Sleeveless Out and About Dress

Another dress--my favorite thing to make!

This dress is a sleeveless version of the Out and About Dress from Sew Caroline.  I sewed up a 3/4 sleeve one from a thick knit a few months back, and knew I would need a sleeveless one for summer. When I found this lightweight knit for 100 yen per meter, it was time to give it a try!

I struggled a little bit with the sizing on this dress--as a matter of fact, it was an issue the last time I made it as well, but in that case I was using a more unfamiliar fabric and thought that was where the problems came from.  According to my measurements, I am between a medium and large for this pattern, leaning to the large.  I cut out the medium but used slightly smaller seam allowances than the 1/2 inch the pattern calls for...and it was really too big. 

 

frump-a-dump

First I thought I would try adding elastic to the waistline on the inside, maybe giving the top a loose, blousy look.  But it didn't really work; the whole bodice just seemed to pull to the back.

well hello there, munchkin.

I actually wore it out like this, with a belt, but decided by the end of the day that it was a no-go.

In the end, I had to remove the elastic and re-sew the side seams an inch further in on both sides (so removing almost 4 full inches from the bodice!)  Also (and this actually made the biggest difference, I think), I shortened the bodice by about 2 inches.  

That's better!

This was a problem I had the last time I made this dress too--the bodice just looks too long on me!  It doesn't look that way in the pattern photos, so I don't know why mine keeps coming out wrong.  It's also strange because I have a long torso--I am typically lengthening things, not shortening them, but I guess when it comes to a bodice seam line I just like mine a little north of the natural waist.  Looks like it's time to slice the bottom of off my bodice pattern pieces!

Other modifications: surprise surprise, I made the neckline a little bigger, as usual.  I also made the skirt panels about 3" narrower so that I could just use the whole width of my fabric.  The pattern calls for the skirt panels to be 30" wide, but my fabric was 54" wide so I just cut two 27" panels.

All that said, I really do like this dress and this pattern.  Now that I THINK I've got the fit dialed in, this dress should go together really quickly.  It's comfy and it's got great pockets and lots of sleeve and length options, so I'm glad it's a pattern that's in my repertoire.  

Oh, I also wanted to show you a close up of this fabric.  It's really light and soft, with a neat diagonal texture to it, and I like the way it looks on the neck and arm binding:

I'm sure that part of my fit problem was because the fabric is verrrrry stretchy, so I should have cut it smaller to account for that.  Ah well, you live, you learn!  It's pretty great to be able to buy fabric so cheaply so I'm not afraid to just mess around and try new patterns--if it didn't work out, I would only have been out about $2!  Plus my time, of course.

Nani Iro Pajama Shorts

I have to admit, I am not much of a shorts person.  But after seeing Shorts on the Line, hosted by Rachael at Imagine Gnats for the last few years, I've been thinking it might be fun to try making some.

Now, these are pj's, so it's still baby steps--I'm not ready to try making shorts to be worn in public yet.  But as pajamas go, these are maybe the best I've ever had.  As a matter of fact, I made two pairs--one to try out the pattern before cutting into my Nani Iro double gauze (it's Pocho Adzuki Bean, a dark eggplant color--love it!)

The first pair is made from double gauze printed in Japan.  I love this fun print and I have bought it in several different colors!

I used the free Bias Trim Shorts pattern from Melly Sews, and since I was using a woven instead of a knit, I followed her instructions from this tutorial, where she makes a pair out of a satiny fabric.  Basically I slit the pattern pieces in the middle and added another half-inch of width to both pieces.  She says to add a quarter of an inch, but I'm slightly larger than the measurements she gives for the pattern so I bumped it up a little extra.  I also added about .75 inch to the length just for the heck of it.

Just what you want to see, right? A couple of pictures of my butt.

Maybe this is the real reason why I don't sew more pants...

I made both pairs exactly the same way--I was so pleased with how the first pair came out that I didn't change a thing for the Nani Iro pair!

In addition to changing the sizing slightly, I also used single fold bias tape instead of double fold.  This was mostly for practical reasons--the bias tape I wanted to use just happened to be single fold!  For the first pair, I had a package of vintage bias tape in exactly the right color, and it was a little bit silky, not a basic cotton kind.  Nice for pajamas, right?

And for the second pair, I knew I wanted to use the bias tape I found at my local 100 yen store, made from traditional Japanese print fabric.  Unfortunately, it only came in 1 meter packs, and I couldn't find more than 2 packs of any one print.  The pattern calls for 3 meters, but after making the first pair I thought I might be able to fudge it, since some of the bias tape ends up hidden on the inside when you sew the side seams together.

