The Pajama Debut!

I cranked out the first pair of PJ pants this past week! I actually cut 2 at once, which took a little more figuring out than I had anticipated, and ultimately I forgot one major tenant of garment sewing that differs from quilting... the idea of mirror image as opposed to symmetrical! As it turns out, I cut out 4 right legs (at least I think they're the right leg) instead of 2 rights and 2 lefts. Thankfully the pattern is quite forgiving and you can hardly notice the mistake once they're on.

This pair uses a print from the Andover fabric line "The Red Thread" by Marisa and Creative Thursday.
(please excuse the "just out of bed" hairdo!)

Oh, and here's a blatant promotion for my friend and former classmate Blue Mitchell and the fruits of his creative labor. He has spent the last several years developing and publishing Diffusion Magazine (among many other endeavors!), an annual publication highlighting non-traditional photography created by artists using a wide variety of techniques from digital manipulation to 19th century wet emulsion processes and everything in between.

I have to admit that I am on the fence about whether I should go ahead and sew the pair I cut out from the Birch Fabric "Scamper" fabric. I was considering buying another 2+ yards and cutting out two left legs and making 2 pairs of the same PJs, but that is EXPENSIVE fabric (though absolutely lovely)!!! However, I suppose I could find a friend of a similar size who might enjoy them, or consider it an advance finish for a holiday gift... Hmmm, I might have struck upon something there.

Well, in the mean time I now have cute new PJs to take with me when I go visit HS and college friends and their families this coming weekend - so much better than boring old yoga pants!

Thanks to J for taking these lovely photos of yours truly this morning so I can share with all of you out in blogland!

A new inspiration... PJs!!!

For ages I've been meaning to make myself pajama bottoms from cute fabric. Ages, I tell you! Somehow there's nothing like visiting with friends to get the spark afire.

Sitting over morning coffee with a childhood friend whom I've known since we were about 10, both hanging in our respective PJs, we discuss what we want to do for the day. I ask her if there's anything special she would want to do or look for in her brief visit to Portland (we had already done our damage at Powell's the day before!). She says that if we should happen to pass a boutique that carries cute pajama bottoms, she's in the market.

Well, we didn't end up going shopping, but I offered to try my hand at making some myself. I went online to find a free pattern, but that is only relative... I found several free, downloadable patterns this one from Simplicity and this link from Martha Stewart, but apparently once you try printing out the pattern pieces it adds up!

I also found a couple of sites/articles that show instructions for drafting your own pattern based on an existing pair, such as this one. However that's no help if you want to make them for someone with a completely different body type, or for various folks.

So, after leaving work I headed to Fabric Depot and searched the BIG pattern books for something. And lo and behold I found the perfect pattern (or so it seems) for unisex adults from Simplicity - and for only $2.49! Less than it would have cost to print out 20 sheets of paper and then the tape and time to put them together!

Of course I have to test out the pattern before making something for anyone else, right? And this is the perfect excuse to allow myself to buy some organic fabric I've been eyeing since it arrived at Cool Cottons...

Aren't those raccoons freakin' adorable??? The yellow one with the raccoons is from Birch Fabric collection "Scamper". And the darker one with the little bunnies from Andover collection "The Red Thread" just came in in the last week or two and spoke to me LOUDLY. Apparently I'm on a critters kick. So, why make just one pair when I can double up and make two at the same time?? I'll post photos when I have something to show for my efforts. And this may just lead to inspiration for this year's holiday presents, too.

Sunny Day Dress

A while back I posted a photo of an upcoming garment project

I have had it in my mind that I want to try and make more clothing and at the beginning of the summer season I looked through my closet for a fun little sundress to wear during the day and realized that I don't have one. Well, what's a seamstress to do about that? Though it's been a really long time since I've considered myself a seamstress, technically I do have the training. There was one pattern in particular at Cool Cottons that kept catching my eye, the Sunny Day Dress and Skirt by Jamie Christina.

The fabric I chose is a print from Andover, trimmed with just a plain solid white. I was hoping to finish the dress by the time I went on my trip to the east coast in late June, but didn't quite meet that deadline. For the most part the construction went pretty smoothly, though I did have a couple of problems losing track of top/bottom of some of the pattern pieces that were either truly rectangular or (in one case) nearly so. Even with the markings I was unsure if I put the bodice and waistband together properly. The only other problem I had with the pattern/construction is that the trim for the top of the waistband came up short. Not by much, but it did leave unfinished edges on that tiny little flange just before the gathered back.

I also made just a couple of adjustments for size and length as I was putting it together. For one, the pattern definitely errs on the short-waisted side of things, which I am not. But even with that being the case, the measurement for the elastic for the back of the dress was a little long and had to be shortened to stay where it should in order to keep the bodice and waistband hanging correctly. I also made a really tiny hem on the skirt in order to keep the length below my knee.

But I finished it, and FINALLY got up the nerve to wear it to work earlier this week.

We've been having temperatures in the upper 80s and into the 90s here in Portland, but the day I chose to wear the dress was one of the cooler days of the week - perhaps hitting 80°F at the most. Which worked out perfectly so I could be comfortable wearing my little short-sleeved cardigan over it, covering up the amply exposed back this dress offers. I thought I'd be happy to have a fun garment that actually shows a little of my mid-back tattoo, but am thinking not one for work, perhaps. Does this mean I'm getting old??

All in all, I am definitely glad I made the effort to get this finished and was able to wear it at least the once. I'll keep my eye open for more of her patterns as long as I feel I'd be able to alter the bodice length to fit me better. But it is cute, isn't it??