cotton Archives - Sew Wrong

Lucinda May 7, 2013

Pattern Review: Blue Beignet Skirt [Colette Patterns]

Pattern: Beignet from Colette Patterns
Fabric: Blue cotton twill from Metro Textile in NYC
Size: 6

This skirt was a long time in the making. Back in January I attempted to make a Beignet skirt from some luscious green wool I bought on a shopping trip to New York. There was my first mistake – the wool was way too heavy/bulky for this kind of skirt. It was a matter of romance with the color: I envisioned a sleek, sophisticated moss colored skirt with light green buttons. Sadly, the skirt looked like a big sack and the buttonholes were a nightmare, mostly because I wasn’t using the right techniques for sewing buttonholes and buttons in place. Twelve buttonholes are not for the faint of heart.

Fast-forward to early April – I’m visiting my parents during Sewcation and using my mom’s sewing room to try my hand at this skirt again. I omitted the lining (didn’t feel it was necessary and didn’t want to risk the bulk issue again) and sewed the skirt together pretty easily. And then, it was just me and the buttonholes…

I’m laughing because I conquered those bastards!

The automatic buttonhole feature on my mom’s Bernina has now forever spoiled me. Helloooo…it remembers the buttonhole length for all the buttonholes you need to sew!! No guessing or crossing your fingers (bad to do when sewing anyway), just press the button, guide the fabric, and voila. Perfect freaking buttonholes. It’s hard to go back to my hand-crank four-step buttonhole sewing machine after that little bit of sewing heaven…

I also learned the hard way that it’s more exact to make tailor tacks rather than use chalk to mark the holes. I think that also helped out a lot in getting nice, straight, even buttonholes.

And then there’s the cutting open of the buttonholes. I posted a video tutorial on the best way to open buttonholes when I made this skirt and really, it’s pretty great if I do say so myself. There were no seam ripper nightmares on this skirt!

Overall, I’m pretty happy with this skirt. The fit isn’t as sleek as I’d like and seems to stand out more than other Beignet skirts, like Rachel’s from House of Pinheiro. If I had been more concerned about the fit at the time, I would have taken in the seams a little bit in the front (it dips in slightly) and sides. I feel like the waist should fit a little tighter…maybe it would fit better if I paired it with a belt (I didn’t like how it looked with the fabric belt at all).

Would I make this skirt again? Maybe…it was a big time investment in making the buttonholes and sewing the buttons down (a trick I’ll try to share on here sometime). I like Andrea’s version with no buttons – that seems more like a realistic repeat to me. But there’s other button skirts on my radar, too…(hello Kelly skirt). Only time will tell!

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Lucinda April 2, 2013

Pattern Review: Laurel Top [Colette Patterns]

Pattern: Laurel by Colette Patterns, pullover top version
Fabric: Swiss dot from Mood Fabrics
Size: 2 graded out to a 6

Jeans: Levi’s
Earrings: Francesca’s
Sunnies: Tommy Hilfiger
Nails: Essie “Play Date”

My first wearable “practice” garment! In preparation for sewing the dress version of the new Colette Laurel pattern, I pulled out some Swiss dot I bought at Mood several summers ago in NYC and thought, if the fit worked out, it would make a cute top to wear for Easter. I love this pattern! My fabric is all washed and ready to go to make the dress and I can’t wait to see how the fabrics come together (I’m layering eyelet over silk habotai).

These pictures were taken after eating Easter dinner, so please excuse the wrinkles from sitting! 😉

Unlike a lot of pullover tops, this one has a good amount of shaping. I cut a 2 for the bust, graded to a 4 at the waist, and then a 6 at the hips, but I probably should have cut the bust as a 4 since it’s snug to pull on and off over my head. Or, in the next version, I could do a cool exposed zipper in the center back seam. Other than that, I didn’t need to do any other fitting – even the bust darts were spot-on perfect, didn’t need to move them up like I usually do. The back waist darts add a nice amount of shaping as well that keeps the back from poofing out. At no time did I feel like I was wearing a blousey maternity top!

The bias tape finishing for the neckline and sleeve hem was a nice, neat touch. Being the lazy sewist I am, I opted to sew the bias tape in place with my machine instead of my hand. I will probably hand sew my dress since it’s going to be made out of special fabric.

The reason I held on to this fabric for so long in my stash is because, as you can see in the picture, it’s really sheer (and wrinkly!). I felt like if I made a dress with it, it would look like I was wearing a nightgown, plus I’d have to line it – no fun. This top is really fast to make but took me a little longer since I French seamed alllll of my seams, even the sleeve seams. I think I’m addicted to French seaming, it makes everything look so clean and tidy inside, plus it’s perfect for sheer and lightweight fabrics. The hem is a teeny tiny narrow hem I machine stitched using this tutorial from Jen at Grainline.

That’s pretty much it! It was in the mid 50’s in Boston on Easter and this top was perfect for the early spring weather. If you’re looking for a no-brainer, instant gratification project, the Laurel top is a great garment.

