Ench By Sew-022- Summer of the Blouse - Amaryllis

Hey! 

The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Listening Option I) You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on this link 

~ OR ~

Listening Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Did I miss any links mentioned in the show? If so, please post here and share them with everybody

Email- EnchantedBySewing@gmail.com

~ ~ ~

This show is created, produced and brought to you by me! - Laurel Shimer. THE Enchanted by Sewing PODCAST IS, An  EXTENSION OF my regular sewing blog - Me Encanta Coser, which,  roughly translated means, Enchanted By Sewing

My blog is written in English. The name celebrates the historical and modern use of the beautiful Spanish Language in the San Francisco Bay Area of California, where I live

* * *

In my slow sewing July, I focused on sewing just one pink and white striped seersucker sleeveless blouse.  Like my  CA Summer skies shirt– (that was blue and white checked seersucker shirt ) I sewed and talked about last months show, my new sleeveless blouse, who I call Amaryllis (in honor of the musical, "The Music Man"),  has quickly become an important staple of my summer wardrobe. And sewing a few more blouses, as a result of what I thought and learned about sewing this most recent garment, is something I’m considering when it comes to more summer sewing.

In this month’s show

1) Pensamientos Primeros
Slow Summer Sewing – Budgeting my sewing time and energy and coming out on top by improving sewing skills. Increasing my wardrobe choices. It’s about Feeling satisfied with my sewing recreation time and output.

The slow living movement includes slow stitching. Look for more about slow living and sewing on the web

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/06/wardrobe-refurbish-sewist-loves-to.html

http://www.slowmovement.com

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Downshifting

http://theslowstitchingmovement.wordpress.com/2014/06/10/welcome-to-the-slow-stitching-blog/

2) Entonces, Technicos y Mas

i) What’s a shirt what’s a blouse? http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/08/whats-shirt-whats-blouse.html

ii) About Amaryllis, a summer blouse

Music Man Inspiration for this blouses name http://simpleromantic.blogspot.com/2010/08/time-travel-primer-lesson-6-music-man.html


Now I've sewn Amaryllis, I'm envisioning other sleeveless blouses  http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/07/fabric-for-rosa-summer-dreams-blouse.html

iii) Technicos –My Amarylis Blouse
- More Seersucker Sewing
-       Sleeveless blouse facings
For my sleeveless blouse facings, I used techniques similar to those I described in my blog posting, Sewing a Fitted Facing, in Oct two years ago
http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2012/10/technicostechniques-sewing-fitted-facing.html

- Seam Finishes - Cut and Pink
- Altering a shirt pattern to become a blouse

3) Pensamientos Finales Blue Skies Sewing - I can't sew it all at once, but I can dream!

A couple of Inspiration Dresses are related to Bustiers, including the Stella McCartney floral http://www.pinterest.com/lrshimer/sewingbustiersinspiration/

Stella McCartney inspired my interest in this pattern for a bustier-related dress, Vogue 8849

I discovered the pattern at this great blog, Fitnottofit http://fitnottofit.wordpress.com/tag/v8849/

I bought my copy of this pattern from
https://sewingpatterns.com

More about designer Stella McCartney http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stella_McCartney

Ench By Sew-021- CA Summer Skies Sewing Summer Vacation Is a State of Mind

Hey! 

The latest Enchanted by Sewing Podcast has been published!

Listening Option I) You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on this link 

~ OR ~

Listening Option II)  Click on this link to iTunes  to download this and other Enchanted by Sewing shows to your mobile device (iPhone, Android, etc.) free from iTunes

Did I miss any links mentioned in the show? If so, please post here and share them with everybody

Email- EnchantedBySewing@gmail.com

~ ~ ~

I know your June weather may not be the same as mine. Here in CA it’s time for summer skies, a little more heat, and a vacation feeling whether or not we’re able to leave town. (Hey,  feel free to post about what kind of sewing your climate inspires below!)

Sometimes I’m able to take an actual summer vacation and other years I focus on treating the summer like a vacation, even when I don’t leave the San Francisco Bay Area, where I live. This summer I was able to take a mini vacation weekend trip to Disneyland. As a matter of fact I just got back☺  I went with my beautiful, kind and funny, young adult daughter. Getting to bond with her at this age is really fun!  I took along a newly finished garment from my summer wardrobe on the trip and I’ll talk about sewing that in the show. I’m going to continue to focus on treating the rest of the summer like a vacation, no matter what I get to do. And I’m going to continue to sew for my summer vacation, no matter how far afield of home I manage to go.

