grainline studios Archives

Lucinda July 25, 2019

Hadley Top and Denim Maritime Shorts

Hello hello! Dusting off the blog and posting for the first time in a very long time – I missed this!

I’ve been sewing this year, but a rarity has been finding the time to take proper blog pictures. Most of the time, snapping a quick hallway mirror/gym bathroom/sewing room mirror picture is all that I can do, and then post a quick blurb on Instagram. Hoping to change that going forward for the rest of the year.

Something else I’ve been trying to do this year is to cut back on my fabric shopping and instead sew through my stash. Well, this outfit covers about 50% of that!

In going through my stash and trying to brainstorm ways to use up my fabric, I thought that this floral linen blend fabric from Joann would pair really well with the Hadley Top pattern by Grainline Studio. I’ve had this fabric for several years and always had it earmarked for different dress patterns, but my style lately is turning away from dresses and more towards separates. I really like the shape and fit of the Hadley Top that I made a few years ago and with the heat we’ve been having in New England, a breezy, cool top was a void in my closet.

Some changes I made to view B:

Raised the neckline 1″ – many reviewers made a neckline adjustment and I’m really glad I did, this would have been way too low for me. I could have raised it a bit more for more modesty, but this still works. I completely forgot to adjust the facing so I had to do a little fudging and easing when I assembled the top and neckline facing.
Eliminated the darts – I used Jaime’s idea to eliminate the darts from the Hadley top this go-round. Frankly this came from me just being plain lazy and not wanting to raise the darts on the bodice pattern (an alteration I almost always need to do for bust darts) and I really don’t need bust darts since I’m pretty small up top. I should try this out on other patterns because it worked out really well

If I make this again, which I definitely could see in the future, I’d like to do an all-in-one facing instead of having separate neckline and armhole facings. I stitched the facings in-the-ditch where I could, and then hand-tacked them down everywhere else.

The Maritime Shorts pattern by Grainline is my go-to for summer shorts, and this is my third pair. I love these shorts!! I used to have a pair of white shorts from J Crew several years ago, but spilled some red wine on them and…you know the rest of the story there. For this pair, I used a white stretch denim from LA Finch Fabrics that was on closeout and it’s such a comfy, stretchy denim that doesn’t make you feel constricted when wearing it.

To prevent the pocketing from really showing through (you know, white-on-white), I found some cotton fabric that matched my skin tone and used that for the pocket facing and pocket bag, thanks to an article I found in an older issue of Threads Magazine. You can still see a bit of the outline of the pocket but it’s much better looking than using the white denim for the pocket.

I also used brass rivets and a denim button, and used a tan-colored topstitching thread for some added contrast.

I’m currently finishing up the last of my summer classes for grad school and am looking forward to having the month of August free for all of the summer sewing and crafting I can churn out. Lots I want to try and tackle next month: a white denim skirt, Lucerne Blouse, and a swimsuit. Fingers crossed!

Patterns: Hadley Top; Maritime Shorts
Fabrics: Hadley Top – linen blend from Joann Fabrics; Maritime Shorts – designer denim closeout from LA Finch Fabrics

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Lucinda January 5, 2015

Living in Lindens

Pattern: Linden from Grainline Studios
Fabric: floral scuba knit from Metro Textiles, black fleece from Fabric Place Basement
Size: 4

Jeans: Paige Denim
Sneakers: Reebok

Happy New Year! It’s the first Monday after the holidays and the winter “blahs” are setting in for me…temps are dipping waaaay low this week (12 degrees tonight, brrr), the snow we’ve avoided in New England so far this winter arrived last weekend (with more to come this week), and spring feels very far away. So what’s a gal to do but hunker down with some tea and whip up some cute sweatshirts!

As the title of this post suggests, I’ve been living in a couple of new Linden sweatshirts I recently made over the past few weeks. At first I wasn’t sure about the pattern – the fit is much boxier than garments I usually wear and felt like I was wearing a big, shapeless sack for a top. But since I kept reaching for my first version over and over again, made out of a navy striped double-knit, I knew that the style grew on me and I really liked how easy it is to wear!

