Trending on Twitter today is “International Women’s Day”. To celebrate I want to tell you about two women who influenced me when I was young. I wouldn’t be the crafter I am today if it weren’t for them.

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.

We have a WINNER!!!!

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.