Cutting Into Liberty: An Anxiety-Ridden Hawthorn

I detailed my fall sewing plan a couple weeks ago, and between quilts, decided to get started.  A houndstooth dress is rushing the season, and I haven't purchased my wool coating or flannel for jammies just yet, but I had everything I needed to make my fall Hawthorn blouse.

After my last Hawthorn, though, I was a bit wary, especially cutting into Liberty.  I have to remind myself sometimes that it's just fabric; if something doesn't fit or is a bust, I can repurpose whatever I've cut and put it in something new, though smaller.  

Obviously, one of my alterations this time was to make the blouse version, version 1, with short sleeves.  I debated going sleeveless, because lord knows I love my cardigans.  But, short sleeves really do offer more versatility, especially in the South, when warm weather can stretch into October (though we've had some cool days so far!).

I also adjusted the side seams.  They're 3/8" instead of 5/8".  They're still snug, but I would say "form-fitting" instead of "sausage casing."  You can see in the above picture I thought I was being fun using bright red buttons, but they blended right into the fabric.  Womp womp.

I added a hem facing to the peplum instead of hemming it.  I just used some black bias binding.  This added structure and really didn't take away much length.  I love the design of this peplum.  While I wear my Vogue 8815 pretty often, the peplum has started to hang weird.  I think this one is much more organic and fluid.

I finished this blouse last Sunday--also the day I started it.  I bought a new pencil skirt from Loft and thought, I'll model it!  Well, like the fool I am, I forgot to check tracking and the skirt still isn't here.  Argh.  Hopefully soon.  I haven't worn it to work yet.

All in all, I'm much happier with this Hawthorn, and I'm hopeful it'll get lots of wear this fall!  It's officially the most expensive blouse in my closet, as the fabric was over $80, but hey, buy what makes you happy.

An Ill-Timed Minoru

A confession: my title isn't very accurate.  While it seems inappropriate to make a jacket in April in North Carolina--with 80-degree-days staying through September--I am going to Chicago in less than three weeks (where are my party emojis when I need them?) and I usually am the same size year in, year out, so chances are pretty good that I'll have this jacket longer than a season.

What can be said about the Minoru jacket by Sewaholic that hasn't already been said?  The Chicago trip was what gave me the final push, but I've been wanting to make one for months now and just never found the right fabric.  I can't tell you how many times I've looked at fabric online, added some wool or twill to my cart, and then closed out of the site, unsure of my choices and decided to procrastinate than buy the wrong fabric.  As if there is such a thing.

Once there was a deadline--May 9!--I had to get my ass in gear.

I finally decided on organic cotton twill from Fabric.com.  Does the organic matter?  I'm not sure--it's cotton twill, not a strawberry--but the price was right and I wanted charcoal gray, one of my favorite colors, which wasn't available in the "regular" cotton twill.  The last time I sewed anything resembling twill was during the Great Shorts Experiment of 2012, which, coincidentally, was also the last time I used a Sewaholic pattern (I think).  Every time I use one of Tasia's patterns, however, I'm reminded of how good they are: they fit so well and, while the instructions are sometimes lacking, there's so much on the internet (between sewalongs and personal reviews) that I never have a problem.  In fact, I don't think I even used the written instructions for this jacket--I followed the sewalong and that was enough.

The lining is Edenham from Liberty of London.  Yes, it's Tana Lawn.  Yes, I know, it's a lining.  This was not an easy decision to make, despite how quickly I fell in love with it.  The price, first of all, was a major staller.  Spending that much just on lining fabric would render a me-made jacket less economical than buying one from Macy's.  Second, this wasn't a tried-and-true pattern, and as I mentioned in my last post, things could have gone horrible wrong.  Was I willing to risk 2.5 yards of Liberty?  Apparently I was feeling optimistic, because I bought it (from Pink Chalk Fabrics--I love their selection, even if it's smaller than Purl) and it arrived and now it's a lining, so whatever.

As a note, it sewed up beautifully, as expected.

The beginnings 

Hemming

I made a straight size 8, no alterations, though if I were making one for winter I'd probably make a 10 to accomodate layers.  I don't plan on wearing more than a light sweater or a shirt in Chicago, which makes this the layering piece, and lightweight at that.  It's in the 60s here today, so it wasn't sweltering when I dragged Nick outside to take pictures, but I think it'll make a nice coverup for breezes and chilly mornings walking to the donut shop.

Nick, thankfully, overdoes it when I make him take pictures, so have at it:

Nick mentioned it looked like a trench coat from the back.  I can see that!  My elastic didn't bunch as much as I expected, which is totally fine.  I love how it fits.

In every single picture it looks like my hems are uneven.  I promise you, they aren't.

The sleeves are a bit long, but I think I can always roll them up if I need to.  Honestly, I'm so happy with this, and am so pleased with how easily it came together.  The only part I swore during was inserting the elastic, because elastic never has been, and never will be, my friend.

So that's that!  In other news, we have a final count of 31 containers in our garden:

This is only one side of the patio, but I've shown them all on Instagram.  That little red one that looks out of place is my cousin's; I planted sweet pea and zinnias for her yesterday and haven't been able to get to her house yet!  It's a neat little deck planter.  Hopefully it doesn't fall!  I'm also giving her my desk succulent, because I smothered it with love and it rebelled, choosing to wilt from my kisses and water.  Fine.  Suit yourself, loser.

