Month: November 2023

Today’s Project

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I’m getting nowhere on the quilt project – I know I’m not going to be happy with the finished outcome and that what I’ll end up doing is making a quilt, then cutting it up to construct a jacket of some sort. So I keep walking away from the strips of fabric sitting at one of my machines.

My avoidance project today, after having put strings of lights on my driftwood sculpture and along my balcony railing, was to make a new iPhone case!

The Old iPhone Case
The New iPhone Case

As you an see, my old iPhone case which I made over a year ago has become very shabby. The lambskin (which I bought locally) was very soft and didn’t wear well. I’ve been meaning to make a new iPhone case but haven’t made time to do it. It’s not a big project, I can make one in under two hours. It’s just getting to it. Today was the day.

I used some leather I had bought in New York City in the spring of 2012 at the Leather Skins warehouse. (Check out the lambskins! Yummy! Irresistable! Not outrageously expensive!)

Leather Skins Warehouse

The place was small, on the 11th floor, Suite 1101, 261 W 35th St. The walls were filled with skins from ceiling to floor, sorted by kind, not so much by colour! I was taken with the lamb skins – I bought one in a purple-ish blue. There were actually six matching skins enough to make a jacket and pants – I only took a single skin. I also bought a printed leather skin (rather inexpensive – because a piece had been cut from one end – didn’t matter to me because I was intending to use it used for trim and there was a lot of leather in what remained of the skin). I’ve used small bits and pieces of that printed leather from time to time but most of the skin was still intact. Today I decided to cut a 5 1/4″ strip to make the iPhone case!

Didn’t take long to put the iPhone case together. I grabbed some zipper tape and slides. I dug through my zippered bag fabrics and found one to use for the linings, cut the three pieces I needed for the small pockets, the side pocket and the phone pocket. I looked through my parachute cord stash and picked out one. Finally I cut a small amount of velcro, and chose a button to decorate the closure tab.

I made this bag just a bit wider than the old one – to make room for the credit cards and the cash and the few items I carry in the side pocket. In under two hours I was finished. It’ll be interesting to see how long this one will last. I’m expecting the painted surface will rub off, but the skin is a bit sturdier than the blue leather was so the case may hold up somewhat longer.

In case you’re interested, you can find my instructions for this version of the iPhone case here.

Burgundy Pants / Black & White Top

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I’ve finished garment making for now. I just completed (maybe – more about that in a moment) a black and white Ebony T-Shirt top. I took out some of the flare (I could take out more – might do that if I make another one) and widened the sleeves, dropped the arm hole a small amount to relax the sleeves – it worked. Although I lengthened the 3/4 sleeves, I didn’t lengthen them enough! I’m not doing anything about that right now (I have enough fabric to add cuffs, for example) – I’ll wear it a couple of times before deciding whether to change the sleeve length or not.

Black/White Flared Top

I like the weight of the fabric, a knit, but with more heft than a t-shirt fabric. I have no idea how well it will wear – I have a hunch I will be dealing with pilling. It wasn’t a cheap fabric (even though it’s a synthetic without any natural fibre in it) so I won’t be surprised if I have to shave it after wearing it; whereas the fabric in the burgundy top has a slightly polished surface and it shouldn’t pill at all.

No doubt about it, the quality of fabric, even “good” fabric, is not the same as say 25 years ago. The integrity of the weave, the stability of the fibres, have deteriorated. When I make or buy something I want it to last a good while. I hate garments that make it through one season and then look shabby and need to be thrown out.

I finished the burgundy corduroy pants last week. I adjusted the crotch depth (I removed 3/4″ from the back panel which seems to have eliminated the fold that occured on the teal pants).

Burgundy Pants
Teal Pants

The reality is, even if I’ve made the pattern before (sometimes many times), each new garment is still a muslin! There are always adjustments to be made. The fabrics hang a wee bit differently. There’s more or less stretch in one fabric which changes the fit. Good thing what draws me to making clothes for myself is the challenge each new garment offers!

Full Tummy Adjustment!

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No point in denying it – my pants pattern needed a FTA. There are lots of descriptions for adjusting for a full tummy; here’s one: https://www.tillyandthebuttons.com/2023/06/full-tummy-adjustment.html.

