Summer sewing: swimsuit construction, and "granny chic"

Sophia Swimsuit

Just finished one of the most challenging projects that I ever tackled: a vintage look two-piece swimsuit with a supportive top for an extra-large bust. I went through a bunch of patterns before settling on this one: Sophia, from Closet Case Patterns.

Sophia swimsuit, View B, Closet Case Patterns

One modification that I had to make to the top was to significantly widen the halter straps. I might also swap out the 3/8" elastic on the bottom band for something heavier. Otherwise, it worked out well. The top has foam cups and underwires. It approximates a 38DD bra size.

I had to purchased poly laminate foam, underwires, underwire channeling, and nylon tricot for the bra lining from Sew Sassy Fabrics. I purchased swimsuit lycra and lining fabric rom my local fabric store.

I did not use the serger at all, but used my regular Singer Heavy Duty for the whole thing, ball point needles, and zig-zag stitches. I also used Coats Eloflex thread.

Before I even started the swimsuit, I made this robe as a swim coverup: pattern is Almada by Seamwork, in a tribal cotton print.

Seamwork Almada relaxed bathrobe

Granny Chic

I picked up this book - Granny Chic: Crafty Recipes and Inspiration for the Handmade Home, and immediately got inspired. One of the recipes was to recycle old towels into fun dish cloths. I can't have too many dish cloths. It was also an opportunity to use odd scraps of bias binding. 

Old towels -> new dish cloths

I also made a couple of Dottie Angel frocks, as featured in the book, and Simplicity Pattern 1080 Misses' Dress or Tunic.

I liked the look of the cotton calico for making a summer dress, so I followed that idea with these sun dresses - made from 100 Acts of Sewing, Dress No. 1:

Who doesn't love a dress with pockets? One modification that I made was to add some ties at the sides to cinch it in a bit at the waist. This simple pattern is great for beginners, and a great jumping off point for more advanced sewers to experiment with.

Bonus Round

I'm not sure exactly what I was thinking here, but I wanted to use this astrological fabric from Mood for something. I ended up using Simplicity Pattern 1108 Misses' Kimonos in Different Styles, and some lace trim that I had on hand. 

Hot Patterns: 1230 Metropolitan Bouvier Jacket

 

I am really pleased with how this turned out. I purchased some linen/rayon blend fabric from JoAnn's and whipped it up in a day and a half (unlined). The only adjustment that I made was to increase the bust dart slightly, and shorten it overall about 3/4 inch. I wanted a lightweight jacket for spring/summer. I love the lapels and all the rounded corners. It looks soft and easy to wear. 

Sewing: Lotta Jansdotter's Everyday Style

I was looking to freshen up my wardrobe, so I picked up this book last fall...

...and I've made several projects from it since then. The book includes patterns for several basic wardrobe pieces, including accessories. It goes through each season, showing ideas for how to customize and style different pieces for that time of year.

Elsa Bag

I started with something simple, and I have an addiction to bags anyway. The Elsa bag is a very simple, roomy tote with leather handles. I really like the look of the handles, and they are just riveted into place. It was not difficult or expensive to get the required tools and supplies to do this. I picked up the rivet tool, leather, and copper rivets at the Tandy store. 

The fabric is a piece of canvas-weight upholstery with a Persian motif that I had in my stash. I can fit books, magazines, lots of stuff in there. 

Esme Tunic

I wanted a dress that I could wear in cold weather with leggings, so the next thing I made was the Esme tunic. I scaled the pattern up a bit from the largest size, and adjusted it for a large bust. 

The fabric is a medium-weight wool melton that I originally got for making viking garb, but decided to repurpose it for mundane wear. It's very comfortable and cozy to wear in the winter, with boots and fleece-lined leggings. 

Tedra Skirt

Having invested in boots and leggings, I decided to add a skirt to my winter wardrobe.

 

This was a large scrap of wool tartan from my stash. I had just barely enough to cut the pieces out on the bias, but it didn't take much for the short skirt.

Patchwork Scarf

In addition to the patterns, there are instructions for making accessories, like this patchwork scarf:

This was a great opportunity to use up some of my smaller scraps, and put some fun combinations together. It's a good scarf "recipe." I will probably make a few more of these.

That's all for now. So far, the book has been very useful. The patterns are basic, but versatile, and they look good on a variety of body types. You can change the look of each piece by using different fabrics and making some of the accessories. 

With warmer weather coming, I'll probably make some lighter-weight stuff to wear through spring and summer. 

A couche for making bread

So another thing that's new is that I've been baking bread without a machine. Not only that, but I've been hearth-baking the bread: baking it on a stone in the oven, rather than placing the dough in a pan. One way of proofing free-form loaves like that is by using a couche, which is just a piece of cloth that is used to cradle the loaves while they rise. You can buy a couche, but I have skills. I sewed two rectangles of linen fabric together, like you would to make a placemat, and viola!

New corset!

I like a challenge, so I decided to make a corset for a friend of mine who has an extremely hourglass figure, and has difficulty finding corsets off the rack that fit right. I like how this turned out.

She is an F-cup or something like that, but I don't go by that. I made a duct tape double of her, afterwhich I did one in-person fitting and determined that the waist needed to be taken in by about 4" from the size I started with, and I let it out in the hips by about 4".

The finished measurements on the corset are 52"-38"-48".

Once again, I used the tried and true Laughing Moon corset pattern, with adjustments as noted above. I got much heavier than normal steel boning for this one, too. 

18th c. Fancy mens shirt

I've been playing in the land of 18th c. Menswear again. This is for a friend, for a fancy dress party that we are attending next week.

Here is the shirt with the cravat:

Knot buttons

I made knot buttons for the Turkish coat.