This worked great--I used exactly one meter on each side of the shorts, and was able to hide the unfinished edges on the inside.  As a matter of fact, I cut the back pattern pieces so that the exposed edge was on the selvage, so there weren't any raw edges to speak of.

Here is the front and back pieces for one side, sewn together and with bias tape attached.
You can see the white selvage edge where I ran out of bias tape.

Here's how the inside looks when you use single fold bias tape instead of double.

The Nani Iro double gauze I used was a great deal--I found two .6 meter cuts of it for 360 yen each (about $3) since there was a little bit of a print error.  I don't know if you can tell, but some of the dots have a tiny dot of the background color on them.  I think it looks fine!

Pre-sewing it all together

And I still have enough left to make a pair of shorts for Little Sister (although I'll have to find a different bias tape to use on hers.)  I'm actually hoping more of this bias tape will turn up, because I'd love to make a bias-trimmed tank top to go with these.

One final shot, to show how they look proportionally.  It felt weird to have a whole post with no pictures of my face!

Did you see? My featured post on Imagine Gnats!

In case you missed it, I want to point you in the direction of my first-ever guest post on another blog. Rachael from Imagine Gnats asked me to participate in this Spring's Selfish Sewing Week as a featured stitcher, meaning I got the celebrity treatment with my choice of pattern by a participating independent designer (I chose the lovely Giselle Dress from Kate & Rose Patterns), my choice of a fabric (I went with the Aves Chatter Dim in voile by Bonnie Christine for Art Gallery fabrics, but it was seriously SO HARD to choose from all the gorgeous options)!

Here's a sneak peek at the dress:

You can see the finished version HERE at Imagine Gnats!

I just want to thank Rachael so much for inviting me to participate.  She was so helpful and complimentary, and I just really felt special and appreciated for what I do.  I'm not going to lie--it feels good to have someone you only know from the internets reach out and say, "I see you!  And I like what you are doing!"  Rachael has some great patterns for women and children (I just got the Bess Top and Alder Skirt women's patterns--guess I'm not done selfish sewing just yet!  I'm planning to make this mash-up version found on her blog using some amazing Nani Iro Pierre Pocho Fountain Stones double gauze in Forest Green--here's what it looks like--that I just brought home from Nippori) as well as amazing fabrics that I'm sure I won't be able to resist once I'm back in the states!  She carries a lot of the Japanese fabrics I have been falling in love with over the last year, and it's a relief to know that I will be able to get them from her once I leave Tokyo.  Plus her blog has great tutorials as well as showing off the projects that Rachael is working on herself.


I love Selfish Sewing Week (I sewed along for the first time last fall) and look forward to planning for each upcoming session to come!  Not that I really need an excuse, but having a week to dedicate to sewing for myself really helps me justify it :)

My Giselle Wearable Muslin

As a featured stitcher for Selfish Sewing Week at Imagine Gnats, I got to choose a pattern from a talented independent designer and fabric from Art Gallery Fabrics to make my garment.  You guys, I felt like such a VIP, perusing the pattern choices and pages of beautiful fabrics to decide what I would make for myself!  I settled on the Giselle Dress from Kate & Rose Patterns, which I will tell you more about in my post on Imagine Gnats on Sunday, 3/15, but first I thought I'd show you my trial run of this pattern.

Making a muslin means trying out the pattern to check for fit before cutting into your "real" fabric, but a wearable muslin means you hope it turns out well enough to actually be worn!  This worked out for me in this case--after making this dress, there were adjustments that I wanted to make before cutting into my Art Gallery fabric, but I will still definitely wear this version!

This fabric was a risk for me.  It is a voile, so it was a good choice for the muslin since I would be working with a voile in the real version, but the print is kind of wacky:

It's little bundled-up people, maybe ice skating or something?  And the gray/peach/olive/light blue color is not my usual either.  But when I saw it at the fabric store I couldn't stop thinking about it, and it was only 100 yen per meter, so I brought it home, not knowing if I would ever use it.  I was able to get this whole dress out of just 2 meters (just barely), so if it didn't work out at least it wasn't a big investment!

Anyway, if I'm feeling shy about the print, I can always wear a cardigan:

The dress ties in the back:

But you guys--do NOT skip the recommended stay-stitching on the neckline!

Wonky!

For my final version, I adjusted the bodice so that the seams sit lower on my chest, which I like better.  I do love the sleeves in this pattern, which was one of the main reasons I chose it--I have been adding sleeves to everything to get me through the winter, and it seems like most of the patterns I had on hand had pretty blousy sleeves, which didn't look flattering with some of the looser tunic shapes I was trying to add them to.  These have plenty of room for movement but a nice slim silhouette, and I really like the banding at the bottom.

