I haven’t spent much time in the sewing room recently but I did have a little time to sew up this T-shirt. I need to replace a bunch of T’s from past summers that have gotten pilly and shapeless.

I bought this pattern mainly for the long-sleeve version because I really liked the neckline. But upon closer inspection, I realized how cute the other view was as well.

Overall this was a very simple and quick project. I cut a size large to the waist and then graded out to the XL from the waist to the hips. I sewed it pretty much just like the pattern indicated with the only change with how the neckband was attached. I sewed the top edge, right sides together as indicated in the pattern directions. Then I basted the raw edges of the bottom edge together and used my serger to sew it to the neckline of the top. 

Conclusion: Cute top, simple pattern, great wardrobe builder. Can’t wait to try the other neckline, I think this will be a good go to pattern for a variety of easy wear tops.

I now have no need to go to the land’s end to find a perfect swimsuit! (See what I did there?)

I spent most of Thursday working on my final project using the Danglez pattern and the dark plum Milliskin Matte spandex. I’m going to try to go through my process step by step. This way I have a reminder for myself for the future when I want to make this suit again and maybe some of my modifications will come in handy to anyone else that wants to attempt this pattern. It really is a great pattern, it just needs some help for the average sewist and maybe a few “translations” for the American audience.

The first step is to assemble the V-insert into the front bodice and doing the gathers on the body front and the bra cups. For the most part this is pretty straight forward. But I definitely recommend that you baste the seams with the gathering together before the final sewing, especially if you are using a serger. I had to rip out a couple of time because the gathered areas kept popping out of the seam.

The biggest modification I made was how the V-insert was assembled. The instructions have you sandwich the insert between the cups and the lining and then after turning everything right side out you are to apply elastic to the neckline and then turn that under and topstitch. I did that on my muslin and didn’t like the way it looked. I referred back to my Lands’ End suit and saw that it was seamed right sides together from the bottom of the V all the way up the neck line and strap. I chose to do it this way and to apply the elastic all the way from the bottom of the V instead of starting the elastic at the top of the insert. When I make this again I will cut my cup/strap lining pieces as long as the outer cups so I can continue this seam all the way to the end of the strap and also will do the underarm/strap seam the same way and then turn each cup back right side out.

I also under-stitched the lining to the elastic along the neckline edge to keep it from curling out. Next time I make this pattern I will cut my seam allowances 3/8” instead of 1/4” so that the seam allowance was the same width as the elastic.

For the under-bust seam I again sandwiched the cups between the lining and the front piece and serged this seam. This is where I really wished I had basted everything together first. I had 4 layers of slippery fabric with one being tightly gathered and they didn’t want to go together smoothly. I picked and restitched the one cup a couple times and finally got an acceptable result. I then applied elastic to this seam for extra support and better fit. If I had basted these 4 layers together first I probably could have sewed this with the serger and apply the elastic all in one step.

The rest of the suit went together very quickly and easily. I learned my lesson on the cups and basted the side seams before serging them. The crotch assembly can be a little confusing but is simple once you understand how it all goes together. The writing instructions in the pattern are very confusing. If you have access to the Kwik Sew book I recommend using it as a reference for this step. Basically I used the “burrito method” of putting it together and hiding the seam inside between the front and lining pieces. Match the front and back crotch seam right sides together and then wrap the lining around over everything and match that seam right side of lining to wrong side of back piece and stitch. When you untwist everything it will all be right side out with the seam hidden between the lining and front piece.

On Monday I completed the last steps; the leg elastic and the back/armhole elastic. If you do the entire front bodice right sides together with the full lining you will only have to put elastic along the top of the back piece. After putting all the elastic in, turn and top or coverstitch it in place.

The back doesn’t have a center back seam but my Land’s End suit does. I may add one next time with a little waist curve for better fit. But all in all I don’t think it will be a big deal. I also didn’t line the back but might in the future just for better coverage and bulge control.

In the photo left the original Land’s End suit is on the right and my version on the left. I think I did a pretty good job of recreating my favorite style suit.

• Other posts about sewing this suit:    
• Round One Wadder
• Preparation

This was not a quick project. I did have a few times when I was trying to sew too fast with the elastic bobbin thread and the machine didn’t like it and my top thread broke. All I had to do was slow down and take it easy and it worked great.

