Lessons in Prewashing...

I had high hopes for this beautiful navy knit from Paron's Going out of Business Sale in NYC's garment district.  The Italian viscose has a lovely hand with about 20% stretch.  It's wrinkle free = perfect for travel.

From the start, I intended to use the fabric for an office appropriate dress with out of print Vogue 8663.

 But the finished dress was solidly in the boring camp (even for office wear), too big and doesn't at all do justice to the lovely fabric.




Accessorizing with a silk scarf belt makes the ensemble a tad less forgettable, don't you think?  But still quite blah....



Although I am usually a Vogue size 10, I cut out a 12 based on the finished measurements.  It turned out to be too big in the bodice.

I turned to Pattern Review for assistance with the pleats.  After marking with chalk I basted them in place by hand.  I also topstitched the pleats down (not in the pattern direction).  In spite of my prep, the center pleat shifted.  I unpicked it and re-sewed it as a dart.  Better but far from perfect. 



I applied Sewkeyse knit stay tape to the neckline, sleeves and hem and then folded over twice and catch stitched.  I prefer the look of hand finishing to machine or even twin needle.

I wore the dress twice before sending it out with the laundry. (One of the many peculiarities of NYC living is that many of us don't have in-unit washer/dryers...) I forgot to specify that the dress needed to be air dried and it shrunk...A LOT.  The new "dress" is tunic length and barely covers my bum. On the upside, it fits pretty close to perfect in the bodice...

To keep the faith, I am reframing this experience as a wearable muslin and intend to make the dress again with the following modifications:

•  smaller size (8 or 10)
•  lengthen the bodice 2 inches
•  use darts instead of pleats in the bodice
• cut the back bodice and back skirt on the fold
• construct a full lining

Guess who will never again forget to prewash her fabric?

A Quick Sew for Male Pattern Boldness Day 2015

With Carol of Make it Anywear

Saturday was Male Pattern Boldness DAY! 

Peter Lappin of the Male Pattern Boldness blog has been organizing a sewing meetup for 5 years running. The big day had been on my calendar for months and took place this past Saturday! Unfortunately, I wasn't able to join the group for the early events, but I did meet up  with Carol for the fabric shopping and Bryant Park rendezvous.

At Bryant Park

Kashi graciously opened on Saturday for the MPB shoppers.  I purchased shirting for my husband,  a silk print I have been eyeing for over a year,  as well as a raspberry tissue-weight wool knit.

Purchases from Kashi!

What did I wear for the occasion of my first MPB Day, you ask?  I was running low on time, so I whipped up a knit Grainline Hemlock dress the night before!  The blue knit is a silk/wool blend from Kashi. The cashmere knit is from Chez Fabrique in Columbia, South Carolina.

Grainline's hemlock pattern is essentially 2 rectangles + dropped sleeves.  It's a one-size pattern (Bust: 44.5 inches; Hips: 46.5 inches).  I modified the pattern into a dress using tutorials from  Notes from a Mad Housewife  and Sweet KM:

• Created waistline shaping using my french curve, removing 4 inches in total.  
• Removed 1 inch from the center back and a corresponding 1 inch from the center front.  
• Added 5.5 inches to the hemline to make it dress length.

Original Hemlock T is on the left; My modification to make it a dress on the right

I don't have a serger, so I used the "stretch stitch" on my Bernina with a jersey needle.  I broke several needles until I switched out the jersey needle to a regular 70/10 needle.  Is a jersey needle not appropriate?

This was a simple sew:  2 shoulder seams, 2 side seams, and a neckline finish.  I used Megan Nielsen's tutorial to sew the grey cashmere knit to the blue knit around the neckline.  As Peter pointed out at the meet-up, this method basically creates a facing out of the grey cashmere knit.

My husband quite cheekily remarked that the dress was a bit shorter than I normally wear. Yes, it's short and I'm quite aware.   I chalked it up to the "wearable muslin" and decided to wear it anyway...

I am learning that even the simplest of sews benefits from a wearable muslin.  For my next iteration, I have already made the following adjustments to the pattern pieces:

1) add back in 1/2 inch to both the front and back pieces along the center
2) lengthen the hemline by 3.5 additional inches
3) remove 1 inch from the neckline along the shoulder seams.

Culture in the City

Several goodies over the past few months...

David Sedaris:  We hauled ourselves all the way to the Brooklyn Academy of Music to hear David Sedaris. Having only read one of his books (Me Talk Pretty One Day), I can hardly call myself a groupie.  We enjoyed it, but I wouldn't schlep out to Brooklyn again on a weeknight for his readings.

Gad Elmaleh:What a special night!  Only in NYC can you sell out the Beacon Theatre with a stand up performance in French and fill all 3000+ seats.  With American stand-up I often find myself not understanding the references or I find the jokes too vulgar.  Not so with Gad.  His humor is intelligent, racy but never over the line, and just plain fun. Since it was a majority expat audience, the show touched a good deal on the cultural divides between France and America.  He hit the nail on the head EVERY single time. The crowd loved it!  It had been a long time since I laughed so much.

