Sewing FO; Vogue Patterns V1382

This is a dress from Vogue Patterns V1382 and it's going to be a fun dress for spring and summer. The pattern is shown as a color-blocked dress, but I just used one fabric. In fact, I think I've sewn at least two other color-blocked patterns recently using one fabric only. I used a stretch cotton sateen but the stretch was not necessary because the pattern has plenty of ease. The lining is a lawn cotton. I wanted to do something that would show some of the lines of the dress, so I sewed on twill ribbon at the base of the yoke. I also used the ribbon on the pockets to give them more emphasis. I lined the pockets and top stitched them on instead of just folding in and slip stitching. The dress has a vague retro vibe to it which I love.

Scenes from a flower show

On Friday, I visited the San Francisco Flower and Garden Show. I had never been before but I've always wanted to check it out. It was an amusing way to spend a couple of hours. Here's the first scene that I saw upon entry.

This was one of my favorite vendors. This guy sells these distressed looking metal letters of varying sizes. I so wanted to buy something but I just couldn't think of a use for them. He doesn't sell online, unfortunately.

I did buy a rectangular basket made in Morocco from my favorite basket vendor. The shop is named "Asylum Down" (love the name) and it's located in Nevada City, CA. I bought one these last year when she came to the Sunset Magazine Celebration Weekend, and the basket is great for grocery shopping. She also does not sell online.

The best part of this show are all display gardens done by various landscape architects. The show is only on for five days, and I wonder how long it takes some of them to set their gardens up. This one included The Nautilove as its centerpiece.

I'm not sure what the pink "tent" is, but it's eye-catching

The round center area is made of overturned empty wine bottles

This is a water feature made of a tightly wound hose or two that has lit sections. It's hard to see, but there's water squirting out of two ends.

This garden has a pre-historic vibe.

I'm not sure this is my style.

Every garden needs a water wheel.

I sort of like this. It's the dome above the wine bottle pathway shown above.

And every garden show has to have a bonsai exhibit.

Sewing FO: V1387 Hipster shirt

This is a shirt sewn from Vogue Patterns V1387. It's sewn in a lightweight cotton plaid, and I absolutely love it. One big reason why I love it is because it doesn't have a traditional shirt collar, which I never wear. It has a really nice detailed collar and yoke design. There's a narrow bias band that separates the yoke from the main bodice piece which is not obvious from the pattern envelope. The top of the bodice also has a nice pleating detail. I probably could have done a better job matching my plaid on the collar and some other bits of the pattern, but I'm still happy with it.

The back of this shirt is longer than the front. I like the back better without a belt, but it looks too loose and a bit sloppy in the front without a belt, so a belt it is.

The one detail I didn't like about the pattern was the weak method used to stabilize the corner at the junction of the front band and the collar. I'm going to be making another one of these shirts in a white striped lawn cotton and I'll try to do something that makes that corner a little less fragile.

I call this my hipster shirt because of the plaid. In San Francisco, it seems like many of the hipsters wear plaid. In fact, I gauge the hipster level of a restaurant by how much plaid I see among the diners.

FO: basic cardigan

I finally finished this more or less basic cardigan from an improvised pattern. I felt like this took f.o.r.e.v.e.r because (1) the gauge is 6.33 stitches/inch (2) the yarn is little bit splitty and (3) it's a really dark color. I purchased the yarn at Stitches West a couple of years ago. It's from Newton's Yarn Country and is a washable blend of mostly merino with a bit of nylon. It's actually a marled yarn composed of very dark blue and very dark maroon plies and the result is a purple-black yarn. I took this photo in bright light to show the stitch pattern on the fronts but in bright light the yarn looks too light in color.

Now that I've finished the sweater, I really like it. It's a perfect weight for spring and fall. I really like this style of cardigan where the body is simple stockinette and the front bands have some sort of interesting pattern which just continues onward beyond the shoulders and gets sewn on to the back neckline. In this case, I also used the same stitch pattern for the sleeve cuffs and hem. For the front edges, I slipped 3 knit stitches purl-wise at the start of the right front and at the end of the left front. This gives the front edges a quasi I-cord look and keeps them from stretching in length with wear. For the back neckline, I used 3-needle bind-off to join the front bands.

