Project: Making the pattern

Here is the pattern I worked on for my shirt. The foundation is the vintage Simplicity pattern I used to make the faux silky shirt. I wrote before that I really like how the shirt fits. And since I had pretty much worked out all the kinks of the pattern the first time, I'm hoping it will be a good choice for the ideas that are in my head. For the front of the pattern, I changed very little. I just taped the original to my window and then taped a bunch of pieces of office paper together and taped that on top.

As you can see, I kept the bust dart because it was the right proportion. I also really like using darts with knit because the detail elevates the t-shirt to a higher level. At the existing lengthen/shorten line, I took out about 1.5". With the silky shirt, the extra length makes it more dressy but with the fine knit, I think it will just hang down and look messy. Finally, I redrew the entire hem. I was wearing a shirt with a hemline that I really like so I took it off, set it on top of my pattern, and traced it. I'm sure the new neighbors liked that one.

The back is where I made the most changes. I started with the hem and length changes from the pattern front (you can't forget to do both sides!). Then I removed the shoulder dart and eased the fabric to the middle. Next I just eyed up how big I wanted that top panel to be (see my inspiration photo here) and drew a line perpendicular to the grain line since the middle back seam has a curve to it. I cut on the line and then added "darts" for the gathers. You can see in the photo where I added the blue to show you that. I wanted to keep the waist slim so I used that as my pivot point. I just started at the top edge and cut a straight line with scissors to the waist. Then I split the paper apart until it started to buckle just slightly then taped some paper from the recycling bin to the back of the pattern. (I should have used colored paper -- that's how I was taught. That way if I were to make changes to this pattern and use it again, I'd know what was original and what was added.)

I did this until I felt that I had enough in there. Then I drew a line with a ruler to clean up the top edge and added seam allowances to both pieces. I added a little more to the top of the sleeve pattern (not pictured) to give a little more gather to that using the same slash method. Since the existing belt pattern wasn't long enough, I added some length to that and also made it just a little wider. I'm not sure if the belt will look right with this but I'll make it and try it out. I made some adjustments to the collar to make it somewhere between a band collar and a Peter Pan. I have no idea how that is going to work. I did like the way the Simplicity shirt looked without a collar so that's my backup plan.

The waist of the original pattern is almost fitted. You can see how the pattern has a really nice curve there. I'm not sure at all how my gather adjustments are going to look with that. If you want to try my improv method of pattern alteration: Make sure you use the right marks on the armholes and sleeve pattern. One means the front and one means that back. If you mix them up, the sleeves will not fit. I often chop my little triangles right off; if you have a good pattern and you cut straight, your stuff should line up. I'm lazy but I do not cut corners (ha ha) on sleeves.

Project: We are the truth

I will never forget the day that my friend called me up with her big news. She said, "My daughter's name is Fei Yen ..... and her sister's name is Xiao-niao!!!" I was stunned. This is one of my closest friends. We have known each other since we met at camp when we were 12. She had been waiting a very long time for her adoption referral. The process was lengthy but she knew the envelope from the agency would be arriving that week and I was expecting her call. No one, however, was expecting two babies! She and her husband were hoping to get one baby girl from China but they were one of the few lucky parents to be given twins. What a wonderful surprise.

A few weeks after that, they travelled to China to meet the girls and become their official parents. We met them at the airport when they came back home and it's certainly been true love for me ever since. Even though my friends live in a different town from me, I feel like they're my family. Zadie loves the girls and talks about them all the time. She wears their old clothes and shoes and is currently playing with some of their toys that are on loan. The picture above is the three of them playing some bizarre game with outdoor chairs (toddlers. who knows). They are having a blast whatever it is they're doing.

Last week the media told the story of a woman who adopted a boy from Russia and sent him back. I'm not going to comment on that because I really don't know the whole story and it just makes me cry thinking about it. But I feel that this one negative story has put a bad light on international adoption, which is a truly wonderful thing -- bringing children who need families together with parents who need children. We Are The Truth is an adoption blog day. You can go to the JCICS website for more information or just do a Google search and read other stories from adoptive parents and people who know and love other adoptive parents.

Project: Working in the yard

This Sunday I spent all of naptime clearing out the black raspberry bed with a pair of scissors, my trusty gloves (R.I.P.), and a couple of other little yard tools. Luckily, I had picked up a new pair of gloves on clearance at the end of last season because these are no longer useful. I do still have my thumb somehow but, as you can see, it was close.

The brown stuff all around the bed is the mess I cut away and pulled out. It looks so much better now. Some sort of strange groundcover is taking over the space so that's really nice. It doesn't seem to interfere with the vines but it is keeping the grass away. I probably won't have to deal with this space again for a few more weeks. There is nothing better than warm berries right off the vine. Berry was one of Zadie's first words. I can't wait for them just to see her face.

Project: The shirt I've been going on and on about

I was just about to drop out of Top Week when I saw this shirt in the bizarro Urban Outfitters catalog that started showing up in the mail regularly a couple of months ago. I love it but it really is unrealistic for me and a bit out of my price range. Then the light bulb went on inside my brain and I decided to make something similar to it. I am using that vintage pattern I was bitching about last week because it's actually a good fit and I figured I could work with it rather than start from scratch. The bust darts are spot on and the shoulders are a good width for my frame.

