Toronto Sewing Blog Meet-Up!

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that all the really cool sewing blog meet-ups happen too far away to attend. That’s why this winter Adrienne from All Style and All Substance and I have decided to change that: We’re hosting our own Toronto Sewing Blog Meet-up! 

We’ve set the date for Feb. 23rd, starting at 1pm. We’ll meet somewhere on Queen West (TBA, once we figure it out, of course!) and do some fabric shopping… then stop for a chat and a drink! 

If you live anywhere near the GTA, please do join us! (I live an over an hour from the city myself, but for fabric and sewing friends, I will travel!) Invite along anyone you know who sews - blog or no blog, everyone is welcome. We’d love it if you grab the graphic , blog about it, and spread the word! 

 For all of you who live too far away to join us: Have you ever been to or planned a meet-up? Any top tips for us? We’ve talked about doing a fabric or pattern swap, but can’t decide if that is too complex for our first   round. What do you think? 

I swear, soon I'll use another pattern: Tiramisu #4, #5, and a #sewingdare!

At this point, I don’t have much more to say about this pattern - You’ve heard it all! 

Instead, I’d like to declare my first #SewingDare finished!  My very first dare was to Pretty Greivances, who just posted the funniest post about finished her three versions of a TNT pattern. In return, she dares me to mix prints in a single garment. Et voila! Polka dots and paint splatter in a single united dress! 

I do feel like this is cheating a bit… I mean, only two prints? I really wanted to combine three. Besides which, the honest truth is that the combo of prints here drives me batty - I just don’t like it! I think the polka dots have just a slightly creamy undertone that clashes with the harsh white of the “paint”. It’s not terrible, but it doesn’t make my heart sing!  

As for the rest of the dress… well, I chose this fabric as an experiment to try polyester knits, and it was very informative! I learned that the ITY knit was quite easy to sew, and doesn’t need hemming etc… They are also less clingy than I feared! On the other hand, I also learned that I don’t like wearing pure poly. It feels cold and clamy in winter, and I imagine it would be worse in summer. The dress doesn’t feel *bad* when I wear it… but it has none of the cosiness of a cotton or rayon knit. The proof is in the pudding: I haven’t worn this dress once since I finished it!

Since I wasn’t loving the contrast waist, I started thinking of ways to hide it! I came up with this 2m long tie, which I tried as a pussy bow and as a belt.  I know it’s hard to see with this busy fabric, so I highlighted the tie in green. In another fabric, I think this idea could work! 

Honest truth: I haven’t hemmed the sleeves or skirt, and I’m not even sure I will. I just don’t love it. However, I have a secret love for themed teacher-clothes, so I’ll just *have* to plan some splatter painting or marble painting sometime soon so that I can wear this dress at least once!

Tira #5, though? I love it! 

It’s the same poly knit that I don’t like in #4… but somehow the short sleeves and looser fit make this one feel much more breathable!

As a challenge, I thought I’d time how long it took me to make this one. 

• Cutting: 15min


• Stabilizing and sewing bodice: 25 min


• Sewing and Attaching skirt: 15 min


• Sewing side seams: 10 min


• Hemming: 20min (which I usually skip, but Steph #sewingdared us!)

From start to finish, it took 1h28m! I”m kinda in shock - I really thought it took me 3-4 hours. The big difference this time was that I’d used similar fabric before, and I knew exactly how it would fit without ever trying it on. I serged the whole thing, and there was no stripe to match. With a new kind of fabric or a new pattern I’d never be this quick. That’s why I love repeating patterns over and over - for me, it’s all the fun of sewing with none of the uncertainty! 

(Sneak peek in my classroom! After hours though - I swear no children were harmed or ignored in the taking of this pic!) 

One last note: How annoying is it trying to take outfit pictures in winter? All the pics my husband took in the early morning came out dark and blurry… then I’m at school until the sun is setting! What’s a girl to do? 

Seriously - How do you handle this problem, those of you who live in the dark cold northern hemisphere?

Last of the Christmas gifts!

As you’ve probably figured out by now, my sister Anne is a prolific knitter. (Find her here on Ravelry!) She even had a pattern published in that beautiful Jane Austen Knits a couple years ago! It’s nice to have someone else in the family who is craft-obsessed! (This afgan and this silk shawl is only some of the lovely things she’s knit for me over the years! 

For Christmas, I ordered a fat quarter of the cutest knitting-themed fabric from Spoonflower…

… and made her some zippered pouches! 

I thought about making her some pillows, but, oh wait, I did that last year!  I figured instead I’d make something to make the other knitters jealous - Something she could bring to Knit Night! 

For each pouch, I used a zigzag stitch to applique the fussy cut onto some linen. One pouch is white, one natural, and one is leftover grey linen from the Cambie I made Anne this summer. 

Each pouch has a different picture on the back!