Heisenberg:  I'm not quite sure why this received such rave reviews, except for the fact that it starred Mary Louise Parker.  We enjoyed it, but I found the writing to be a bit wanting and superficial.  Heisenberg is the story of a chance encounter in the London tube between a single crazy American (Parker) and an older London butcher, and their ensuing relationship.  There was no set and we were in a small black box experimental theatre of under 100 people + the 2 actors.   Neither character ever directly mentioned the Heisenberg uncertainty principle (physics), but I guess we were supposed to infer it from the plot.

Preludes: This short musical theatre piece at Lincoln Center brings the audience into the mind of the great Russian composer Rachmaninoff and all of his insecurities in the face of his creative pursuit. It had a bit of a 4th dimension/non-linear element to it--jumping from the 19th century to the present.  Michael loved it, especially since Prince Humperdink from the Princess Bride was among the cast!

Debutaunt:  This was my first interactive/immersive theatre experience.  The "show" (if you can even call it that) is essentially  a 90 minute debutante ball during which time the audience is treated as guests of the ball.  It is intended to be a social commentary on the concept of "coming out," gender equality, the role of ritual and tradition in today's society, etc. Hard as the production team tried, a warehouse in Red Hook (aka hipster-ville)  isn't exactly a Southern country club!   This was definitely an amateur performance and I cringed at all of the one-dimensional southern stereotypes.  I was disappointed to see a southern-born woman (the writer/producer was a deb in Texas) perpetuate stereotypes about the relative intelligence, superficiality, and social priorities of Southerners. 

Summer Shorts:  59E 59 is one of my favorite off-broadway theatres!  There are no obvious tourists, the price is right, and the shows are always thought-provoking.  The show was comprised of three one-act plays taking place in or near NYC in modern day.  The first was about a near extra-marital affair between 2 suburbanites that meet on a running trail.  The second was about an encounter between a Native American woman and a black youth at a bar outside of Grand Central during the height of the police brutality protests.  The third was about three 9/11 widows meeting on the anniversary of the death of their husbands. I'm not sure which was my favorite!

Antigona:  Hmm...flamenco meets Sophocles.  The flamenco was incredible, but the acting not so much.  Either way, it was a good refresher on the Oedipus story!

Show(er) Me Anna!

I had originally planned to wear By Hand London's Anna dress to our first wedding of the season outside of Atlanta.  Life happened (do I sound like a broken record yet?) and the dress didn't get finished in time.

It turned out to be perfect for my first bridal shower (ever!).  Admittedly, I felt a little sheepish attending a city chic event in $4/yard poly from Kashi's treasure chest.  Sheepishness turned to pure pride when the discriminating hostess complimented me on my dress.  Quite the ego boost, thank you very much.

With the bride!

I selected the round neckline and opted for no leg slit.  I changed the back pattern pieces to a deep V.  The bodice is underlined in silk organza and fully lined in a coordinating hot pink bemberg. All skirt pieces are french seamed.  That's 14 maxi length french seams to be exact.  28 if you count the first botched attempt to line up the bodice pleats with the skirt seams.  (Not that anyone is counting!)

                                               

This dress was NOT an easy sew for me.  There were several 2 am sessions with my trusty seam ripper due to a domino effect of mistakes. I won't go into it...Ain't NOBODY got time for THAT!  

In spite of making a perfect fitting muslin beforehand, the dress is still too large in the bodice. While disappointing, I am happy I figured this out at this wearable muslin stage.

Deep V back.  

I tried the following new (to me) techniques on the Show(er) Me Anna:

• Narrow hem on bemberg lining
• fell stitch to attach bodice lining to bodice skirt from the right side
• Inserting a zipper into a french seam

Note on the narrow hem:  I stitched a guiding line 1/8 inch from the cut edge all around the dress.  I never removed this guiding line.  Using that guiding line, I folded the fabric on itself 2x (double-folded edge) so that the raw edge was encased in the hem and the original 1/8 stitching line was now along the upper fold of the hem.  Ultimately, this made for a 1/4 inch hem, though it looks like only 1/8 from the outside.  From there I sewed the hem in place. It turned out perfect!

My biggest takeaway from the "Show(er) Me Anna" is to make a wearable muslin before cutting into nice fabric! Stay tuned for the improved blue lace "Andover Anna," which I wore to the wedding this past weekend.    

Dining Around the City

Several goodies since the start of summer:

La Mirabelle is pure nostalgie for me and it happens to be a stone's throw from our apartment.    The menu includes many of the French classics that my Mom made for dinner parties in the 90s (coquilles St. Jacques, oeufs a la neige) and adapted into healthier versions for weeknight family dinners (poulet a l'estragon, creme caramel).  All of the servers are 70+ and don't hesitate to offer unsolicited opinions as all (old) French ladies do.  If you want Julia Childs' cooking and don't want to clean the dishes or hop on a plane, this is the place to go!