I didn’t really modify the project from the basic directions except that I cut two WOF (60”) strips, 12” wide (total of 2/3 yd. of fabric) and sewed these together for a starting scarf that was 12” x 120”.

I wore it at work today with a big pin. I just wrapped it around my neck like an infinity scarf and pinned the ends. It was very comfortable and I love the texture it added to a plain black dress.

This is a pretty cool shirring technique and I am thinking of ways it can be used in other projects. I’m also inspired to try some traditional elastic shirring on some tops and skirts I want to make for summer. This soft knit really is the perfect fabric for this technique.

This weekend I’m going to continue working on my Jalie jeans and my Danglez swimsuit. I received my order of Milliskin Matte this week so if I like how the Danglez suit works in the cheap Joann’s fabric I can try it with the good stuff. I accidentally ordered the wrong pattern number for the Kwik Sew suit that I wanted to try too. I’ll have to wait on that one. I wanted this one: 3609 and got this one: 3608. Oops!

The first is my mother, Doris Wood. She is the one who taught me to sew and inspired me to challenge myself. The first things I remember making by myself were Barbie ™ clothes. Most of my first efforts weren’t really sewn, just scraps of fabric cut, wrapped and tied masterpieces. Maybe that is where my obsession with wrap dresses comes from. The first real sewing project I remember was a simple 4-gore skirt in dark blue. It had a side zip and waist band. It was 1976 and I paired this skirt with a snazzy red & white striped T-shirt with a Liberty Bell applique. It was a 4H project and I’m pretty sure I got a blue ribbon at the county fair that summer. This was the first of about 10 years of 4H projects, each one lovingly directed and taught by my Mother. Her patience and guidance were so valuable. I gained so much self confidence through participating in 4H; sewing, knitting, showing horses and my Mom was there for all of it. She is so very talented in her own right. She made us many clothes; dresses, bathing suits and more. She also created wonderful home dec. projects and beautiful quilts. I remember her making dolls and stuffed animals for church bazaars and flower girl dresses for cousins. Everything she made was unique and original and impeccably constructed.

The second woman I’d like to acknowledge today is Nella Taylor, also from Marlette, Michigan. She was also a 4H leader. I learned how to knit from her. Once a week after school the school bus would drop about a dozen girls, ages 8-16 or so, off at her house. We’d sit around her tiny living room learning to cast on, increase, decrease, cable, yarn-over and cast off while constructing a variety of garments. Everything from simple garter stitch scarves up to knit bikinis and lace dresses. Also in 1976 I made a pair of simple garter-stitch slippers out of red, white and blue variegated yarn. By the time I was in middle school my older sister, Pam was a very accomplished knitter in her own right and we didn’t go to Nella’s anymore and Pam was able to give me any guidance I needed. Pam and I just got together for lunch earlier this week and we got to reminiscing about our afternoons at Nella’s. We both are so thankful she was a part of our young lives. It’s interesting to wonder where we’d be if she hadn’t been there to teach us this skill that has been such a big part of our lives. Would we have learned to knit from someone else? Would we have done it as such a young age or would we have come to it as adults?

What women have influenced you? Did you teach yourself to sew, knit, crochet, etc? If you did, then YOU are a woman to be celebrated today! Is there someone in your life that had they not been there do you think your life would have taken a different turn? Share in the comments.

I ordered this suit pattern a couple weeks ago because it looked exactly like my favorite Lands End suit (pictured). I was very happy when it arrived until I opened it up to find this.

All the directions were written in Dutch. I tried to translate it in Babelfish and other online translators with little luck. I sent a quick note off to the website and by morning had a .pdf file in my inbox with the English instructions and a nice personal note from the owner.

Good thing I got the English translation because there were a few little bits that wouldn’t have made sense otherwise. Plus I probably wouldn’t have assumed that the pattern didn’t include seam allowances. (Should have known better, being a European pattern.)

How would you go about cutting that Body Back piece? After careful reading of the instructions I realized that you are supposed to join the main body side seam with the Back Top piece depending on what size you are using. You choose your size for the bust and the body separately which is really cool.

So today I traced off the pattern and started cutting. I ran out of lining fabric and wasn’t in the mood for a trip to Joann’s so I will have to wait to start construction on another day.