Like a lot of Jen’s patterns, the Linden is versatile and can change in look and feel depending on what kind of fabric you use – heck, I wore my gray version for New Year’s Eve with some sparkly necklaces and skinny black pants. For my third version, my favorite, I paired a floral print scuba knit (aka neoprene) for the front with a super soft black sweatshirt fleece for the rest of the sweatshirt. I like that the floral makes it a little dressier and special than a regular sweatshirt, sort of unexpected. When I was sewing this, I kept getting flash-backs from the 90’s of a floral shirt and leggings set I wore in elementary school!

I made all of my Lindens on my serger, which made them a fast sew. Like, criminally fast, even for someone as slow as I am. The only change I made was to lengthen the neckband pattern piece by about 5/8″ since it was too difficult to stretch correctly on my first version. The longer length fit better around the neckline, and I didn’t get any puckering as a result.

I never miss an opportunity to take a cheesy photo.

In all honesty, the Lindens I’ve been making are just “sewcrastination” – I keep putting off prepping for my Great Coat Project of 2015. I have one more project that I’m just about finished with (which will be my first finished garment of the year!) and then I’ll start. Pinky swear!

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Lucinda March 18, 2014

Finished Project: Archer Popover [Grainline Studio]

You guys, I made a popover, wooo! The lazy girl’s answer to a collared shirt!

Pattern: Archer from Grainline Studios
Fabric: cotton shirting from Mood

Jeans: Levi’s
Jacket: Michael Kors
Sunnies: Bulgari

Oh man, there are so many more of these in my sewing future. When Jen posted her popover version of the Archer Shirt last December on Instagram, I literally squealed out loud – it was the perfect solution to the J Crew shirts that I love so much but are outrageously priced (plus, I’m trying to make all of my clothes now…so there).

I whipped this up pretty fast the night before Chris’ annual family gathering, which is always so much fun (actually, I was planning on making this for the blogger meetup in NYC but I changed my mind and wore something else last minute!). Not sewing buttons made it go together even faster, and because I’m super lazy, I decided to not make cuffs and instead made the sleeves shorter. The only problem I ran into was, yet again, the collar – but I’m getting better. Honestly, it was so stupid on my part. I forgot to staystitch the neck and was so excited to try on the popover after I made the placket, and I must have stretched out the neck when I tried it on. Sigh. There was some creative problem solving when I attached the collar stand, but it all worked out ok. Next time I will have a perfect collar, I know it!

This was a pretty easy pattern hack – I’m thinking about doing a tutorial (it’s been a while since I wrote one!) on how I added the placket to my Archer shirt. I don’t think it’s the “proper” way to add a placket, but once I figured out what to do with the fiddly bottom part, it went together smoothly, almost like fabric origami. And honestly, you can make your placket any length you want! Maybe make it a bit longer and wear it over a cami, or be a saucy vixen and don’t wear a cami, ooooo.

I’m thinking my next Archer Popover will be out of a green voile I bought from Mood on Black Friday. I was going to save it for a button-down Archer, but I’m envisioning: slightly longer placket, cropped sleeves, waist ties that tie in the back for a more fitted look, and no collar.

Do you like popovers? They’re so easy to wear, and look great with skinny jeans or pants!

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Lucinda January 7, 2014

What I Made In 2013: Owl Sweater and Wool Moss Mini [Grainline Studio]

Patterns: Owl Sweater by Kate Davies, Moss Skirt from Grainline Studio
Yarn: Rowan Cocoon, Scree colorway
Fabric: wool from Metro Textile
Sizes: sweater – small, skirt – 6

Hat: Topshop
Leggings: DKNY
Boots: London Fog

During the snow storm late last week, I dreamed up the idea of escaping the cold by going to Maine (hah!) for the weekend and staying at a resort with hot tubs and fireplaces. It was a great weekend last weekend, and so weird to see the place where I vacation in the summer covered in snow. Chris and I walked down to the beach on Sunday, which was a surprisingly warm and sunny day. It felt like a totally different place, seeing all of the beach stores and cafes boarded up for the winter.

