Made by a Fabricista: Summer Blues

Here comes SUMMER!!

Happy Saturday! I am so excited about Memorial weekend and a mini getting away for a few days.  It has been raining all week and my plans to go the beach was ruined. I have 13  more work days and I am counting down by the hour.  Being an educator is so rewarding and honestly, one of the perks is I look forward to is my summer break with my children. Over the last few months, I have really spent time understanding my lower body measurements with a focus on the fit of pants, shorts, and culotte just in time for Summer.

Made using Simplicity 8558 (CROP PANTS). Fabric: PRE-CUT DEALS!

The last 3 months I have been working on learning how to make adjustments to pants and shorts patterns based on my body type.

TOP: Ogden Cami, Shorts: Simplicity 8558 (SHORTS)

I have always wanted to make linen shorts that are perfect for these hot summer days that can be dressed up or down.  I had cut these a few months ago and finally took an hour to sew them up. These for sure are beginner friendly and  I honestly love the fit of this pattern and the minor adjustment needed.  After measuring the pattern pieces, the only adjustments needed was to add an inch to the width on the front and back pattern pieces as I only purchased the size (6-14).  I also opted NOT to include the string and to only add elastic in the middle row. When I first started sewing, I would purchase 2 patterns as the range is typically 6-14 and my pants measurement typically fall in the 16 range and the top a size 8 or 10.  After gaining some experience, I have mastered the art of grading patterns and making adjustments.

 To make the shorts, all you will need is 1 yard of linen (royal blue) if you are not adding the pockets.  Fabric Mart has a wide selection of LINEN fabrics here. 

Added only 1 row of elastic to make it a paper bag waist shorts!

Opted NOT to include pockets!

Top Pattern: Ogden Cami

After making my first pair of high waist pants (here) using McCall M7726, I knew I wanted to try a pair of shorts using denim twill to test a few adjustments and rock it on my trip to Jamaica and during the month of July for Sewcation Miami.

These shorts and the adjustment I made are perfect but I am not sure about the style for my hip to waist proportion.  I also purchased the book Pants Fit for Real People and have bookmarked a few sites that shares adjustments.  Check out the Sewalong website here to learn about adjusting based on your derriere which has great visuals.  For this pair of denim shorts,  the only adjustments I made was to the back pattern piece using the SPREAD method shown here in yellow.

Learning and understanding my body and the patterns that work for me has been my focus this year.  I know for sure that I will be making a few more summer crop pants and shorts but will attempt to draft my own pattern and create a few muslins to work on the fit.

M7726 - VIEW A shorts - VIEW B pants

 I just ordered a few yards of the Ralph Lauren cotton sateen from Julie's pick for the month of May and I am super excited to try a skinny fit tailored pants. Fabric Mart has the denim twill here so grab a few yards for your next summer shorts or pants.

Top stitched to give it a MORE denim look!

Do you have any special sewing projects for your this summer?  I have tons and will definitely make pieces that are versatile and fun. As always, thank you so much for reading and I be sure to check out my blog to see my latest makes!

Marica, Overdriveafter30

Made By A Fabricista: Birthday Skirt in Red!

HI Fashionistas!

The month of May is a month of celebration for me and my family. We celebrated my birthday and Mothers Day this past weekend, and my husband and I will be celebrating our 9th wedding anniversary this week.

So for the month of May, I sewed up a voluminous pleated circle skirt in a beautiful red shirting fabric. Here it is:

Initially, I had planned on creating a high low dramatic hemline, and that is what I was planning on wearing until mid of last week. But after trying it on, it felt very heavy and was not too flattering on me, so I chopped it off to an even hemline about 19 inches from the bottom of the waistband to get this look.

The skirt is completely self-drafted and I will talk about that more in this post.  Here is the back view:

A bit obsessed with these owl earrings lately..