I decided on a 1/4” seam allowance. This handy double pencil has been in my tool collection for a long time so I don’t remember where I picked it up. It was either from a local art supply store or Clotilde???? It certainly makes tracing patterns and adding a 1/4” seam allowance fast and easy.

I am making this out of some bright red spandex that I picked up at Joann’s last month. I’m treating this as a muslin. I just ordered some Milliskin Matte fabric from Spandex World today to make my final version. I also ordered some black lining fabric. I wanted some “spacer” fabric for the bra cups but SW doesn’t carry it. Spandex House has it but I didn’t like their ordering system so I went with SW. I think I’m going to look for some ready made cups that will work.

For now I’m setting it aside until I get some more lining fabric. In the mean time I will be tracing off the Jalie 2908 for the next pair jeans.

I have come a long way in just under a year. Last May I made my two dresses; one wrap dress and one knit dress. I’ve only worn each of them once since I finished them. The wrap dress just wasn’t right. It didn’t fit and was difficult to wear. The whole point of finding a wrap dress pattern that I liked was to find something that was easy and comfortable to wear. That one wasn’t it by a long shot. The purple knit dress was okay but I just made the bodice too big and the neckline was too big and low. It was an oxymoron of a dress. It was medium weight cotton interlock with long sleeves so it was only comfortable in cooler weather, but the neckline was so low and open that my neck was always cold. Plus it sagged at the boobs, never a good look on anyone.

But I’ve been sewing like a fiend this past year and have learned a lot about sizing and what patterns work for me. I’ve also learned to trust PatternReview.com reviews. When over 100 sewist say a pattern is good, believe them!

Now about this dress. My full review is here. The short version is that I love it. The long version is that this was intended to be my muslin. This was one of the projects in my Priorities Pile. The fabric has been marinating in the stash for quite a few months. (The red and purple knits in that post are still marinating but I think they might be ready soon!) If you remember I paid less than $10 for the fabric for this dress. Now that the dress is finished I think it is the perfect print for this pattern. I love its retro vibe. I did pre-wash it so I’m not expecting any big surprises after the first go through the laundry.

Other things I really like about this dress:

• The full skirt. Other reviewers have mentioned they didn’t like the silhouette with the fuller skirt and they changed it. For me, this skirt is just right. I think it camouflages my hips and tummy, giving me a more hourglass figure.
• The neckline. The biggest problem I keep having with wrap dresses is the neckline. They are usually too low and gap. This one sits up nice and high between my boobs and hugs my sternum just right. I think a lot of this is attributable to the pleats at the waist. They provide bust fullness without making the neck-edge too long.
• The sleeves. I like the 3/4 length and the cuffs. They look very much like the original DVF wrap dresses. I will also probably make this with the short sleeve for summer and maybe lengthen this sleeve for winter.

Things I will change next time: 

• The ties. The are both the same length and I think it would make more sense to have the one that wraps all the way around the body longer than the one that just comes out the side opening and crosses the back. That way when they come together to tie they will be closer to equal lengths. I’m going to play with this a little and see what I like best.
• I might lengthen both the bodice and the skirt. It is just okay as is but could be just a little longer to sit right on my natural waist and I wasn’t able to use a very deep hem at all and have it be the length I’m comfortable with. But the narrow rolled hem was easier to do on such a curved hem on a knit so I may just leave it well enough alone.
• Some reviewers have had problems with the facings flipping out when they are wearing this dress. I haven’t worn mine outside my sewing room yet so I can’t weigh in on this yet. If it is an issue I’ll see what solution I can come up with. Knowing that this was a complaint I did understitch the facing very carefully and I also stitched it down to the shoulder seams by stitching-in-the-ditch the width of the facing at the shoulders. If I make it without the collar I’ll probably eliminate the facings all together and just turn and coverstitch the neck edge.

Tomorrow is March 1 and marks the beginning of the PatternReview swimsuit contest that I have entered. I’m still waiting for one pattern to arrive from the Netherlands and another Kwik Sew pattern to come in at work. In the mean time I may make a suit from the Jalie pattern that arrived this week.