Do you remember the sad story about this sweater back in January 2013? After I wove in the ends and blocked the sweater, it stretched out into measurements that were impossible to wear (we’re talking 30″ sleeves, peeps). I threw it in my pile of WIPs, waiting for fall to come so I could harvest the yarn for a big, chunky cowl. Just before I started the frogging, I tried it on one more time – what the heck, it fits!! Since then, this sweater has been in heavy rotation, especially on cold cold days like what we’ve been experiencing in New England lately.

I really really love this sweater! The sleeve are still a little too long, so I just cuff them up a bit and the sleeves are perfect. The stitches are still a bit loose, but it’s ok because I always wear a shirt under the sweater. I’m not sure how I’m going to care for this; I’m afraid of the stretching happening again and the idea of taking it to the dry cleaners doesn’t really appeal to me.

Instead of putting eyes on all of the owls, I just did one owl – it’s more subtle and not as twee looking. Also, I need to try using a needle a size larger when I bind off – I’m barely able to pull the sweater over my head!

Actually, I really love love everything about this outfit! I made another Moss skirt, this time out of wool and acetate from my failed Beignet skirt, and it turned out even better than my first one. After some practice, I think I finally have the hang of inserting a fly front zipper. I went up a size this time since my corduroy skirt was a bit snug, and lengthened the skirt about two inches since my first one was a little too short for my liking and comfort.

It’s absolutely perfect now! I need to make some more of these for warmer weather, this skirt is definitely a TNT (tried ‘n true) pattern in my sewing arsenal.

What are your go-to winter outfits? Mine seem to be mini skirts, leggings or tights, and boots with a cozy sweater on top.

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Lucinda December 30, 2013

Finished Project: Plaid Archer Shirt [Grainline Studios]

Pattern: Archer by Grainline Studio
Fabric: cotton flannel from stash (bought at Joann Fabrics a few years ago)
Size: 2 graded to a 4 at hips
Snaps: Dritz

Jeans: Michael Kors

Well, I think I successfully used my new camera remote for these pictures! It was a little tricky, especially with the late winter afternoon lighting, but I’ll get the hang of it. I’m just glad I finally got pictures of my Archer, because:

I really wanted a plaid Archer shirt after seeing Lauren’s awesome Lumberjack (or Lumberjane?) Plaid Archer on her blog. Let’s be real: plaids scared the crap out of me before I attempted this shirt, and to try to match them up not just at the side seams but also at the front? Getouttahere. But her tutorial was awesome on how to cut out plaids and I owned this plaid LIKE A BOSS.

I think the trick is to really take your time and breathe when cutting out plaid. Oh, and cutting out the pieces on a single layer really helps as well. Being that this fabric is flannel, which can be tricksy and shifty, added another dimension of difficulty to cutting this out, but after the pieces were prepped it was smooth sailing with the sewing.

Oh hey there, pretty perfect collar stand #grungesewalong #archershirt #grainlineatudio

I will always use Andrea’s tutorial on collar stands from now on. Andrea, you rock!! This shirt would not have been a success without your awesome step-by-step instructions. Muah!

I have the sleeves rolled up in the other photos because I haven’t installed the snaps yet on the cuffs! This was the first time I tried using snaps as a closure on a garment, and while it’s super-fun to rip off my shirt Hulk-style, they kind of were a pain to install properly. I had the handy Dritz pliers, too, and I kept screwing up snap after snap, so I gave up on the cuffs. I probably won’t use snaps again, but it’s something I can at least say that I tried – I didn’t find them easier to do than buttons.

The bias cut pieces were another key part of plaid success. Certain pieces, like the yoke and pocket, would be a bitch to cut out and match up, so I cut those two pieces as well as the button-band on the bias. It broke up the striping of the plaids and added interest, and forget trying to get all that stuff matched up.

I absolutely love this shirt and have worn it several times since I finished it around Thanksgiving. Maybe I’ll make a striped one now? But it’s a definite: I never need to buy a slouchy J Crew button-down ever again. Look out, 2014: there’s a boat-load of Archers headed your way.