Muslin: McCalls 2401

Now that I'm unpacked and settled into our new apartment, I'm ready to move on with McCalls 2401. Tonight, I pre-washed my fabric (it's in the dryer as I write this) and snapped some pictures of my final muslin.

From the front, it looks good. I struggle with the side and back views – the side because the side seam swings forward (despite sway back adjustments and rebalancing the side seam; only sticking my butt out seems to help), and the back because the sleeve doesn't fit quite right.

This is my normal pose (I really need to work on my posture).

And this is me, jutting out my butt in an attempt to straighten the side seam:

My biggest concern is the sleeve. It feels tight in the upper arm, and I can see some binding, although I'm not quite sure what to do to fix it. Any suggestions? 

This is my first sleeve, so I'm a little clueless as to alterations. I've already sewn a smaller seam to give myself more room (you're seeing the less-than-satisfactory results). Are my biceps really that large, or could it be a problem with my sewing technique? 

On the Road Again

The last few weeks have been a bit of a whirlwind, and I haven't been able to accomplish anything on the sewing front.

When I last wrote, I was contemplating storage solutions because my new apartment was short on closet space. We moved into the apartment on May 1st...and we're moving out tomorrow (May 11th).

When we arrived, the apartment was filthy, with old food on the stove and appliances and surfaces that felt greasy to the touch. We spent an entire day cleaning before we were comfortable enough to unpack. Unfortunately, it never felt clean, and the neighborhood was loud – music from the bar next door sounded as if it were coming from within the apartment.

Seeing as the rental was billed as a luxury apartment (with a luxury price tag), we decided that things weren't going to work out and set out looking for a new place.

After much searching – I think we drove around Buffalo for a total of six hours one weekend – we found a place up the street from where we used to live. It has two bedrooms, both with large closets, and Ben has agreed to give me the use of one room as a sewing space.

The sewing room has a large closet for out-of-sight storage, but I may use it sparingly. Although I had my sewing area set up for only one day, I liked having things out in the open, like a studio. Here are some solutions that I came up with:

• I velcroed the yard stick underneath the cutting table.
• I bought a large mesh trash can to store rolls of pattern paper and tracing paper.
• I picked up a mailing tube at Office Max, stored my in-progress patterns inside and stood it in the trash can.
• I picked up a few baskets from TJ Maxx (about $10 each) to hold sewing supplies and fabric.
• Because my cutting table is open underneath, I slid the trash can and baskets below it, so they didn't take up any additional floor space.

Once I get my new place set up – I can't wait to stop living out of boxes! – I'll post photos of my storage solutions.

Which do you prefer: to have your sewing supplies out in the open or hidden away?

Sewing Storage for Spaces without Closets

At the end of this month, Ben and I will be moving into a different apartment. And for the first time since I've begun sewing, I won't have a dedicated sewing room. Instead, I'll set up shop in an extension off of the living room.

I'm looking forward to having my supplies in an open space, but in the past, I've depended heavily on closeted storage, which I'll now be without.

My sewing area will be the first thing you see when you walk through the door, so not only do I need to find storage space for items that have been out of sight, but it has to look nice (and be protected from curious cats).

I've been scouring the internet for ideas, and here's what I've come up with so far (all photos can be found on my Pinterest board):

Pattern Paper & Batting



Just like wrapping paper can be stored in a trash can, so can rolls of pattern paper and batting. The owner of this trash can attached wheels for easy accessibility. Click here for the tutorial.

Rulers

I've always hung my yard stick on a wall hook. My current closet has the hooks built-in. In the new apartment, I'll need to use wall mounted hooks:



I may switch to a wooden ruler, since in my last apartment, the metal ruler scuffed the wall.

I'm not married to the idea of hanging the ruler, but I've yet to find other options.

Scissors, Notions, Pressing Tools

I keep most of my sewing items in a vintage train case and a plastic drawer unit. The plastic drawers are an eye sore, and to replace them, I'd use one of the following:

1. IKEA Micke drawer unit:



The drawer unit is $60 and can be purchased online.

2. Stacked hat boxes:



The hat boxes would be more visually appealing, but their contents would be more difficult to access than in  a drawer. Also, the hat boxes have the potential to be more expensive than the drawer unit, depending on how many are purchased and what condition they are in. Antique malls are surprisingly expensive.

3. Metal shelf with baskets:



The metal shelf allows for more storage space, but it also has a bigger footprint. I try not to buy large furniture because I never know where I'm going to end up.

4. Kitchen trolly (IKEA Raskog kitchen cart pictured):



The cart comes in turquoise or dark gray and is $50. It's not available for purchase online.

Of these four options, I'm leaning towards the Micke unit because of its a neutral color and because it allows for closed storage so that dust doesn't accumulate (I hate cleaning, so the less dust, the better).

Patterns in Progress

I like to keep my patterns flat as I work on them, so that I don't constantly need to re-iron as I make muslins and work through alterations. I've been hanging them in the closet on skirt hangers, but with no closet to speak of, I'll need a different solution.