I also am going to sign up for the Jean-ius class at Craftsy.com. I’m going to be teaching a 4 session jeans making class at work starting in April and would love a few more professional tips to share with my students. I honestly don’t have a pair of RTW jeans that I love and want to copy,  but I’ll skip that part of the class and use the rest of the tips for fashioning another pair of jeans from either the KW3315 or the Jalie pattern (or a combination of both!)

All this sounds great until I realize that I’ve been working 5 out of 6 days a week lately (we are closed Sunday and I dedicate Sundays to my couch!) and I haven’t had the amount of personal sewing time that I’m used to recently. With only one day a week to myself, I’m falling behind on lots of other things that need to get done around here.

I keep putting off writing this post. I took pictures of my fat self in an almost finished swimsuit in February in Illinois. Not a good thing to be looking at in all honesty. But to be honest, maybe it is exactly what I SHOULD be looking at right now. It isn’t pretty, but it is the truth.

One of the benefits and the draw backs of sewing your own clothes is that you can (and should!) make them to fit your body perfectly. That’s why we do this right? But (there’s always a but, or in my case a BUTT!) because we are paying attention to measurements and final fit, we may overlook the bigger picture. After a year of sewing and photographing myself in my finished garments I have to acknowledge that I’m not always liking what I am seeing. I don’t stress a lot about my size, it’s all just a number right? I usually go by what feels right. When I feel like my clothes aren’t fitting the way I like or I can’t physically do what I want to do, I start moving more and drinking eating less.

I’ve been thinking about writing a post about body image for a while now but didn’t know where to go with it. I know I’m overweight and I also know that my mental image of my body is quite different from reality. I still “see” myself as the tall size 6/8 young thing that I was in my 20s. But back then I didn’t like myself, I wanted bigger boobs and a flatter stomach (some things never change). Now I look at myself in the mirror, usually when naked after showering, and I don’t mind what I see. It isn’t until I put on clothes that don’t fit the way I’d like or look the way I think they should that I have a problem with my body image. I have breasts that fed 2 babies and were never exactly perky so I accept them for what they are now. I have a stomach that is way bigger than I’d like but without clothes to restrict it it is round and voluptuous and blends in well with the hips and thighs that support it. I don’t like the dimples that my hips and thighs are now sporting but my calves and ankles are still thin and shapely. For the most part my body is still strong. I can lift and carry things with almost the same strength I always could. I’m not as flexible as I once was but I’m still more flexibly than a lot of people my age and size.  I’ve never been a runner or had a lot of cardiovascular endurance so nothing has changed there. Would I like to be more fit and slimmer? For sure!

It is hard for me to make the time to do what I need to do to get the body I want to have. I don’t like to cook even though I know what kinds of foods I should be eating. At the end of the day I’d just rather grab something to fill up my stomach so I can go back to doing the things I really enjoy. I need to stop making excuses about exercising. When I make the time to do it, I love it. I really do. I love how in control and strong it makes me feel. I just need to get over the inertia of laziness that I tend to fall into. Even if I just made time for one yoga class and one aqua-fit class a week plus took the time to walk the dogs a couple days a week I’d see an improvement. Nike was on to something when they made “Just Do It” their slogan.

Anyway, enough words. I made my first swimsuit.

I was going to save the scary picture for last but let’s just get it over with shall we? This is just a basic tank made using the pattern and instructions in the Kwik Sew Swim & Action Wear book. I did color block it by cutting the pattern at the waist line and adding 1/4” seam allowances. It is also fully lined. I really like this striped fabric. The selvage edge says © Gap Inc. and it is a really nice weight and finish. If I were to do the half-and-half suit again I would probably drop the waist a couple inches to elongate the torso instead of cutting it in half. But then I run the risk of putting a horizontal line right across the widest part of my body. Maybe moving the line up to an empire level just under the bust is a better idea. I just think I’m already too short waisted and don’t want to accentuate that either. Hmmmmm.

Here’s an even scarier view from the back. I ran out of elastic before I could finish the leg openings. This is where I think lowering the waist line would look better and make my butt look less enormous. Most of my RTW suits have a much higher back on them and I think the next suit I make will too. I like the support a higher back gives and is more flattering overall.

After my final fitting I decided that I wanted some straps across the back to help keep the shoulder strap from falling off. Just look at those sad slopey shoulders in that photo! I wrapped a long piece of elastic in the navy fabric and coverstitched it to make a strap. I then cut it into 2 pieces and arranged them across the back and stitched in place.