In the pants I just finished I incorporated a FTA in the traced pattern. It has resulted in a good fit at the waist, nicely draping coverage across my tummy, with no pulling when I do up the front fly zipper.

I followed the instructions in Jenny Rushmore’s “Ahead Of The Curve”. I started by putting on an unadjusted pair of pants/jeans, buttoning the waistband but leaving the zipper gaping so I could measure how much I needed to add to make the tummy fit work. Then I drafted the changes she laid out – a horizontal cut connected to a diagonal cut, with a cut from top to horizontal cut to open the waistband.

Full Tummy Adjustment – FTA

I made those adjustments on my pattern (outlined in red – sort of). You can see I needed to open the top close to 3/4″ at the centre front, 1/4″ at the waistband, giving another 1/4″ (a shade under) at the centre front to make the fly flap straight.

My Adjustments

That gave me a nicely fitting front for the pants:

I wore them all day yesterday; I have them on again today. They stay snugly at my waist, they don’t pull down when I sit, and there’s no strain across the tummy. Comfortable. I’m making these same adjustments on the burgundy pair of pants I’m just about to cut out!

Yesterday and Today

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Dark Teal Corduroy Pants/Jeans
Closet Case – Ebony T-Shirt/Dress

I’ve been busy sewing. Yesterday made this pair of corduroy pants/jeans (which I’ve been wearing all day – they’re very comfortable with a waist that’s large enough but just snug enough with the help of a bit of elastic in the back, they aren’t pulling down which means the crotch depth is good). As you an see I used a fly front which let me shape the sides just a bit (can’t shape them much because I don’t have hips and my waist is almost the same measurement as my hips). I no longer bother with inside pockets – the top pockets work just as well and look OK. There are also two back jeans pockets and as always, the dart down the centre back to give the legs/bum a bit of shape.

Back View

There’s a jeans back yoke to shape the top hip area which works quite well. There is still some bagginess just below the bum which I suspect I could get rid of if I brought in the back crotch about an inch – I’m not going to do that on these pants. The fullness doesn’t show when I wear a tunic length top. However, I will try that with the next pair – a dark maroon to go with the Ebony T-shirt.

Today, I cut out and zipped up the flowing tunic top. Simple to make – stitch the shoulders, add the neck facing, sew in the sleeves, stitch the underarm and side seams, finally hem sleeves and bottom. Two-three hours work. I lengthened the tunic by 2″ adding an extra 1 1/2″ to the front. In previous iterations of the tunic I found it tended to hang shorter in the front than the back – this time I have managed to even it up.

I love having a dedicated coverstitch machine – it makes hemming garments (and other projects) a snap. That precise double row of stitching which covers the hem edge on the inside gives the garment that commercial finished look and it’s so easy to do. My advice to people who do a reasonable amount of garment sewing is to buy a good mechanical serger without a lot of bells and whistles, and invest in a separate coverstitch machine as well, rather than an expensive serger with coverstitch which takes an annoying amount of time to convert from serging to coverstitch and back again! The two machines will likelky cost lest than that fancy serger. My covertitch machine just needs threading (which is very simple) and it’s always ready to go.

Tomorrow I will cut out the magenta corduroy pants and get those whipped together over the next few days.

Still Here!

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Christmas Cakes Baking
Socks
Playing Around With Quilt

Nearly a month – I bet you though I’d dropped off the face of the earth…. I haven’t. I did bake the Christmas Cakes the week after Canadian Thanksgiving (I forgot to write about that); I’ve finished a pair of socks and am half way through another pair; been playing around with that quilt – it’s not happening, Oh well. I put it aside while waiting for another yard and a half of the background fabric from the Fat Quarter Shop – it got here this morning. I’ve got a pair of navy corduroy pants partially made – I AM going to sit down and work on them right after this!

Yesterday I spent the afternoon sharing my quilts and wall art pieces with a Seniors Class at the SCANS group – a receptive and engaged group, including the one man who is a wood turner and interested in the commonalities between what he does and I do!

I’ll take time to write about the quilt as soon as I get the pants finished. I just wanted to touch base and let you know I haven’t disappeared!