Turkish coat

Turkish coat (anteri) that I made for myself, based on Reconstructing History pattern #407, out of shot silk - a teal blue and brown cross weave. Looks like olive green. I'm going to let it hang on the toile for a bit before hemming and buttons. Lined in scraps of linen. 

Making garb for a Pennsic newbie

My friend Paul is attending Pennsic first time this year so I'm making garb for him.

Viking hoodies

Another Turkish coat

The Pennsic sewing continues. I'll just keep making stuff until time runs out. And my stash is far from running out. Husband doesn't have that much garb and he requested more ottoman Turkish stuff.

This is another men's kaftan, with too-long sleeves that can be worn scrunched up, or just hanging back without putting your arms into them. Once again, I used the pattern from ReconstructingHistory.com.

Poof! You're an Afghani nomad dress

Most of the time spent was sewing the trim and buttons on, otherwise this was an easy pattern to use and clever way to use some stuff from my stash that I sat on for a long time.

Next Project: Afghani Nomad Dress

I sat on this Folkwear Pattern for a long time. The fabrics I chose are mostly silk dupioni - some big pieces left over from making Japanese garb, but not enough to do more, so this pattern works out nicely. I'm also recycling mustard yellow linen tunic that has holes in it (I'll work around the holes). There's a piece of fancy Calontir trim there, and I'm still trying to scrounge up more. The rickrack and buttons are from an old thrift shop sewing box. All this stuff was in my stash.

I'm going to start with the pieces that will get embellished - the bodice and sleeves. The Afghanis tend to use buttons more often than shisha mirrors, so I'm covered there. I just don't do embroidery, so I'll have to improvise. I might do something creative with the rickrack.

Getting ready for Pennsic: medieval fashion accessories

I made this hood last year, based on the pattern in The Tudor Tailor book, to go with an early Tudor gown, and I just got it out to tweak it a bit before Pennsic. There are several layers, precariously pinned together.

I also got out the curling iron to reshape my Elizabethan ruff. It was very droopy, but a little starch and it's springy again.

Ottoman Turk coat is done!

Made this coat for my man for Pennsic. Very pleased with the fit. I did use the pattern from Reconstructing History.

This is basically the look I was going for, except less fancy:

Kannik's Korner 1812 waistcoat done!

So much hand sewing....I hope it fits.

Books: Shape Shape, and Drape Drape

Had my eye on both of these books for a while now, and they both have sequels out already, but I finally picked up the first volumes of each series.

My main complaint about a lot of modern sewing books is that there are too many of them at the beginner level, or they are focused on quick and easy projects. A lot of them have a big introductory section on basic sewing techniques. I don't need that. I like learning new techniques, and I like projects with a bit of a challenge. Both Shape Shape, and Drape Drape present me with what I'm looking for.

Shape Shape

Lots of simple and elegant, but unique ideas here. A lot of these projects do look quick or easy, but they are very different shapes from what you usually see out there. A lot of styles can be worn in multiple ways, like "origami" for clothing. A lot of the styles look ideal for using beautiful, plain fabrics, or showing off an elegant print.

Drape Drape

I'm in love with many of these looks, and I'm fascinated with the draping techniques that are illustrated here. It looks a bit challenging, but this is exactly what I've been looking for. Of course, most of the patterns call for drapey fabrics, such as knits. I'm cool with this too. There are many looks here that I want to make for myself.

Kannik's 1812 waistcoat: progress report

The fronts are just about done. The pocket, lining, and buttonholes are in. After doing the pocket and lining all by hand, I resorted to machine sewing the buttonholes. I tried handsewing one, and it just looked hideous.

Book: BurdaStyle Sewing Vintage Modern

I have fallen behind in posting book reviews here, because I picked this one up shortly after it came out. If you got the first BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook, this is a good follow-on to that. It has more basic patterns with instructions for variations, and even includes a pattern for a mens shirt (in addition to several iconic dress silhouettes, blouses, and pants).

Meanwhile, I made two blouses from the blouse pattern in the BurdaStyle Sewing Handbook, like so:

I wore this one this week as part of my work-travel wardrobe. 

Book review: DIY Couture by Rosie Martin

This was an impulse purchase and I am pleasantly surprised.

http://www.amazon.com/DIY-Couture-Create-Fashion-Collection/dp/1856697991

There are a lot of books of this nature out lately because making your own clothes has caught on with the younger crowd, but I find some of these books rather boring. NOT this one. It definitely takes a unique approach and offers a lot of cool, interesting designs.

It covers 10 basic wardrobe pieces, and eight different variations on each one, so that's 80 different styles to play with. The pieces include:

A straight skirt
The Grecian dress
The skater skirt
A waistcoat
A cape
A slouch top
The goddess dress
A hoody/jacket
trousers
and a romper

The variations follow eight different themes:

The Acid Candy collection: bright and modern
The Monochrome Art collection: black and white and classic
The American Road trip collection: a little boho, country, hippy
The Rude Disco collection: glam and flashy
The Coffee Classic collection: stylish neutrals
The Jungle Punk collection: fun and funky
The Safari Prep collection: earth-tone classics
The Tea Picnic collection: girly and flirty

The beauty part is, there are no patterns. The instructions for constructing each piece describe how to use your own measurements and clothes to draft a pattern, and you don't need anything fancier than a t-shirt or pair of jeans that fit you well.

If you have never sewn anything before, this is not the place to start, but if you have a few finished projects under your belt, most of the looks in this book are within your grasp. The instructions for pattern drafting and constructing each piece are well illustrated and easy to follow. This collection also leaves lots of room for your own ideas and customization. This is a great, inspiring springboard.