I’m not done with the swimsuit making. Emma still wants me to make her something. I also have ideas for a tankini/swim-dress for myself and a retro styled tank with a more shaped bust. I also ordered the Jalie racer-back tank pattern yesterday and that should give me something to work with for basic suits too. Now that I’m fairly confident in the basic steps I’d like to find patterns to incorporate more advanced details like shaped bra cups and under-wires. I don’t really need under-wires but I’ve been asked by a more “endowed” friend to make her a suit and she has a RTW suit I could copy with under-wires. I’d like a suit with more bust detailing just to give myself the illusion of more going on there if you know what I mean. I have some ideas, just need to find the time to experiment and see what I can come up with.

I made a major score at Joann’s yesterday. I ran out of swimwear elastic and stopped there after work to get more. The bulk elastic was on clearance and was marked .25/yd. I took what was left to the cutting table and told them I’d take it all. The girl then told me it rang up for .10/yd! I got 18.5 yards of elastic for less than $2!!! SCORE!!!

I think there is a 6pm Aqua-Fit class at the gym tomorrow night. Might be a good reason to debut the new suit!

I accomplished yet another of the projects on my priority list today. The dogs now have some nice mats for their crates. They are even personalized! They were very quick and easy to make.

Materials:

One yard each heavy denim and polar fleece. This is enough to make two mats approx. 35”x28”. I just cut each yard in half down the middle to make two pieces 36” by 30”. My two fabrics were quite the same width so I did a little trimming to match everything up. If you want them to fit perfectly into the bottom of your crate just measure the bottom pan size and add an inch to get a 1/2” seam allowance all the way around.

How To:

If you want to personalize it, hoop your denim and stitch out the name. Because this denim was so stiff I didn’t put an stabilizer in the hoop with it. I did Maizey’s first and some of the stitches weren’t as nice as I’d like them to be so when I did Cas’ I slipped a piece of Heavy Cut-Away under the hoop before I started stitching and that worked great.

Lay the denim piece out flat right side up and place fleece right side down on top of it. Smooth everything out, matching edges, trim any edges that aren’t even.

Round off the corners. I marked them with a chalk wheel and used my magnetic pin cushion as a guide. I chose to round them off to make turning them right side out easier. Pin both fabrics together. Stitch around edge, leaving an opening for turning. I used my walking foot because the fleece likes to stretch under the foot while stitching. I also lengthened my stitch length and made sure I had a jeans needle in the machine.

Turn right side out and clip excess fabric from curved corners and notch seam allowance. (I forgot to take a picture of this step.)

Topstitch approximately 1/2” from edge. Be cure to tuck in the edges of the opening so they get caught in the topstitching.

All done in a couple hour’s work. I like that they are lightweight and easy to wash. No stuffing for the dogs to chew apart and get all over the house. The fleece gives a little cushioning and the denim is durable.

Miss Maizey looks a little less than thrilled with her new digs but that is partly because I moved her crate today from one corner to another and now Cas is in the same room. She doesn’t like change.

In reality the dogs don’t spend a lot of time in their crates. Just while we are out of the house. They are still spoiled and get to sleep on our bed at night. And with my part-time hours and how early the girls get home from school they are rarely crated for more than a few hours at a time. But Cas does like his crate and will just go hang out in their for periods of time. He is also a bit of a hoarder and we will find random things hidden in there. Like the time my friend stayed over to dog sit and after we got home I was cleaning it out and found her bank card still in the envelope from the mail in his crate.

Also, does anyone else think it is weird that two Michigan State Spartans have a dog named MAIZEy? I didn’t ever realize the awkwardness until I embroidered her name in bright yellow on a blue background.

We are having a Swimsuit Sew-Along! Please join us. How you ask? Well for one how about you start by deciding to try your hand at sewing your own swimwear? Then you can follow along as I and my fellow blogger-sew-alongists (it IS a word, okay maybe not, be we can pretend) jump into the deep end and make this thing happen. If you are a blogger that would like to join along you can grab the above badge and add it to you blog and kindly link back here and to any of the other blogs that are also participating. (Please ‘right-click-save as’ the image above and download it to your computer and then upload it to your own photo site or whatever you use to insert images into your blog. No bandwidth stealing please!)