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Lucinda October 23, 2012

Finished Sweater: Carnac

Pattern: Carnac by Army of Knitters
Yarn: Knit Picks Simply Cotton Worsted in Brass Heather
Needles: US 10 and 15
Size: 37 1/4

The impulse to make this sweater resulted from a phone conversation with my sister aka The Stitcherati about our current knitting projects. Almost one month later (could have been faster actually), I had my own version of Army of Knitter’s Carnac and my sister had hers.

Yes yes, I can be quite impulsive…but it seemed like such a quick, instant-gratification knit, something I haven’t had since I knit my Star Crossed Beret in February (hmm, my sister was up visiting that weekend, too). And of course, being impulsive, I didn’t knit a gauge swatch. I just jumped on in with my needles and yarn and casted on the required amount of stitches and knitted away the hours watching Murder, She Wrote on Netflix.

Should have knit that gauge swatch.

It’s not that I’m unhappy with the sweater, but it didn’t turn out how I wanted it to. I was hoping for more of a loose, boho-casual fit shown in the pattern picture. Instead, I got a sweater with shrunken sleeves, a short rise, and very very tight armholes. I blocked the dickens out of it, thinking that the cotton yarn would grow when wet, but it didn’t loosen up as much as I had hoped. Ah well, such are the consequences of impulsiveness. I got used to the tight fit as I wore it during the day, but felt that I kept tugging at the sleeves and bottom of the sweater.

The pattern was clearly written and was an easy to remember pattern repeat that knitted up in a flash. Where I got stuck was trying to figure out how the heck to knit the sleeves in the round on size 15 needles. The pattern never calls for DPNs, just circulars, and I tried several times to get the sleeves going on a 16″ circular needle. I was also too impatient to wait for US 15 DPNs to arrive by mail (do you see a theme happening here?) so I shelled out for some nice 40″ Addi Turbos to try out Magic Loop. After several attempts and throwing my knitting across the room, I finally figured out the technique and finished the sleeves in a matter of days.

I also picked up less stitches around the neck than the pattern called for…about 44 I think? I’m sure that if I had actually gotten the right gauge I would have picked up as many as the pattern said I should pick up.

I guess this sweater was a happy accident, but it was nice to finally finish a major project since my Leaflet sweater almost a year ago. It’s given me the push to tackle another sweater or two – an Owls sweater, which almost seems like a mandatory knit for every knitting blogger, and Andi Satterlund’s cropped Chuck sweater (psst I bought yarn for it this weekend). I wonder if I can whip these off of my needles before the end of the year…

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Lucinda September 18, 2012

On the Needles: Carnac Sweater [WIP]

Apparently, there are hazards in talking to my sister on the phone (aka The Stitcherati). We’re crafty ladies and like to dish on the projects we’re currently making, things we’ve seen on Pinterest, and stuff we want to make. Well, last Sunday, she told me about a sweater she started to knit that she saw over on the Anthropologie Knits board on Ravelry. I may have squealed in delight into the phone when I looked up the project on my iPad while talking to her. This was a must-knit sweater, and I had to knit it now. Which is why I paid extra for shipping on Knit Picks because I wanted that yarn to knit that sweater NOW. Get the picture?

The pattern is Carnac by the oh-so-awesome Heather Dixon of Army of Knitters. I’ve always said that I’m “lace-challenged” in that even the most simple of patterns always seems to make me stumble and screw up my knitting. Once I got the hang of the constant yarn-overs, which make this sweater look almost like crochet, I started to breeze through this pattern over the weekend while watching a marathon of “Murder, She Wrote” on Netflix. Oh, Jessica Fletcher…it’s a shame Cabot Cove isn’t a real place in Maine because I’d move there.

I’m planning on seeing my crafty sis when she comes to visit me in October and I hope we can both wear our Carnac sweaters while she’s here. I’m trying to crank mine out as fast as I can to wear in time for the impending fall weather, and I can’t wait to see how hers turns out!

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Lucinda June 26, 2012

On My Cutting Table: Vogue 8723 [Fit and Flare Dress]

This dress is going to be a winner, I can feel it.

I immediately jumped onto this project Saturday night after my fail at a Vogue DKNY dress and did a tissue fit of the pattern. Seriously, why didn’t “Custom Fit” patterns exist years ago?? They’re freaking brilliant! I selected the bodice pattern that fit my bust size (the smallest one, obvs), pinned all of the darts, side seam, and shoulder strap into place and voila: a perfect fit, unheard of for me with patterns with bust darts. Just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke, I cut out the lining for the bodice and stitched it up to test the fit. Again, spot on.

My only hesitation with this pattern is the skirt. I read some reviews on Pattern Review that the skirt is wicked full and difficult to gather, especially with heavier fabric like the cotton that I’m using. I’m going to try sewing a wide zig zag stitch over a length of cord or floss to gather up the skirt instead of sewing two rows of basting stitches; the basting is more than likely to break with all of the pulling and tugging. I’ll also try the skirt on myself before I attach it to the bodice – I have a feeling, with the body and fullness of this cotton, that it is going to be one super poofy skirt and may need some trimming down. Which should be easy, since the skirt panels are just wide rectangles.

The fabric is from Metro Textile in NYC – look for a post this week about my shopping adventures and what I found!