165. Revisiting the Nurse Ratched Shirtdress

The last post and a few of the comments got me thinking about why I haven't blogged more about sewing projects gone wild, i.e. the "failures". I certainly don't feel any shame in sharing the questionable along with the experiments that work. I guess I've been doing a lot of work and volunteer stuff in Excel lately, so I put my thoughts into a little worksheet, and look at what came out of that private brainstorm:

Note that these percentages are not calculations -- they are guesses, though I bet they are pretty accurate. And I purposely didn't pick round numbers like 10% and 25% because I like to counterbalance my obvious geek tendencies with a good dose of snarkiness.

Also note that a personal decision when I started blogging was to only show finished projects, not works-in-progress. The purpose behind that decision was to increase the number of finished projects, as the other goal was to blog twice a week.

So check out those numbers:

• Most of what I sew gets finished, and the results are "good". I wear these clothes.
• There is a tiny percent of clothes that are really perfect the first time out. Put them on and it's instant magic.
• Only a small percentage of the clothes are so "tragedy in the making" that I throw them in the UFO pile before they're actually done. It's good to see that I'm doing this a lot less. These are the projects that I would deem the "failures", and I am not used to blogging them because I typically don't blog unfinished projects! (Mystery solved.)
• Maybe 8% of the projects are in good functioning condition but I am always messing with them. I might wear them, but I feel when I wear them like they are not complete. Usually the clothes that land here are really simple styles need some embellishment.

One of the projects in that always-messing-with category that I wore today is the Nurse Ratched Shirtdress. This was my sixth refashion from almost a year ago, and was a white shirtdress made of two men's shirts. I took some reader suggestions as to what to do next, and ended up dyeing it a teal blue from Rit or Dylon, can't remember now.

The original dress was white, and I thought it had looked like a nurse's uniform. I laughed after I dyed it, threw it in the laundry, and took it out of the dryer: It was the color of medical scrubs!

Picture taken today. I remembered one of my little secrets, that there are two patch pockets, one from each original shirt -- so one pocket is in a herringbone-weave like the shirt that the skirt is made from:

And the other pocket is in a regular twill weave, so it doesn't match the skirt fabric:

And this surprised me -- the serger thread (yes, the serger was broken when I sewed this so it is wonky) did not dye teal like the thread I used on all the seams. It stayed white, even though it has a hint of blue in it:

So do you think this dress looks too scrubby? Do you blog about the projects that don't go well? What do you do when it looks like a garment is headed for a sewing train wreck? Do you build little secrets into your clothes as you sew them?

123. Surprise!

Before the surprise, an update on the sew-along: There has been a brief slowdown/ burnout/ general pause this past week for many of us working on our pants. I believe Mary Nanna has crossed the finish line, and Cindy finished but wore the final pants and wants to make more modifications. Johanna Lu and Diana suggested feeling a bit of a pause. DD, Berry, and I have been silent on the topic for a couple of weeks, though I can confirm that I will make some pattern alterations based on your thorough feedback from my last post and should have another muslin for you to see. Hopefully that muslin will reflect the right amount and quality of effort, but if not, I will push to the finish line!

*******

The surprise: I'm working on a micro line of refashioned t-shirts with 302Designs!

Remember when I told you in February about the month I recently spent with an "anything goes" mentality? (To save you from clicking around to re-read the post, the quick summary is that I had a month off between Jan & Feb from my day job and just recorded every idea I had, and I tried to explore them all.) One of the first ideas I had during that month was to identify a company that could offer lots of raw materials for refashioning. 302Designs is an Austin company that produces screenprinted t-shirts, and I figured that they would have some overstock/ misprint/ deadstock/ mildly damaged/ otherwise unsellable shirts sitting around that they could offer a better life as a new garment. I'd met the owner, David Walker, about 18 months ago, and last month I just picked up the phone to explain that I had some ideas, and could he meet up? We scheduled some time to brainstorm, and I left the meeting a clothing designer. Say what?