Gotham West Market
This grown up food court recently opened on the ground floor of one of the high rise apartment buildings on 11th avenue. It markets itself to tenants as an alternative to grocery shopping.  (???) With a large party of 7 and more on the way, this was perfect for a casual Saturday dinner.  I selected a cold ramen soup from Ivan's Ramen Shop  and finished off with some fabulous Ample Hills ice cream for dessert.  Gotham West is a bit in no-man's land out on 11th ave, but I would go again!

Maialino
When my parents are in town I always look for a continental restaurant in Gramercy/West Village. These are my Dad's "old stomping grounds" and he loves to go back. Maialino fit the bill for Dad-approved location and food.  Situated on the ground floor of the Gramercy Park Hotel, this Danny Meyer restaurant bills itself as a Roman style trattoria.  The chef has managed to retain the familial integrity of recipes like bucatini all'amatriciana and tonnarelli a cacio e pepe while transforming them into refined restaurant fare.  I am not sure how he does it because those are some pretty basic budget-friendly pastas!  The space is great--much like an idealized farm house with buckets of fresh sunflowers, checkered table linens, ironwork, etc.

Risotteria
This West Village favorite finally moved to the Upper West Side.   The risottos (20+ on the menu) are perfectly creamy while still properly al dente.  I love the no-fuss atmosphere and affordable prices.

RiverPark
The bridal shower was at Chef Tom Colicchio's private event space at RiverPark -- a glass cube overlooking the East River.  The luncheon menu was farm-to-table fare:  perfect fried chicken and waffles, zingy bloody marys, ricotta and rhubarb toasts, and mignardises for dessert.

Buttermilk Channel
We were in Red Hook for a show so decided to try out this Carroll Gardens favorite. The food was a bit too heavy for me (my entrée salad was dripping in lamb fat), but it was a great evening. We closed down the restaurant at 1am after making friends with the couple sitting next to us.  They graciously treated us to champagne and dessert and we chatted for over an hour and a half about the Supreme Court same-sex marriage decision, NY real estate (favorite topic of NYers), and everything under the sun!  All the while watching a rat scurry back and forth on the sidewalk.  A true NYC evening. ;)

Little Black Knit Dress

This is a copy of an H&M knit dress that I've been wearing for the past few years. I finished it just in time for Thanksgiving dinner!

Although a simple dress to sew, the pattern drafting and fitting wasn't so easy! 

Using my seam ripper, I tore the dress apart and then made my first pass at sewing the bodice, cutting straight into my fashion fabric--a Derek Lam ponte knit from Mood.  Unfortunately, two things led to my first attempt becoming a de-facto muslin.  1) My iron spewed gunk onto the bodice and I couldn't get it out.  Now, I have a new iron! 2) I discovered that the bodice was actually too large on the right side of my body.  Sharon, my new sewing instructor, explained to me that the existing pattern (the H&M dress) had clearly stretched from use on the right side. This makes sense, since I am right handed and favor my right side for activity.  Thus, the right side was no longer the mirror image of the left side.  The stretching of the fabric in the H&M dress was also evident in the waist. On my muslin, the waistband was about 2 inches wider than the bodice.   The larger waistband size turned out to be more comfortable, so we added 2 inches to the sides of the bodice pieces.  

With Sharon's help, I converted the changes in the muslin to wax paper and then to butcher paper.  Now, I was ready to try again!  Muslin #2 didn't fit either--the neckline wouldn't lay flat and I needed to take close to 4 inches out of each shoulder seam. 

The finished dress still needs some tweaking, but it is wearable!  For the next iteration, I plan to take out about 1/2 an inch on the sides of the bodice so that it fits a bit more snug around my torso and deal with the gaping at the neckline. 

Don't you love the trim?  I picked up this crochet and velvet trim from M&J! 

Pants Party!

I MADE A PAIR OF SEMI WEARABLE PANTS!

In May, Lauren from Lladybird announced that she would be in NYC to teach a pant-making workshop. I immediately signed up!  In mid-August, I ventured into Brooklyn to Jennifer's Workroom Social for the weekend...and emerged Sunday evening with a decent fitting wearable muslin! 

Using Palmer/Pletsch's 6901, we got to work fitting the pre-assembled muslins.   I only had to make a few adjustments to the pattern, most notably removing some of the length out of the front. 

I used stretch sateen from Paron and made the pockets out of a beautiful cotton print bought in Venice in 2008.

It was both a humbling and invigorating weekend! I have much to learn to become a more competent sewer.   Either way...it was a great experience and I was so inspired by all the kind, interesting and competent women with whom I shared the weekend. Plus, I met the lovely Lauren--- my first "sewing celebrity." 

Lauren (wearing a Zinnia skirt and papercut wrap top) demo-ing the zipper insertion

The pattern was a bit too high-waisted for my taste and I don't anticipate that these pants will make it out of the apartment. I have my eyes on the lower-waisted Thurlow trouser pattern for my next pair.  Stay Tuned!