Right now, I'm thinking that I'll store them underneath the cutting mat, so that they stay flat but hidden.

Other options:

• Clip pattern pieces with a binder clip and hang on a bulletin board
• Store them in a document tube or art portfolio (document tubes are cheaper) - the tube option could probably go in the pattern paper trash can that is pictured above.

 After I move in, my plans may change as I get a sense of the space. I'm trying to hold off on making any trips to IKEA until after we're unpacked. In the meantime, I'll be pinning on Pinterest.

Do you have any hidden storage solutions?

How to Draw on Your Croquis Using Photoshop

It took me awhile after I made my croquis to test out the patterns that I own (and some that I don't yet). Mostly because I wasn't sure how to go about it. But as I became more familiar with Photoshop, it became my personal dressing room.

If you'd like to dress up your croquis, I'll show you how I do it (click on the photos for a larger view).

You'll need Photoshop, or a similar program, like Gimp. You can download a free trial of Photoshop at the Adobe website.

1. Open your croquis image in Photoshop. Double click on the background layer to make it active.



2. Rename the layer "Croquis."



3. With the Croquis still selected (in blue), click on the small square in the bottom right corner of the menu to create a new layer on top of the Croquis layer.



4. Open your internet browser and navigate to the pattern that you'd like to try on. Find the black and white line drawing of the pattern. Take a screen shot by hitting "prt sc" on your keyboard (it's usually above the number pad).

A screenshot creates a copy of whatever you're looking at on screen.



5. Open a new window in Photoshop (File, New), and paste the screenshot into the window (Edit, Paste).



My screenshot shows 5 layers because I'd been working with other patterns. Yours will probably have two – the background layer and the layer that you just pasted.

Using the rectangular selection tool (found in the left menu, second from the top), make a selection around the pattern that you want to test. To copy it, hit Ctrl + C or use the menu options (Edit, Copy).

6. Paste your selection into the window that contains your croquis (Ctrl + V or Edit, Paste). In the layers menu, change the blending option to Multiply.



Changing the blending mode will make the white portions of the layer transparent, so that you're left only with the black outline of the pattern.

7. Press Ctrl+T ( or go to Edit and then Transform) to enlarge the pattern to fit your croquis. Pull on the corner of the box to enlarge the pattern, and hold Shift as you do so to keep the proportions intact (so as you make it wider, you also make it taller).



8. Use the move tool (the arrow in the left menu) to position the pattern on your croquis.



9. What you do next depends on your fitting issues. For me, I need a larger size on bottom than I do on top, and this pattern reflects that issue. You can see how it doesn't quite go past my hip.

To make the adjustment, I make a rectangular selection around the lower portion of the skirt. The selection tool is in the left menu.



Then I cut the skirt (Ctrl + X) and paste it (Ctrl + v). Photoshop pastes it into a new layer, so that it is now independent from the top portion of the pattern.



Then I use the move tool to position it, and press Ctrl + T (or Edit, Transform) to widen the skirt. When I'm widening the pattern, I don't press shift, because that would keep the proportions intact, and I don't want it to get any taller, just wider.



You'll see that the side seams no longer match up.

Here's the tricky part: redrawing the side seam. First, I create a new layer. Then, I select the pen tool (it looks like a pen nib in the left menu) and make sure that it is set to create paths (in the top menu).



Then, I draw a line to blend the side seam of the bodice to the side seam of the skirt. But I don't draw as if it were a pencil. Instead, I set down anchor points by clicking on the mouse along my new imaginary seam (you could use the pencil or brush tool in the left menu and skip this whole pen business; my hand isn't that steady).

I can see the path that I made by clicking on the paths tab in the right side menu.



To draw the seam line, I make sure that the paint brush is selected in the left menu and choose a small brush size (about 4 pixels). Then, I right-click on the path layer and choose stroke. This draws a line along the path that I just created.

10. Once you have the pattern fit to your figure, you can color it in (you can use white if you'd rather not use a color). 

Select your croquis layer by clicking on it so that it is highlighted in blue. Then make a new layer. The layer will be placed on top of it.

Choose the paint brush tool and select a color from the swatches menu. Begin painting. As you paint, you'll color over your croquis. You're not actually erasing the croquis, just coloring over it, just as you would if you had a piece of transparent paper over the croquis.

It helps to zoom in so that you don't color over the pattern's lines.



11. If you redrew a seam line, you'll want to erase the old (you can see in the photo below that the old side seam is still visible). Choose the layer that contains the old seam line (there may be more than one layer, in which case you'll need to do this step twice). Create a mask on top of the layer by clicking on what looks like a camera in the bottom right corner. If you look at your layers palette, you'll see a white box next to your selected layer – that's your mask.



Select the paint brush tool and set your colors to black and white. Choose black and paint over the seam line (make sure that the mask is selected in the layers palette). You're not erasing the seam line; you're hiding it. Whenever you paint on a mask, black hides what is on the current layer; white reveals it. So, if you make a mistake, paint over the area in white to bring the line back again.