On the spur of the moment, I packed Zadie up in the car, called my mom to see if she could meet us at JoAnn's for a late afternoon fabric spree, and we were off. I found this awesome teal (I buy a heck of a lot of this color, right?) superfine knit on sale for 50% off and also picked up some duckcloth for another project I've got in my head with a 40% coupon. We met my dad for dinner and an hour or so later I was home all full of inspiration.

I traced the pattern pieces to have my foundation. First I removed the back shoulder darts and eased the extra toward the waist. I drew a line straight across the back pattern piece and added seam allowances. Then I added a bunch of darts to the new top seam without messing too much with the existing waistline (I don't want this to be too piratey).

This gorgeous cotton floral print is of course Heather Ross' Far Far Away double gauze that I've been hoarding since it came out. Yum. My pattern is cut out and I'll start sewing tomorrow after work. What do you think?

I'll take some photos of my pattern manipulations and write more about that after I see how it goes. I reworked the collar but I'm not sure I did that right.

Project: 65 Roses (somebody else's project)

Nikole over at a happy nest is doing a very important and wonderful project to raise money and awareness for the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation.

Here's the information that she wrote:

On October 30, 2009, my niece Caroline was born. Shortly thereafter, a blood test revealed that she has cystic fibrosis. Cystic fibrosis is a life-threatening genetic disease that primarily impacts the lungs and pancreas -- leading to severe lung infections and reduced ability to absorb fats (and more importantly fat soluble vitamins) that, taken together, substantially reduce life expectancy.

"Sixty-five roses" is what some children with CF call their disease, because these words are easier for them to pronounce. You can read the story about how this phrase was adopted by the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation on the CFF website. On April 24, 2010, my brother and his friend Matt will be participating in the Extreme Hike for the Cure to support the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation. The hike is a 30.1 mile trek through the mountains of North Carolina. Their goal is to raise $10,000.

100% of the sales from this project will be given to the Cystic Fibrosis Foundation in support of my brother's fundraising efforts.

Please head over to the Etsy shop the 65 roses project and support this cause. Nikole is a very good friend and she has obviously put a lot of time into these gorgeous roses. I would not be writing about this if I had any doubts.

And I will write about my shirt tomorrow. I promise.

Project: Birthday Party . round 2

I absolutely cannot believe that Zadie is almost 2. We had a really nice birthday party for her last year with lots of family and friends and we want to do the same this year. But what's better is that Zadie actually gets what's going on and has things she loves and has already made some requests.

I told her we'd be making bags for all the kids like last year. We looked through the Oriental Trading Company catalog for inspiration and she announced that she would like cars, balls, crayons and spoons. Spoons! Where did that come from? I've been able to get some cars on Easter clearance, balls at the dollar store, and I even picked up a box of crayons to tie into little bundles. Add some candy and we're all set.

Here is a sneak peak at the theme and the dress I'm working on for the big day. What do you think?

Oh, I know yesterday I said I would talk more about the shirt I'm working on but that's going to have to wait until Monday.

Project: Simplicity 8018

Simplicity? Um, no. Finished? Finally. This shirt was the bane of my existence for weeks. After having an easy time choosing the fabric and getting the supplies together, I was super excited to get started. I love this faux silk stuff. It has a nice tooth to it and it actually seems pretty sturdy. But wow was it a pain to cut. Plus I was trying to be all nice to the vintage pattern (1977) and preserve the lines for the other size (never again, from now on I will whack away -- I'm not a vintage pattern library). What a challenge this whole thing was!

First, I didn't have enough fabric. I thought maybe I had them cut the wrong amount but after buying fabric to make another of these (I'll get to that later), I am thinking that the width of it must have been less than the normal 44". I'm not sure but after playing Tetris will all the pattern pieces, I know something was up and I've already started blocking that from my memory.

The zipper was easy to put in. I used this tutorial from Sew, Mama, Sew. Definitely take care to put those teeth right at your seam. It's very important. I had a couple of problems with the collar and need to make some adjustments for some issues that you can't see in the photos. I'll have to rip part of it out and re-sew. It shouldn't take long. The sleeves in the original do not have the extra gathering detail you see in the photos. The directions expect you to ease the fabric -- even though they list several potential fabrics, few of which actually "ease." I solved the problem by adding the gather. Since I have small shoulders, a little poof on the sleeve is a good thing. I am proud of myself for making that work.

The most challenging part of the construction was the hem. Again with the ease! This fabric does not ease so I ended up cutting more of the interfacing fabric using the same pattern pieces, put right sides together and stitched it up. Then I clipped my curves like a maniac, turned and topstitched as directed. I ended up going in with my pinking shears and cutting the extra way down to about 1/4" because it was hanging funny.

Finally, the pattern for the belt did not make it long enough for my taste. My MIL suggested that I sew in a little snap and do a fake squareknot. I think that's a good idea but I doubt I'll actually get around to it. Overall, I love the this top. I think it fits perfectly, is very slimming, and very comfortable. And guess what? After all that hassle, I'm actually going to work with this pattern again. More on that tomorrow.

Thanks to Mr. Lemon for taking these pictures of me. We walked across the street because I thought the color of our neighbor's wall would look good with the shirt.

Zipper detail here. Pattern here. This project was inspired by the Pattern Challenge at See the Seitz. See the sidebar for a link to the information.