Let me first introduce you to your other lifeguard. Swimmers meet Stephanie. She blogs over at The Petite Sewist and agreed to join me for Adult Swim. We met over on PatternReview.com. If you’d like to join our discussion pop on over to the Discussion Board and introduce yourself.

Now to get us all off the block and into the pool I’ve started to compile some helpful links. I’ll try to add to this list as time goes on.

Tutorials and Tips

Creative Chicks Blog – They have some of the best tips with photos I’ve found yet. After reading through all their pages of sewing tips even the most novice sewer will feel confident to give this a go.

Ten Tips for Sewing Swimwear Fabrics – Straight and to the point. All good things to know and remember.

Kwik Sew Swimwear Tips – Good basic advice from Kwik Sew

Burda Style DIY your swimsuit – inspiration, a few tips, and links to free patterns.

Sew Mama Sew – free pattern and tutorial.

Supplies

Spandex World -  the name pretty much says it all.

Spandex House – I guess if you are not ready for the whole world, just go with the whole house for now.

Fashion Fabrics Club – This e-retailer has gotten some bad reviews on PatternReview but I will say that I just purchased some swimwear fabric from them and it came as ordered in a reasonable amount of time. Your mileage may vary.

Fabric.com – I order from way more often than I should. I’ve never had a problem. One time they sent me the wrong Kwik Sew pattern and when I called about it they immediately sent out the correct one and let me keep the mistake.

Sew Sassy – I’ve never ordered from them but I’ve heard and read very good things about them. Looks like a great place for bra cups, swimwear elastic and other related notions.

EDITED: I’m taking the link to Paragon Patterns off of this post after receiving a comment regarding their poor or non-existant customer service. I then went and read reviews of this company and can’t with good conscience link to them.

Well I think this should be a good start. If you want to participate or have more resource links to share post them in the comments and I’ll add them to the list here. Also post a link to your blog in the comments and I will start to compile a list of participants so we can all stop over for a visit and splash around in your kiddie pool.

So let me show you what I’ve added to may stash recently:

First of all I ordered this book. It has basic patterns in the back in a large range of sizes. The styling and fabric choices in the photos is dated to say the least, but the information is good and some of the patterns have a lot of potential. The only style really missing that I would like is a racer back tank. I don’t like halter top suits because of my neck issues and spaghetti straps always seem to slip off my shoulders. But I think if I need to I can use these patterns as a starting point and modify them to suit my needs.

This lovely Wonder Woman number is one of my favorites. Not that I’d ever make it but it is good for a laugh or two. In all honesty I do like the bra top style and may use it to modify one of the one-piece tanks to a more flattering style for myself.

The book gives really good instruction for making the bra top and I know that Emma prefers bikinis so I may use it for a suit for her too. She’s more of a Batman kind of girl than Wonder Woman though.

These are some of the fabrics that I purchased. The first set is a black with pink and purple dots and a solid black. I think these will be used for something for Emma. But there is enough black there for at least bottoms or a contrast for another suit. The second photo is a multi-stripe and solid navy. I ordered the stripe online and ordered the royal blue in the last photo to go with it. But the online photos didn’t depict the colors well and in person they don’t match at all. Plus the royal blue is very shiny, maybe I’ll put it aside until I find red stripes and make that Wonder Woman suit after all. The navy in the second picture is from Joann’s. I originally bought it with the idea of making a modified version of the Alison Suit from Burda Style. But when the blues didn’t match in the online purchased fabrics I changed my mind. I’m also on the lookout for a copy of Kwik Sew 2500. If I find it I will make it in purple to replace my favorite Lands End suit.

When will I get to all of this? I have no idea. But I did buy a yard of lycra lining fabric, swimwear elastic and a few types of bra cups at Joann’s last week too so I have everything I need when the mood strikes me. But for today I need to get back into my sewing room and work on yesterday’s list of priorities. I got quite a bit done on the Theater Aprons yesterday afternoon and evening, an hour or two more and they should be done. Then it is on to the Missoni fabric top for Saturday. If that goes together as fast as it should I might be able to start embroidering the dogs’ names on the denim for their beds.