mock fly went to the opposite side than usual.

I find I get a bit of pulling along the seams. Not sure why. I opted for a simple waistband with elastic inside. I did want to do a drawstring but I think I forgot. I did do the leg straps so I can roll these up on hot days. Wear them long when I get to a school for a job, and roll them up later in the day! They're really comfy, I love the pockets. Smart casual. Great for work!!