I drafted the waistband for the skirt 1first. It is basically a rectangle. For the length, I used my waist measurement, plus 1/2 inch ease, plus an extra 1 inch for seam allowance (since I stitch using 1/2 inch seam allowance to attach the zip on the back). For the hight of the waistband, I wanted a finished measurement of 2.5 inches so the pattern height is 6 inches (double of 2.5 plus 1-inch seam allowance total) 

To get this type of volume, I measured from my side seam to side seam on my body (let's call this measurement W) and then drafted a half circle skirt pattern on muslin using a waist measurement of W. I then cut 3 from that pattern and paneled them together. Once that was done, the waist of the 3 panel skirt was larger than my waist circumference. So then I added some pleats to the skirt to make the measurement of the skirt match the measurement of the waistband. Since the waistband was drafted to my waist, all I had to do was freehand some pleats to make the two fit. And Voila! Extra volume!

So you know I had to twirl in this skirt!

This was so fun to wear!

I wore it for my birthday on Saturday:

I also wanted to share a picture of Connor. He is 3 months now. He has started smiling a bit, although he is stingy with his smiles. He is such a serious lil' dude! 

And I also ended up wearing it for Mothers Day. It's a fun skirt to wear!

I hope you are having a lovely may. It is getting toasty here, we have had temps in the 90's this past week. The summer is going to be super hot, and I plan on staying home a lot and hosting a lot of playdates to keep myself and my kiddo busy.

I'll see you soon with my next make.

XOXO-
Vatsla from Fashion Behind The Seams

Made By A Fabricista: Ice Dying Linen

Spring sewing is happening everywhere and I have finally broke out the linen to make what I think is a fun top.

Have you checked out FM's fantastic linen selection?  It is such nice quality and I have made numerous garments from it.  This time, however, I wanted to start with simple white and see what happened when I used a process of ice dying.

Do you try embellishing fabric?  I like to but hesitate so much.  I've done some ice-dying before and decided that linen is perfect because it is a natural fiber and I just love linen.  

So, I deviated from the instructions, slightly.  You should wet your fabric prior to the process, however since I wanted to use just one color of dye, I thought I would try putting the fabric in dry.  Had the weather been much, much warmer, this might have worked.  

Let's back up a bit.  The directions don't mention this, but honestly if you are relying on the ice melt as a means to dye your fabric, it is best to ice dye when the weather is warm outside.  I was rather ambitious and tried this at the beginning of April on a day when it was about 50 degrees.  Not ideal, but hey, it's been a very long winter in the northern plains of North America and I needed some creative mo-jo.  

Use some quality fiber reactive dyes.  I like this brand: Dharma Trading Co.  I decided early on that I was going for subtle.  I used a turquoise dye and a lot of ice with two laundry baskets in our whopping 50ish degree weather....I mean, the ice will melt in a few hours, right?  

Not really...don't laugh at my positive thinking.  I really hoped it would melt over the course of 6 or so hours in the sun.  

Well, it didn't so I did what any seamstress would do and pulled out a hair dryer, sat on my front steps and melted the ice with some hot air.  And guess what, the hot air worked!  Remember, I was going for subtly with my embellishment.  

Next, after completing the steps to set the dye, I knew I wanted something with statement sleeves.  I did a hack of two patterns from two very different companies.  The sleeves are a Simplicity pattern see it Simplicity 8415 and the body of the garment is a StyleArc pattern StyleArc .  When I finally decided to frankenpattern these two, I walked the sleeves to make sure they'd fit the armsyces of the blouse.  Lol and behold, it was a great fit with zero alterations!  

I so love this linen from FM.  I've sewn so many garments with it.  I always test drive it by washing in a gentle wash cycle with warm water and also in the dryer.  My hubby helps with laundry and does a great job.  I never want to have him feel bad if a garment shrinks so I prewash everything.  This linen for me, has always behaved beautifully and gets better and better with every wash and dry.

You can see below how I decided to finish off the inside sleeves.  I used a flat-felled foot, just for fun and what a nice edge finish I got!

I highly recommend this fabric and I hope you'll use it!  I hope your spring has arrived like ours finally did.  

Thanks for reading!  

Sue from Ilove2sew!