Yes, it happened that fast. Even though my head is still processing this, I have forced my hands to start working on the clothes. I didn't have a specific intention in mind when I went into the meeting but the end result is that I'll be taking these 16 t-shirts, which had been sitting in a box on a shelf for a long time, from 302Designs, and I will refashion them into new garments in a micro sample line. Micro as in 6 pieces, sample as in "the only one available". David has local press contacts and will invite them to check out the goods when the line is complete.

After, "Whatchu talkin' 'bout, Willis?", and, "Me? Design clothes?", the big question for me was, "What could happen from there?" I've decided to start a company/ clothing label to see where this little project can go. I don't have any intention of leaving my day job as a corporate trainer and business consultant, and I am thrilled to have a chance to extend something I love creatively into a business, even if it is a one-woman operation (with lots of support and cheering from my friends and family). It's kind of like bringing the two things I love -- being a businessperson and sewing/ creating clothes -- into one venture. Really the most amazing opportunity!

It's important to me to set up a separate site for the company/ label, so that CleverGirl.org will continue to serve up the familiar dorkiness and angst, nearly unconditional love, lessons from sewing and life in general, the results of interesting sewing experiments, and the occasional tutorial and sew-along. :) I'll add links to the sidebar in case you're interested, but the basic blog and what I blog about won't change in an icky, uncomfortable way.

It's a good time to introduce you to Carmen:

Carmen is staying with us for a few weeks, thanks to my awesome friend and sewing guru, Shauna, to help out with the micro collection. It seemed like a better idea to sew this sample line for a body with a more average (read" BIGGER") bust size than Clementine's. I think Carmen has a 35" or 36" bust -- spicy name for a curvier gal. You can see Clementine sulking in the edge of the shot, but she'll get used to sharing the space. Plus I'll be keeping her busy, too.

114. I didn't win!

Do you see how my post numbers are a little out of order now?  I started this post last week or so but didn't finish and publish it!  So here we go!

I didn't win the PatternReview.com refashion contest, in which voting ended on Feb 11. In my concession speech, I must thank all of you who commented on the dress and voted for it.  :)  The dress may have lost the battle, but it's nice to see that we're gaining ground in the war for "green" sewing and sustainable style.  One of the 1st place gals made a Vogue/ Michael Kors jacket from Capri Sun bags!  I doubt she will wear it to Sunday brunch, but that, combined with projects such as this excellent blue wool coat refashion, do a lot to open our eyes to the potential of the very clothes and materials already sitting, unused, around us.

Since this was my first contest with PR (my first sewing contest, for that matter), I was perplexed by the whole process. After voting was done, there were a couple of days where nothing was different except that voting was closed. Then, one day I went back and saw that votes were showing up for some entries. When I sorted by vote, there were 2 entries tied for 1st place with 28 votes each, another entry with 24 votes, then mine with 18. When I came back the next day to see if it was spelled out for me, I sorted by votes and there was another entry before mine with a note saying it was ineligible because the person had won another contest in the past 6 months. The next day, there was ANOTHER entry right above mine, with no indication of the number of votes. [Update - Now the top 4 all show "not eligible for votes" b/c they won a contest in the last 6 months.  See screenshot above.  Meaning this refashion contest???  Perplexing.]

The official word from PR in the last newsletter is that there was a tie for first AND second place, so technically the blue coat would have been next in line and then my Chanel knock-off? I guess? 

Any which way, it was a great experience to prepare for and hit a deadline, knowing my work was going to be judged and scrutinized. And it was fun reading the comments about the dress because it wasn't really that hard at all.  A couple of folks asked for a tutorial, which I'm happy to oblige... after I finish the other tutorial I already started!  I'm about halfway through and should finish by the end of this week.  Hope you are enjoying pre-spring, even those of you in the snow!

104. Winter Dress from Vintage Plaid Fabric

Remember this dress?  Found in Lucky and blogged in November.  Sewed a prototype from Simplicity 3694 in December.  Discovered the perfect fabric in my stash shortly thereafter but needed new pattern with shirred neckline to maintain the neat plaid lines.

