Where's Waldo?

I finished my entry for the One Pattern Many Looks contest on patternreview.com. As you can see, my "many looks" is fairly subtle, hence the call out photos calling your attention to the difference. But look at those matching stripes!!!

Stuff I Want

I've been enjoying my sewing so much lately. I'll post later about my two follow-up tops for my One Pattern Many Looks contest, but today I'd like to write about what sewing has been doing to my mind. It does help me relax and it is so nice to have something to show for my work at the end of the day. Parenting, cleaning and cooking don't quite have the same "look at what I did" appeal.

The dark side of sewing has been a serious case of the gimme's. I find that as I plan and prepare for future projects I am increasingly finding things that I want to buy. Crafting in general for me has this problem. People buy the materials for whatever craft/art interests them but they spend far less time actually DOING the craft. It's as if by buying a watercolor paint set and nice papers, it will magically turn you into the sort of person who paints lovely landscapes. It is the crafting fantasy. Now I've always been cautious of this tendency in me. Even craft supplies that I no longer use, at least at one point were in heavy rotation: card making supplies, I'm looking at you.

But since I know that I'll be doing some serious sewing for at least a year, its as if all my internal stop gap measures to avoid hoarding are gone. I feel entitled to web browse for things, even if I'm muddling along just fine. So in full confession mode, here's the stuff I want:

Sewing Furniture

For the most part, actual furniture made specifically for sewists is hideous, oak veneered, particleboard monstrosity. But I would love to put my sewing machine on something more stable than the card table that I'm currently using. Oh, and a cutting table like this that would get me, my self-healing mat, and rotary cutter off the floor would be a dream.

A Dress Form

While I would love to be able to splurge for a high quality form like this one from Fabulous Fit ($390):

I could be easily appeased with a standard adjustable one from a sewing outlet for about $129

Do I NEED a form. Probably not. But it would be so nice for help with fitting and with taking brag photos for the blog!

A Better Iron

My current iron was purchased by my husband at the hardware store. Need I say more? It steams and gets the job done but I'd love to have an iron with more than 12 steam holes. Say something like this:

400 steam holes!! Imagine!

Better Fabric

Ames has three fabric stores: Joann, Hobby Lobby and Quilting Connection. The first two have fabric that is fine for muslins but really substandard for durable garments. Quilting Connection has a fantastic array of fabrics...for quilting. So far I've been making do with Joann but I'm frustrated and know sooner or later I'm going to have to shop online. I've been eyeing these stores:

Gorgeous Fabrics
Emma One Sock
Elingeria (lingerie/swimming fabric)
Mood
Fabric.com

A Pantone Fandeck

If I'm going to start buying fabrics online, I'm going to need some color help. Enter the Pantone fan deck. Most of the better fabric stores list their fabrics by Pantone number.

Small House Patterns

While I can get patterns from "the big 4" companies at Joann (McCalls, Vogue, Simlicity, Butterick), I'd really like to get some of the great patterns from smaller houses like Sewaholic, StyleArc, Jalie, and Pamela's Patterns. Style Arc in particular interests me as their patterns are often knock offs of current fashions and they give hints on how to style them. Oh, but they're located in Australia--shipping charges are a bit steep. Sewaholic drafts patterns for the pear-shaped body, which obviously appeals to me as well.

Better Lighting

I really do love my small basement studio. The boys have their art table and I have my sewing space. And there is tons of storage space for fabrics, tools, supplies, etc. I just wish I had slightly better lighting around my imaginary sewing furniture. An Ottlight floor lamp would be awesome.

Okay, so that's about $2500-$3500 worth of stuff right there the range depending on the amount of fabric and patterns purchased. I'm off to scour Craig's List and Goodwill and hope for the best! I do think the better fabric and a few new patterns may be in my future though.

The First Garment of 2013

 And it is finished! My first garment of 2013--and it is only January 7th! This v-neck may not be perfect but it is certainly wearable--even in public! Here are my notes for posterity:

• The directions were super with the slight exception of the lack of detail about putting in the neckband. I really liked the final results though.

• The sides are a bit snug but I've also put on about 5 lbs since the beginning of Christmas season so I don't want to alter the pattern too much for a problem area that I KNOW I can get whipped into shape by next month.
• The bust is also a bit snug. Instead of doing a major change to the pattern, I think I'll just add a bit more length to the front and then ease that into the rouching on the sides. I HATE t-shirts with darts so the rouching is a nice alternative.
• I had a few blips in setting the sleeves the first time so a little ripping and restitching were called for. I think I'll improve with experience.

• My topstitching on the cuffs and hems leaves much to be desired. Next time I'm going to lengthen the stitches and experiment with the double needle option. Too much puckering.

Now as for the contest, I'm not sure how many of these I really want to make. I certainly have a white rayon shirt on deck and I'd like to try out a stripe. Not very creative but at least I'll make my goal of having an entry.

The First Top of 2013-Vogue 8536

So work is underway on my first article of clothing for the new year. It is meant to be a tomato red, long-sleeved, v-neck shirt. It's the one in grey on the pattern cover above. I've still got to attach the arms and hem the bottom but so far it is a decent effort for a wearable garment, and an EXCELLENT effort for an initial muslin. For some unknown reason, I decided to jump back into sewing with the world's wonkiest, most slippery thin rayon knit. Thread tracing to find the grainline was an exercise in futility. Beware the red tag clearance knit! Overachiever I suppose. Next time I'm using plain old squishy interlock...that stuff doesn't budge.

I'm planning to make a few of these tops as entries in to the One Pattern Many Looks contest. We'll see if I include the big tomato top in the entry--if I can crank out two more of these before the end of the month probably not.

I've been reading up on fit so I don't make a bunch of potato sacks this year. (FYI does anyone else think that "swayback" is code for small waist and big bum?) For the first time in my life, I based the pattern size on my upper bust and not my bust size. Surprise! It actually fit my small shoulders perfectly. I think I may want to increase the side gathers to make a little more room for the bust and definitely add a little room to the waist and hips. Thank goodness knits are forgiving!