When you're finished, your croquis should look like this:

 

I'm not a Photoshop whiz, so there's a chance that I may have made this more complicated than need be.

If you have any questions, let me know, and I'll do my best to answer them.

Using a Croquis to Choose a Sewing Pattern

A little over a year ago, I made a croquis (click here for my tutorial) to compare my body shape to the Wolf dress form. Since my analysis, I did little with it, until I was inspired by this Pattern Review post that uses Photoshop to superimpose line drawings over the croquis.

I spent two or three days obsessively drawing patterns – seeing the finished product was almost as satisfying as sewing!

Here's what I came up with:

Simplicity 2176



McCalls 2401 (am working on currently)



New Look 6375



Simplicity 1914



Simplicity 2594 and Simplicity 2451



Simplicity 2217



New Look 6557 (finished & blogged here)



New Look 6888 (abandoned & blogged here)



Simplicity 2443



I own this Cynthia Rowley dress in ready-to-wear. I picked it up at TJ Maxx last year and wore it to a Chicago Cubs game. A woman stopped me on my way into the restroom to compliment me on it. I was thrilled!

New Look 6349



I had a dress from Chadwick's that looked like this, and I despaired when I found a stain on it. I couldn't find a dress to replace it, and it has only dawned on me in the past week that I could sew one up. I can't tell you how relieved I am!

Assessing the Accuracy of my Croquis

I drew two patterns that I'd previously sewn to assess the accuracy of my drawings, and I'd say that they're pretty close.

Remember New Look 6888, which ended up looking like a potato sack? When I hated the finished product, the members of Pattern Review consoled me that I wasn't the problem, that the pattern was built to be shapeless. I can see clearly now that they were right.



And then there's New Look 6557, which is my first finished garment:



The bust is a little different on the croquis (my fault) but other than that, the results are pretty much the same. I'm looking forward to wearing the dress in warmer weather.

My Sewing Plan

Based on my croquis, here is what I plan to sew:

What Can You Do With a Croquis?

Understand Your Pattern Changes

When I started drawing on the croquis, my efforts were a little misguided. I noticed that when the pattern fit my shoulders, it was too small at the hips. So I did what any gal would do and erased the hips. Easy, right?

Ben took a peek at what I was working on, and pointed out that I'd made my body smaller – not an accurate representation of what the pattern would like on my fully intact body.

I did some surgery on practically all of the line drawings – cutting the bottom half of the pattern, widening it, and smoothing out the transition. Turns out that I did the same alteration on McCalls 2401, and will probably continue to do so in any fitted pattern, since my bottom half is bigger than my top.

Make Better Clothing Choices

The croquis exercise also prepared me for the shopping excursion that Ben and I took yesterday. I was on a mission to replenish my wardrobe, and I looked for styles that mirrored what I'd drawn on my croquis. In fact, I bought a brown skirt that looked similar to Simplicity 2451. But that's not to say that I'm abandoning the pattern. I'm planning to sew it in navy blue.

Get Motivated

In any endeavor, I'm motivated by the finished product. Having the croquis tacked to the new bulletin board in my sewing room will motivate me to start or continue working, and help me to push through my most challenging tasks.

If you would like to know how I drew on the croquis, let me know in the comments, and I'll post a tutorial with photos.

Embroidery: Monogrammed Napkin

I've never been a big fan of embroidery, probably because the kits sold in stores are a little dated. I browsed the shelves at JoAnns and Hobby Lobby, hoping for something that would change my perception, but cutesy kittens and teddy bears stared back at me.

What I have been a fan of is the idea of embroidery, especially monograms. It seems luxurious somehow to have your initials embroidered on anything – hand towels, napkins, tote bags.

During the Thanksgiving holiday, I picked up Diana Rupp's new book,  Embroider Everything Workshop. I read it from cover to cover, and made a list of supplies that I'd need for my first project: embroidered napkins.

For Christmas, my friend gave me thread, needles, and a hoop, while Ben purchased two sets of napkins and a book of alphabets.



For my first try, I worked on an old napkin that already had a few tea stains, so that I wouldn't be too disappointed if it didn't turn out.

While the napkin in Rupp's book features a flower motif, I made mine a little simpler by including only our initials. I followed Rupp's instructions on how to separate the threads, how to make a cross stitch and back stitch, and how to start and end a stitch.

The result is this:



I'm pretty happy with it, although I messed up on the "b," making my stitches run up and down, rather than left to right.

I also had trouble removing the waste canvas, a grid that is basted onto the fabric as a guide. Rupp's book said to moisten the canvas and pull it out with tweezers. While some parts of the waste canvas removed easily, others, especially those underneath the monogram, wouldn't budge. I ended up cutting it away from the napkin, so that waste canvas is still embedded underneath the letters. And due to my pulling as I removed the canvas, a few stitches came loose and had to be stitched over.

I'm not sure if I'll use waste canvas in the future. I'll have to do some more research on removing it first.



Next, I plan to embroider the napkins that Ben bought for Christmas, but am undecided if I'll just embroider the "K" or embroider first and last initials again.