Here’s what I’m talking about in this month’s show

* Primero: Planning My Summer Vacation Sewing

I may be a casual dresser, but I'm not into Normcore, anti-fashion. No, I go for an arty-romantic look, creating summer vacation outfits that make me feel special– whether I wear them on a trip across an ocean, a local museum visit, or just special tea with a buddy on my patio, is the kind of thing that keeps me Enchanted by Sewing

I’ve gotten a lot of great ideas for summer sewing, either for a vacation away from home or making a includes patterns for relaxed and beautiful garments that vacation right where I live, from this new-to-me book



* Entonces/Then Key pieces I’ve created so far for my summer vacation sewists wardrobe

Love my new denim skirt - It flatters my figure type!
And how about that CA Summer Skies Shirt?
You bet I'm happy with my latest rendition of B5526
Of course I had to get some new red sandals to enhance my blue and white summer wardrobe theme :-)

a. Straight denim skirt http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/06/terminado-sewing-simple-denim-skirt-is.html
b. Summer Skies shirt http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/06/terminado-my-ca-summer-skies-seersucker.html

c. I refurbished two pair of shorts and and a pair of pants by adding thread belt loops. Guess who feels like she got three new garments? This posting from my regular blog includes a how-to link for those belt loops http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2014/06/wardrobe-refurbish-sewist-loves-to.html

d. Closet Shopping turned up a couple of pretty, arty shirts I’ve made in past that work well with my refurbished pants

These garments together give a slightly dressy edge to my summer vacation and make me stand up a little straighter and really feel good about myself. -

* I followup with Technicos: Focusing on seersucker sewing  with my CA Summer skies shirt


 

Ench By Sew-017 Gettin' Shirty (Previously Ench By Sew-007)

VINTAGE PODCAST!
Listeners have requested that I re-publish this show, last published in
April 2013 (and removed for not-very-exciting technical challenges)

SEW now.... the February 2014 ReRun....
"Enchanted By Sewing" Podcast is, once more,
available in the pod-o-sphere!

This month we're getting' Shirty.

You can listen to the show right on the web by clicking on this link. Or, download this podcast free from iTunes, to play on your favorite mobile device/mp3 player (like an iPhone or an Android), by clicking on this link to iTunes.

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Is that garment you're sewing a shirt or a blouse? Is it the collar stand, or lack thereof that makes you decide one way or another? How about set-in sleeves versus dropped? Maybe it's your choice of fabric.... This month Laurel talks about her experiences creating her No. 1 Ladies Detective Agency Shirt, with a Butterick pattern that sometimes says shirt and other times blouse. She also discusses sewing techniques that say shirt, and chats a little about the history of shirts and shirty language (with special attention to a scene from a Harry Potter book ).

 This podcast is an extension of  my on-web sewing life journal Me Encanta Coser, a blog that tells the story of an arty-romantic plain sewist in CA. My blog is written in English. The blogs name, and occasional references, pays tribute to the beautiful Spanish language which is a part of both the history and modern culture of the San Francisco Bay area, where I live.

Check out a free excerpt from
My Heart Beats Faster in Past Times
By clicking here