I like this sweater enough that I'm thinking of knitting another but in a bigger gauge yarn and also in a lighter color. That should go faster and the stitch pattern will be more visible.

On the usefulness of childhood toys

I recently needed some sort of stand for this TV antenna. I wanted something small and unobtrusive but didn't want to have to buy anything. I thought of using pieces from my old Lego set. For nostalgic reasons, I've kept my childhood Lego set. I had a very small set, and this was way back in the day before Lego made these fancy kits that you can now buy. My bricks were red or white or clear. I ended up making this little stand.

I used most of the set some time ago to build a little house which sits on a bookcase. It seems so primitive compared to the stuff you can build today.

Sewing FO: Vogue V8946

I'm posting more sewing projects lately because my current knitting project is a cardigan using yarn with a gauge of about 6.3 stitches/inch, which means that it takes a very long time to knit.

This dress is from Vogue Patterns V8946. I chose a vertically striped fabric because I figured the pleats would give it an interesting effect. I think it looks like some sort of cake frosting swirl pattern. You can't see it in the photo, but the fabric is a medium weight textured knit of a cotton/poly blend. The dress is close fitting so the texture is great -- it hides a multitude of sins. The stretchiness of the knit makes it very comfy to wear. I used a lawn cotton for the lining which doesn't stretch. To compensate for that, I cut it a bit wider for some ease. For the front, I split it into a top yoke piece and a lower body piece. I cut the body piece a little bit wider at the top and gathered it before attaching to the yoke. This gives ease at the bust line.

Sewing FO: Vogue V1371

I just finished sewing Vogue Patterns V1371, a Tracy Reese designer pattern. It's the wrong season for this dress, but one must think ahead, and spring and summer will be here before we know it. I'm looking forward to wearing this when the weather warms up. I used a lightweight lawn cotton for the dress and I also lined the skirt with a lawn cotton. The skirt would be too flimsy without a lining, and I was surprised the pattern does not call for it.

I really liked this pattern when I first saw it, but I decided to omit the bow because I think it would just be too twee with my pale print. I also didn't want the shoulder pads because that would just be too 1980s. The pattern is written such that each shoulder pad sits sandwiched between a shoulder facing and a larger, gathered, outer shoulder piece. In order to omit the pads, I used the smaller shoulder facing for both the facing and the top shoulder piece.

I really like the finished dress. It's got some ease so it's very comfy to wear, and I love cotton dresses in warm weather. The pattern does put some emphasis at the bust line, which can be either a good thing or a bad thing, depending upon your body type. If you're going to make this, here are my suggestions:

• Use a lightweight soft fabric. Otherwise, the bodice pleats would be too bulky and/or stiff.
• With a lightweight fabric, I think the skirt definitely needs a lining to give it body.
• Either cut the neck binding 1/4" wider or sew it on with a 1/2" seam (instead of 5/8"). I did the latter, because otherwise I think the binding would be too narrow and difficult to handle.
• Raise the position of the back zipper by about 2" or so. I did this because I think the back slit opening would be way too low otherwise.
• If you don't make muslins first, consider cutting the bodice section a little longer and adjust after trying on. I made mine about 1/2" longer and was glad I did. As a note, because of the way the pieces are put together, this pattern is a little harder to adjust sizing as you go.

Sewing tip of the day

I use a very basic non-fancy-schmancy sewing machine. If I sew a heavier fabric piece to a much lighter weight piece, I have to put the lighter piece on top or else it tends to gather and pucker a bit, even if well basted. I cannot do this when sewing an invisible zipper onto my lightweight garment because the zipper must go on top. To solve the puckering, I place a piece of paper (printer paper is great) underneath everything and sew it all together. I then tear away the paper, and voila! - no puckering.