I ended up pulling New Look 6731 from my 2008 projects.  Last spring I made the roll-collar version.  Recently Kyle made her knit tunic with this pattern.  Anyway, the fit is appropriately boxy and I used the hood from Simplicity 3694.  It came together in under 3 hours, with various episodes of Law & Order running in the background, with one huge mistake but oh well, I like the dress anyway!  LOL  

Here we go:

First, about the fabric...  It's a plaid fabric from my mom's stash, according to her from the 70's.  She gave it to me last spring and I hadn't found quite the right project for it till now.  I only had a yard and a few inches but it was 54" wide, so I had just enough for the dress and hood, and not even close to enough for sleeves.  The lining is a beautiful, shiny purple charmeuse from the fabulous Micah.  Thanks, girl!  :)

Side note: It's interesting that my mother paid 99 cents a yard for this fabric 30 years ago.  She still, in 2009, finds it hard to buy fabric for more than that.  If you look closely in the photo, you can see the label underneath that shows a previous price of $1.99/ yard.  At these prices, in 1970, I might think this is wool.  Indeed, it doesn't smell like petroleum.  But it is really coarse and kind of reminds me of those woven blankets for sale to tourists in Mexico (of which we own two).  And some of the fibers seem shiny.  So maybe some kind of cotton/ poly blend?

As for the patterns, I used New Look 6731 for the front and back bodice, remembering how easy it was to sew.  The armholes in the last sleeveless version were snug so I scooped out the bottom of the armholes by 0.75".  I also added 4" to the bottom hem b/c the original is tunic-length and I wanted a dress.  I lengthened the hood from Simplicity 3694 by 1.5" because the neckline for this dress is lower than the dress the hood was designed to accompany.

Do you see what I see?

Wow, that armhole looks almost like a racerback.

And it kind of pulls toward the back.  What's up with that?

This would be why.  I didn't read the instructions, and assumed that the notches on either side of center back were for gathering.  They are not!  The notches are to line up with the roll collar that I didn't sew in this dress.  Funny enough, the dress still fits well and is very comfortable.  Plus, I already trimmed all the seams down and worry that trying to take this apart will create new, undesirable challenges.  So off we go into the sunset!

Quick question for you:  What is the difference between being inspired and mimicry?  Esp. in clothing?  Where or how do you draw the line?  I've seen some designers post an inspiration photo of a garment and then a photo of the garment they came up with, often times nearly identical.  I think that's what I've done here with this dress, but I'm not sure I'd call it "inspired by".  It's pretty much a copy of.  What do you think about the diff. between being inspired and copying?

Whatever Happened To... Martha Stewart Sewing Ideas?

A few weeks back, I posted about a cute hooded dress in a Lucky magazine ad.  I immediately went to the Sewing Ideas site as instructed and didn't see any reference to the cute dress in the ad.  Thanks to 2WeeMonsters, I got a link to the info about two weeks later.  I thought maybe I was blind or it was that non-detail-oriented thing that I missed the very info I was looking for, but lsaspacey has confirmed that I am neither blind nor going out of my mind.  (Yet.)  I guess it just took a couple of weeks for the Martha Stewart team to realize they needed to get the projects up on the site for people with a high sense of urgency, like me.

Cutting to the chase, the actual project file (PDF) is here.  This is clearly sponsored by Pfaff, and having seen sewing projects from the Pfaff site before, I know that the majority of their sewing projects are just embellishments to garments that you make from a Big 4 sewing pattern.  That's pretty much what you get here.  As lsaspacey pointed out, we are to make the dress using one Simplicity pattern for the dress and another Simplicity pattern for the hood.  The sleeve cuffs and tabs are constructed of various size rectangles of fabric, and get this:  the pockets aren't really pockets -- they are faux welt pockets.  You have this roomy dress that can easily camouflage the bulk that pockets and stuff in them can add, but you don't actually add the pockets!  Mystifying.

As a sort-of intermediate sewist, I am deciding to go with my gut response: Simplicity Built By Wendy 3694, which is the pattern Sewing Ideas recommends for the hood.  This pattern's bodice looks close enough in silhouette (barely shaped), even if it doesn't have the gathering at the neckline.  I think I'll sew the BBW minidress with hood, forgo the sleeve cuffs and tabs, and put in some real pockets.  In fact, I think I'll sew this tomorrow.