I hope spring is coming your way soon!  And I hope Nick mows the lawn soon.  Good god, we're that house on the block.

Circle Skirts and New Fabric: A Post in Nine Minutes

Due to technical difficulties, my posting time has been cut to nine minutes tonight.  Can I do it?  Let's see.

I've been hard at work on Vogue 8766 for a while.  My usual timeline for a project is one weekend: if I can't finish it in 48 hours, is it really worth it?  I was being tested this time because everything went wrong.  I didn't have a zipper.  I didn't have enough lining.  My hem wasn't going to hang right because of the fabric weight.  I didn't order enough horsehair for the hem and had to adjust the order before she sent it out.  Oy.  All in all, I think this took a week and a half.  That still isn't bad in the grand scheme of things, but to someone who loves a quickie project, that was forever.

Anyway, spoiler alert, it's done now.  I actually finished it a couple days ago, and if you follow me on Instagram, you'd know that.  (If you follow me, I apologize, a lot of these pictures are from my feed.)  So here she is, in all her horsehair glory!

I took these pictures for my mom.  Because she gave me the wool, I figured she wanted to know what I was doing with it!  It's a gorgeous fabric and I know it wasn't cheap.  However, the lining is; it's from Denver Fabrics.  I only lined the bodice.  There just wasn't enough for a skirt in the lining.  Whoops.

My Bernina is still inserting invisible zippers wonderfully, thank you for asking!

That cat?  He wants to know why I'm posing like a weirdo.  He also ate right through my leftover horsehair braid, so that's cool.

Circle skirt!  Not only is this a true circle skirt but I sewed 3" horsehair braid into the hem.  It's wonderful!  I bought the braid at Moxie Milliner and used Gertie's tutorial to insert it.  Oh my god, I want horsehair in every dress I own.  I wore it to work and felt so fancy and vintagey!  

I keep my Little Mermaid movie posters in the bathroom.  Don't you?

Here's a better look at how I wore the dress: with a green cardigan and belt, both from Target.  The Mary Janes in the above photos are also from Target--the Isaac Mizrahi line, circa fall 2006.  RIP, that was an awesome line and I wish they'd never killed it.

I got a ton of compliments on my dress!  This is definitely a cake project: I can use frosting to dress it different ways.  The wool is a really natural color with little hints of blue, black, and green, and god knows I have enough cardigans to wear with it!

A note on the dress itself: it was so easy.  I combined the bodice of view D and the skirt of view F.  I find that I rarely make the views as they're described, taking a little off or adding a little to it.  That's the best thing about sewing, right?  Much like science, things are whatever we want them to be.  I did find the shoulders to be a bit big, and if I make this again, I'll take those in.

Hmm, what else is going on?

I wore my peplum top today!  With these awesome pink pants, and a black cardigan, not shown.  The pants stole the show but I love my peplum.  I think another one is in order.

I ordered this Liberty from Purl Soho.  This is the Wiltshire Berry print, and I'm such an idiot; I was looking for this everywhere.  No one had it in the right colors, or if they did, they didn't have the right yardage.  Duh, Purl Soho carries Liberty, Emily.  I used some of my tax return--what didn't replenish my savings account after the move--to buy it.  It's so buttery and soft!  I don't know what I'll make with it yet--a shirt dress?  I have two yards. I also purchased Colette's Cinnamon slipdress to make a slip to go under it, maybe in green or light pink, whatever I end up making.

I don't have a picture, but I'm also drowning in gardening things over here.  I have so many seeds I've lost track (more are on the way), and now I've expanded to bulbs: ranunculus, peony, lily of the valley, begonias, and anemones.  Gardening friends, is this normal?  I've been reading everything on the subject and no one says you spend like a lunatic, but no one says you don't, either.  Also, if anyone wants to share some advice, I'm interested!

What are you up to?  I promise to stop by more often; things have been so busy lately!  Happy Valentine's Day!  I'm off to eat homemade chocolate ice cream!

Purl Soho is the Plastics

The women at Purl Soho in New York make me feel like an unpopular teenager again, and I've never met them.

I read the Purl Bee and love love love everything they make, even if it's a little weird.  (I'm pretty sure my dad wouldn't wear monogrammed cufflinks, and I don't really want to make myself a garter, but I'm glad the options are there!)  And I always feel inadequate.  Remember how my last Purl project turned out?  Yeah.  What a mess.  And everything they do always looks so great!

For that reason, I feel like, if I were to meet them, I'd be totally in awe and they'd immediately cast me aside, like I'm back in middle school.  What?  You can't believe I was unpopular in middle school?  Well, let me tell you, red hair, the body of a twentysomething and five years' worth of braces do not equal happy teenage times.  Just trust me on that.

Anyway, back to the matter at hand, last night, famed Purl blogger Molly posted her version of the Lisette Traveler dress.  A dress I've never even considered.  And now?

I want it.



Source

 In all its Liberty Lawn glory, it's gorgeous and I'd bet it feels amazing.  I'd also bet a mere mortal attempts this dress (see: me) and it somehow makes her look even dumpier than a potato sack.  Hmph.

Anyway, you can read the rest of the glorious dress here.  God, why can't I be as cool as she?

Happy Friday, yall.