In the book I'm currently reading, the main character referred to 3/4 sleeves as "the least flattering sleeve," but I beg to differ!  I love 3/4 sleeves!

So, until my featured post on Imagine Gnats on Sunday, this will be my final Selfish Sewing post of Spring 2015!  I managed to finish 3 dresses and a top--not bad!  Here's a preview of the fabric I chose--it's called Aves Chatter Dim from Bonnie Christine's Winged line for Art Gallery Fabrics:

Spoiler alert--it came out SO GOOD!

Sunny Swing Plantain Mashup!

I have been looking for ways to incorporate all of the awesome woven print fabrics I find here in Tokyo into the comfy knit tops that comprise most of my wardrobe, and when I saw the FREE pattern and tutorial for the cute Sunny Swing Top from The Sara Project I wanted to try it right away!

The only problem with this top for me was that I like a lower neckline.  I already had the (also free) Plantain Tee pattern from Deer and Doe, so I just printed out Sara's cute cap sleeve pattern and followed her directions for making this great top that incorporates knits and woven fabrics, using the bodice from the Plantain Tee that I had already adjusted to make it just the way I like it!

The woven that I used is a Japanese double gauze from Kokka.  I got a one yard remnant for about $3!  And the knit was another Nippori bargain find at 100 yen per meter (although I have no idea about the fabric content since I can't read the bolts!  It doesn't feel synthetic though.)  I bought a ton of this soft knit and have used it for pajamas for my kids as well as a t-shirt for my husband and another top for myself that I don't think I ever blogged about.  I think I'm finally running out of it!

I did french seams to join the woven to the knit, since the double gauze can fray at the raw edges.  I think that I over-compensated on adding in my seam allowance--I bet if I'd just used Sara's pattern I wouldn't have had that problem!  So it's a little extra swingy, but definitely comfy and perfect for Spring!

Hey!  I think I've got my 4th-of-July outfit ready!

Remind me to check that my sleeves are straightened out next time!

CHECK!  Another Selfish Sewing Week/Spring 2015 off the cutting table!

Selfish Sewing Week Spring 2015 is Here!

I have been looking forward to this year's Spring Selfish Sewing Week (there's an awesome giveaway happening at this link) ever since last fall, when I first participated.  Then I got even MORE excited about it when Rachael from Imagine Gnats, who organizes the whole event, contacted me to see if I would be a featured stitcher!  Are you kidding?  I was thrilled!  My featured post will be on Imagine Gnats on Sunday, March 15th, but I thought I'd share some of the other selfish projects I have finished in the meantime.

First up is this Out and About Dress from Sew Caroline's pattern.  I bought the pattern a while back when it was a Friday Fiver (such a screamin' deal!) but hadn't made it yet--Selfish Sewing Week gave me the perfect excuse!

I had been holding on to this double-sided thick knit fabric that I found for 100 yen/meter in Nippori, Tokyo's Fabric Town, and knew this was the perfect project for it.  I used the darker side of the fabric (which has a ponte-type feel but I have no idea as to the fabric content since I STILL can't read Japanese) for the body of the dress, and the lighter side for the binding and cuffs.

I loved the design on the lighter side, but thought it was too close to my skin tone to work for the whole dress.  I love the color--it's a soft, peachy orange that is pretty flattering, although I did already make myself another knit dress in almost exactly this color!  Oh well, that one is for summer, and this one is more fall/spring with the thickness of the knit and longer sleeves.

I made a size Medium based on my measurements, and since this fabric is thick and not tooooo stretchy I didn't want to risk sizing down, but I would say that I will probably make a small next time.  It works for this one, although I did end up shortening the bodice just a tad, but it's not so big that I feel like I need to make other alterations.

I love the big deep pockets!

The back, of course

It goes perfectly with my double-gauze infinity scarf that I made from this cute Japanese maneki-neko (lucky cat) print!

I wore this outfit to my first craft show since moving to Japan--the cat is supposed to bring in customers, money and good fortune :).  You see them in lots of shops here, welcoming the customers in!

I would say my little maneki-neko did the trick--I sold almost 3/4s of my merchandise, and picked up several custom orders as well!  You can see the products I have available on my Sewbaby Crafts page (I just added that tab on this blog to keep things simple).

Fall 2014 Selfish Sewing Round 2

This is the first time that I've participated in Selfish Sewing Week, and I'm not entirely sure how it's supposed to work--do I sew this week, then share what I've been making at a later date?  I've been trying to sew AND document/share, but I tell you--I'd be able to sew a lot more if I wasn't trying to get photos and blog posts done as well!