As much as this shouldn't bother me, I feel a slight, nagging pang of disappointment.  Could be that 18 months ago I was still a beginner at sewing and would have been very, very frustrated with the promise the ad seemed to make ("For these patterns and instructions, go to...") and what's delivered ("Buy someone else's patterns, follow their directions, cut up a bunch of random fabric rectangles, and sew them on," if I may loosely paraphrase) .

Oh well, so much for advocating for the beginner sewist.  I took my classes, sewed a lot of garments, some good and some wadders, and paid my dues.  I know what to do to get this dress and tomorrow I'm making it.  I will need lots of rest to get it done, so for now, good night!

Photo from Simplicity.com.

Whatever Happened To... Princess Leia Costume, a.k.a. McCall's 4756

This is one of THE iconic images of Princess Leia, right?  Mega-draped tunic wonder for being camouflaged in the desert, or whatever.  I find white so impractical for daily life.  Why else would she wear so much white if not for survival?  If I sat still and watched the whole movie I guess I would figure out why, but I'm not a Star Wars fan.  (My husband, who is, shudders as he reads this whole paragraph.)

My version didn't come out too shabby!  The costume was for my friend Amy's 6-month-old daughter.  What a cute baby!  For the dress I used McCall's 4756, without the button down center front and a little slit opening on the back.  I also extended the long sleeves, used a size 1 bodice with size 4 length  to make a dress instead of tunic, and added a simple bias collar.  Someday I'll post a review.  This was a very simple sew and I love this classic little girl dress silhouette.  The belt was also improvised -- it ties in the back and I sewed on some gold buttons to look like the medallions from the original belt.  

I was most proud of the hair!  Amy had emailed this picture to me to show me what's available for purchase off the shelf, and my first instinct was to copy the fleece buns.  I worried that wire in them would be uncomfortable and unsafe, so Shauna suggested doll hair.  Couldn't find any long, straight brown hair at the craft store (all dolls have short, curly, blonde hair?) so I headed to the yarn section and grabbed a skein of 100% wool Lion brand yarn.  I used a balloon as a head form and twill tape to outline a structure, and then "basted" using scotch-tape to attach lengths of yarn to the twill tape, twisting every so often to make sure they were the right length in the right places to make those trademark buns.  Then I sewed the yarn down to the twill tape in a very delicate operation and ripped off the scotch tape.   

Truthfully, my favorite part has nothing to do with my handiwork:  it's the shoes!

 

The real Princess Leia photo from Obi-Wan's Jedi Academy.  Costume photo from OfficialStarWarsCostumes.com.

What Ever Happened To... Vogue 1046: The Voluminous Gingham Dress

I have a strong tendency to rack up UFO's on my sewing path, and by blogging all year I am starting to see that I am dragging anyone who reads my blog with me down the road of non-completion.  The best thing to come of blogging is that I finish more of my UFO's for the benefit (at least in my mind) of the collective sewing consciousness -- you know, contributing to that sense of closure.  Before things get too philosophical, let's move on to the dress...

All better now.

When I last shared the Vogue 1046 dress with you, I'd spent about 4 hours on it, and it was a

 finished garment.  It seemed like the dress had ideas of its own, with those bothersome gathers on the sides of the skirt back pushing out almost horizontally in a very unflattering way.  After fielding suggestions from some of you talented sewists and stylists, and after consultation with my sewing guru, I decided to:

1. Unpick each end of the seam attaching the back yoke to the skirt back about 6 or 7 inches,

2. Ungather the first 2-3 inches of fabric from the side seam in, and

3. Make a big ol' pleat to use up the excess fabric.

4. Sew it all back together.

Given this fabric is so lightweight, it didn't weigh the skirt down enough to keep those multi-directional puckers from happening.  The pleats make a HUGE difference in my comfort and confidence wearing this dress, but the silhouette is still VOLUMINOUS, and after seeing the photos I took today of the dress from the side and straight on, I think I will make the same alterations to the front next spring.  

Pattern review will be posted tomorrow.  Have a great weekend, everyone!!!!!!!

UPDATE: Here's that pattern review of Vogue 1046.