The show is created, produced, and brought to you by Laurel Shimer author of the Time Travel e-book My Heart Beats Faster in Past Times. This historical romance, ebook-novella is available exclusively on amazon.com for your iPad, nook or kindle ebook reader, for only 99 cents (Only 99 cents? That's less than a cup of coffee!) 

~~~

Resources

• Shirt or Blouse - Pattern Plays a Big Role
http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/04/shirt-or-blouse-pattern-plays-important.html

• No. 1 Lady's Detective Agency Shirt

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/03/no-1-ladys-detective-agency-shirt-b5526.html

This book has really helped me to learn how to sew different seam finishes. The illustrations and descriptions are spot on!

The New Complete Guide to Sewing: Step-by-Step Techniques for Making Clothes and Home Accessories Updated Edition with All-New Projects and Simplicity Patterns (Reader's Digest)

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Please post other links and other pertinent information that you would like to see included in these show notes.

Jeans Sewing: Skirting the Issue - Terminado!/Done!

¡Que Bueno!
Huzzah! 

Worth the Work
I created this jeans-style denim skirt
in order to work
on jeans sewing skills
I do feel more confident about approaching my
first jeans project.
I'm also really looking forward to wearing this
great new addition to my wardrobe!

On the final evening of Labor Day weekend,  I finished the jeans-style denim skirt (  Palmer and Pletsch M6361 )  I've been blogging about over the last month. (*) The task was acquiring the tenor of a forever-more sewing project. Those are deadly! Sometimes I get so tired of long-term sewing projects, that they get popped into an in-process bin and you know what happens next, right? Often, by the time I return to the bin it's even more intimidating. Or maybe it just looks silly or dated. I didn't want to have my skirt become a UFO (What Lori often referred to as UnFinished Objects in the Sew Forth Now Podcast). So I kept at it, even when other sewing projects sung out, and they definitely did! You can just bet I never let myself take that jeans needle out of my machine.

My skirt looks so official
with it's jeans button
I lined the waistband with a light weight
cotton batiste print
I interfaced it with a medium weight
fusible. That was a big decision and
I'm glad I did interface it now.

I really wanted to shelve the skirt many times, because sewing that heavy weight 11-oz denim (like Levis 501's ), figuring out where to find and apply rivets, jeans button, when to do the topstitching (I wanted complete lines of stitching because it sure shows when it's not), not to mention addressing the faux flat-felled seams, was just a lot of unfamiliar-to-me work and techniques. I never managed to get the real kind of flat-felled seams to to roll around and stitch straight, though I'm good with the faux look for now. I blogged about that a couple of weeks back.

Oh and don't get me started on the curved waistband! I think the topstitching and waistband seam and top of waistband finally go straight across on either side. I sure checked those (and pinned, re-pinned, hand and machine basted and re-basted) to get those areas crisp and clean. I did have to add a snap on the inside of the fly. I think  that was because I over-fitted the garment a little and the fly band gaped a little. I over-fitted because otherwise the a-line skirt didn't 'a' out. At least for me, that heavy denim is not at all easy to work with. Maybe it's simply different than what I'm used to sewing with.

I'm really proud of myself for doing something hard and new-to-me. When I get ready to sew my jeans project for the Pants Drafting class I'm currently taking at Cañada, I'll have a head start on some of those techniques. I'm sure they won't be perfect, but they will be lots better than if I hadn't sewn this skirt first.

Another thing I'm glad I thought to do. I sewed several fly-front zippers (FFZ) in trouser and shorts project over the last year or so. So, although I still don't love doing a FFZ, they don't overwhelm me. And that was important when learning to work with heavy fabric, different threads and needle-type, new-to-me techniques and hardware.

I didn't make the cute pockets or belt loops I meant to do (I know how to use a double needle to make those belt loops professional too), cuz I was just done with it. I'm planning to prep the pockets and belt loops for my jeans project first , because those are really the fun part. In this case I'd had enough and just wanted to move on with life. That's the way it goes with me, when I'm learning something new. In software application development (and probably other fields as well, I imagine), we called that MVP - minimal viable product.

Sometimes I just want to be finished/terminado!

Now I'm planning to do some fun and familiar sewing for a bit. I have another one of my favorite shirts to finish up. I last blogged about it as Kit 1 (here's a link). I'm now calling it "Lilacs and Liberty". It's a romantic fem style - lilac Robert Kaufman gingham with accents in a darker purple and green Liberty of London Tana Lawn print, (which I recently identified as the Liberty print "Mauverina") and sparkly'ish buttons. Bet it will look cute with the denim skirt too....

The challenge of acquiring new sewing skills, and the pleasure of returning to comfortable and favorite sewing projects, keeps me....

Enchanted by Sewing!

~ ~ ~

* All the posts about this project, begin with the phrase "Jeans Sewing, Skirting the Issue"

1) I began writing about the project, fitting and pattern selection on August 9'th http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/08/jeans-sewing-skirting-issue.html

2) When Zippers Fly

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/08/jeans-sewing-skirting-issue-when.html

3) Resources

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/08/jeans-sewing-skirting-issue-resources.html

4) WAISTing Time

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/08/jeans-sewing-skirting-issue-waisting.html

5) Absolutely Riveting

http://meencantacoser.blogspot.com/2013/08/jeans-sewing-skirting-issue-absolutely.html

Sewing for Travel (Butterick 5526)

I sewed Butterick 5526 again for my recent trip to London. It was very practical, and pretty, when worn with a pair of black cropped linen pants I made for the same trip. They are the same tried and true pattern I used for these tan cropped linen pants. 

I took this shirt along on another trip, on our recent weekend down to my daughter's graduation from Cal Poly (San Luis Obispo). All the hotels around the area require a two night minimum stay (Can you blame an area whose economy is heavily dependent on tourism for this requirement on high demand weekends? I don't.) This shirt went along to the beach and on to winery tasting on Saturday. I wore my newly finished CA Romance dress for the ceremony on Sunday.

This is a great pattern. I love the shape of the hem and the curved side seams. Thanks again to my sewing buddy Susan for all her work altering this pattern to give me a great fit! And of course we weren't the only people to find that the sleeves may be too tight as originally designed (see my links in detailed posting to Pattern Review). Nothing beats a muslin!

I previously sewed and wrote more about my experiences sewing this shirt, in my posting about sewing my No. 1 Ladie's Detective Agency shirt.