That said, I do feel like I accomplished quite a bit in the name of selfish sewing.  In the past week, I've sewn two t-shirts, a cardigan, a dress, and a blouse for myself.  And I have one more top that I count for Selfish Sewing even though I finished it about a week beforehand, because it wasn't until SSW that I found time to blog about it.  My previous post shows off those first tops, and today's post is for the pieces that I was so excited to sew this week--I bought the fabric a while back and made myself wait to make this dress and top during Selfish Sewing Week, so that I could sew kid things for Project Run and Play while waiting for SSW to begin!

First off is my very first Washi Dress.  The top I made last week was a practice run for this dress--I did end up going up a size in the dress since the fabric I was using is a bit thicker and I am glad I did. I couldn't be happier with the dress's fit.

Instead of doing the cute U cutout, I cut the neckline out a little lower than the pattern (I used the bottom of the cutout as my guide--I felt like the fabric was busy enough without the extra detail), and I added a couple of inches to the length of the bodice just like I did in my wearable muslin, to get the fit just the way I like it.  And I lined the bodice instead of using the facing, again like I practiced before.

Love that my gold sandals match the dots on the fabric :)

I was so excited to find this Melody Miller Ruby Star Polka Dot fabric in Tokyo's fabric town!  It's soooooo pretty--I actually bought it in two different colors because I couldn't decide, and it was less than $4 a yard!  I bought 3 meters of each color, so you may be seeing another version of this in the aqua soon.  You can't really tell in the photos, but the little rows of dots between the arrows are actually a metallic antique gold color.   SO PRETTY!

I have to give credit--I was looking at images of this fabric online, and found this blog post documenting this exact dress.  When I saw her pics, I knew that's what I wanted to make out of mine too, and that's when I bought the Washi pattern!  Hope she doesn't mind ;)  I loved that she cut the sleeves from the scalloped border!

Back view

I wish I had cut the skirt a smidge shorter, because I envisioned this dress going year-round with tights, boots, and a cardi, but I was afraid of cutting it too short, and then because I didn't want to lose the border print I couldn't hem it any more, so it came out a little longer than I wanted.    But as you can see, I still totally love it!

Goofing around for my photographers--I let the kiddos run the remote.

But what do I get for being silly on camera?  I get photobombed, that's what.

Anyhoo, I did manage to make one more top before Selfish Sewing Week ends, but I wasn't able to get out again for photos.  So here's the shirt:

It's a modified Ruby Tunic, another pattern from Made by Rae.

And here's my iPhone selfies modeling the finished product:

As good as the photo session gets this time around!

On this one, I again cut the neckline lower (what can I say, I like an open neck!) and added sleeves.  I started with the free Washi sleeve pattern, but added a few inches to get a 3/4 sleeve.  I also had to cut the sleeve a little narrower to fit on my remaining Kokka owl print double-gauze, and I am happy with the way they came out!  You will not be surprised to hear that this was another Tokyo fabric find, at less than $6 a yard, and it's soooo soft and warm.  This is the first item I've sewn for myself out of this kind of fabric, and it was kind of surprising to me how snuggly it feels.  Kind of like wearing a more breathable flannel.  That's why I wanted the longer sleeves--it seemed like a great fall tunic to wear with jeans.  The print is a little more childish youthful than I usually go for, but after eyeballing it on my first trip to Nippori and not being able to get it out of my head, I bought a meter and a half on my second trip (and I have just enough left over to make a little Milkmaid Skirt for Little Sister.  Although she told me she wouldn't wear it unless I put purple stripes on it.)

And I couldn't resist using this cute gingham bias tape I found at the 100 Yen store for the neckline!

I finished it in time to wear it on my visit to Fukuro no Mise, or Tokyo's Owl Cafe--I wrote about that experience on our family's blog.

One final little selfish project--although you can't really call it "sewing"--

I cut a little scrap of my Melody Miller Ruby Star Spring 2012 to slip under my new clear phone case.  I love this idea--I can change out the fabric whenever I get antsy for a new design!

This fabric--another find at less than $4 per yard. Don't know yet what I'll do with the rest of it!

Selfish Sewing Week 2014--Fall

How fortuitous--this fall's Selfish Sewing Week is occurring during the first time my husband has had to travel in four months!  One of the huge benefits of our current overseas adventure is that his job, which in the states involved travel 2-3 times per month, has been completely local.  Until now.  And while we miss him terribly, there are a few silver linings to this trip of his back to the good old U S of A.  Firstly, he will be able to bring us a bunch of stuff that's expensive or hard to find in Japan.  And secondly, I can sew after the kids go to bed without ignoring him!  I do have to say, my evening sewing time has been cut down since I used to spend a lot of my lonely nights in front of the sewing machine while the hubby was traveling, but on the flip side both of my kids are in school full time now, so I can sew during daylight hours!

So this week, I've decided to sew for the kids during the day, mostly for Project Run and Play submissions, and after bedtime it's all about me!  Here's what I've accomplished so far:

First, I made my first Washi tunic from Made by Rae!  And now I know why anyone who has the pattern makes it over and over again--I already have the fabric and modifications lined up for my second and third Washis. I love this pattern and although I am a total pattern cheapskate I would say that it was worth buying.   That's my recommendation for the one or two holdouts who still haven't bought this pattern ;)

One of the reasons I waited so long to buy and make a Washi is because I have a  long torso and I was worried that the empire-adjacent waistline would look maternity on me.  So, duh, I lengthened the bodice by about two inches.  I love where it hits and think it's pretty darn flattering.  I LOOOOVE the shirred back--both for how easy it is to sew and wear, and also because it gives a really custom-looking fit.

I used some Japanese fabric that I bought in Nippori, Tokyo's fabric town, at the Tomato discount store called Arch.  It was 100 yen per meter (so a little less than $1 per yard)!  I loved the print--it's little villages with hot air balloons--and the feel of the fabric (no maker information on the selvage, sorry!) but because it was such a great deal I also felt good about using it for my first try, as a sort of wearable muslin.  And it came out very, very wearable!  I used another 100 yen fabric for the lining--a soft navy blue cotton that feels maybe like a batiste?  I did the full front and partial back lining that Rae demonstrates here rather than the facings.

I love how professional it looks on the inside!

I originally intended to do a separate blog post just about my Washi top, but in the interest of time (MY time that is; I'm using some of it for blogging instead of sewing right now!), I'm just throwing all of my Selfish Sewing pieces thus far into this one post.

Next up is yet another 100 yen per meter project, a scoop-necked cap sleeve tissue tee using iCandy Handmade's free pattern.  I love it!

Can you see my side seam?  I didn't think so!  MAN I rocked the stripe matching on this one.

This fabric was a bear to work with--really thin and stretchy, so it was tricky to keep the stripes lined up, and sew it without stretching it all over the place.  But I love how the print has varying width stripes, and the wide ivory area that I put at the shoulders.

My one complaint with this pattern is that the armholes came out pretty small.  It was ok since my fabric was so stretchy, but I cut them bigger on my next try with the pattern, and I was a happier camper.  It might be because I did a tiny binding on the sleeves instead of just hemming them, but I really like the look of the bound cap sleeve and neckline.   I used one of the black stripes to make my binding for contrast with the top of the shirt.  I also added a couple of inches to the bottom because I like my t-shirts long.

I made one more of these shirts, this time in a nice thick knit from Girl Charlee that I brought with me from the states.  As I mentioned before I cut the sleeve openings a little wider on this one, but I kept the binding instead of hemming here too.  I kept this one closer to the original length of the pattern too--I think I only added an inch here.

The binding is a dark plum knit.

 I really like this one too, for a more casual top.  I think the other one can be dressed up or down, but this one is happiest lounging around with jeans.   This was a fun pattern because it's such a quick sew--each one took one night after the kids were in bed.

I had to include this photo--this was the test shot I took before handing the camera over to The Boy and letting him take the photos above of this shirt.  Hey, the hubby is out of town and sometimes I just don't want to pull out the tripod!  He did a great job :)

Finally, with another piece of 100 yen fabric, I made this cute cardigan, also a free pattern from iCandy Handmade.  It was an easy sew, since there are no closures.

My photographer had to go to bed, so it's back to the tripod and remote.

The fabric I used on this one was a double-knit that looked like a fine sweater knit on one side and a sort of textured jersey on the other, so I used one side for the body of the cardigan and flipped it for the binding and cuffs.  I love the way it turned out!

My fabric was pretty stretchy, so that may have been the problem, but I had issues with my sleeves being too wide at the top to fit the armholes as well as the back of the sweater gapping at the top.  I remedied both problems by adding inverted pleats, which I actually LOVE the look of and wish I could say they were part of the plan from the beginning.

Hopefully I will have more to share for the rest of Selfish Sewing Week--I've got plans, big plans; I just have to find out how much energy I have after the kids go to bed the rest of the week!  **UPDATE--this post has the rest of my Selfish Sewing projects for this week.  Feeling pretty good about what I accomplished!