As always, I used Elizabeth Hartman’s Perfect Zip Bag pattern as the basis. Seriously, sewists, if you don’t know how to make lined zip pouch, spend $10 on that pattern! It really is great! 20 pages of colour pictures and clear instructions, and lots of pattern variations. A basic variation only takes about 30 min to sew, so it’s the perfect gift! 

Thanks for taking the lovely pics, Anne… As I type this, I’m realizing how much our two hobbies feed through each other for reinforcement! Thanks for being my crafty buddy, always willing to talk shop or wear whatever I make! 

Do you have a special crafty someone in your life? Who do you make gifts for that really appreciates them? 

A Tiramisu and a damned cute dog!

My sister, pictured above, is a girl after my own heart. Not only did she snap up one of the Tiramisu dresses I made over the holidays, but when I suggested taking some pictures, she put the dress on right away and marched her husband outside to take pictures! We Whitcombe girls married good men!  :) 

(I love the paprazzi quality of this photo! Caught in action!) 

I had this dress all cut out in solid mid-weight navy, but at the last minute I decided to do the bodice in stripes. I had less than a meter, so it was a perfect solution! Except that the stripes are cheap and waaaay more light-weight than the navy, so the bodice quickly stretched out to be to big for lil’ old me! 

I think it looks killer on Anne, though! She wore it with a tee underneath, which is a great solution for a gaping neck. It also makes it more winter appropriate!

Thanks so much to Anne for taking wonderful pictures - She’s really motivating me to, you know, try to get my pictures in focus a little more often!  :P Taking pics in the basement really isn’t ideal, I guess. 

(OMG, this DOG!) 

Stealing the show though is Anne’s new dog! She and her husband are SOOOOO happy to have a doggie, and they’ve chosen well! Nike is a rescue dog, and very shy, but just adorable! 

What’s that? One more doggie picture? Here you are. BAM! 

CUTE! 

As for the dress, I love that the knit fabric makes it easy to fit as a gift. I’m planning to make one for my Mom too come spring! Anne’s only negative comment on the dress was, “It would be just perfect if it had pockets!” Oh that shame of a lazy seamstress - the tag line of Cake Patterns is “Always with pockets!”, but I’ve been lazy to include them so far. Really must give it a go on the next round! 

As for me, I’m spending this weekend and next writing report cards… but I want to say a huge THANk YOU to all of those who commented about the Seamless Pledge! It’s impressive that so many people have taken on some sort of similar goal in their own way. Now if only I could wrap my head around the sustainability of buying fabric - but that’s for another post! 

Happy sewing! 

It's time for the Seamless Pledge!

I, Gillian Whitcombe, am taking the Seamless Pledge for 6 months: from today until my birthday on June 18th!  

For those 6 months I won’t buy any new clothes or shoes, with the exception of undergarments. I will sew or buy second-hand everything else!  

Why? My reasons are the same as many of the people who have taken the pledge…

• I have heaps of clothes. After 5 years in Japan where I didn’t fit anything, I rather binged on sewing/buying a new wardrobe last year. I’m well stocked now, and it is time to enjoy what I have!


• Stepping outside social pressures. One of the beauties of sewing is being able to remove yourself from the pressure of trends, advertising and shopping. I’m ready to take it one step farther and really focus on making and wearing clothes I love without any temptation to buy what is trendy and new.  I’d rather not waste my time *wanting* more that I don’t need. 


• Sustainability. The world does not need cheap clothing that will fall apart in under a year. There is no need to create so much waste.

I’m excited for the challenge of not buying new - so excited, in fact, that I’ve volunteered to help Elena (the originator of the Seamless Pledge) and Clare (another pledger) to revamp the Seamless Pledge for the new year. We’re planning all sorts of fun stuff for the next few months! 

Have you ever taken the Seamless Pledge? Did you naturally stop buying new when you starting making? Or conversely, if you’ve thought about the pledge but not made the leap, why not? I’d love to hear about your thoughts and experiences! 

p.s. When I first drew this graphic, I made one little spelling mistake that would make the whole pledge a lot easier… especially since my husband is named Jamie, not Sean! ;) 

Tiramisu: The pattern that keeps on giving!

I like to doodle on the iPad while watching my husband play video games… and here is what I came up with today!  I’ve tried 4 of these pattern modifications: Long sleeves, a-line skirt, contrast fabrics, and tie belt, but I’d love to try the others too! Tee-shirts and maxi dresses, oh my! Bring it on. I’ve hacked all of my favourite patterns (Renfrew, Peony, Truffle) at least 5 times or more, so I’m not done with the Tiramisu yet!

Why other variations can you think of? Do you have a pattern that you love to adapt?

My first Tiramisu!

Welcome to my most recent pattern obsession! I made this version a month ago, and it’s currently my FAVOURITE thing to wear. It’s so cosy and stretchy that I can barely feel it on… and with a good slip, leggings and a cardi, it’s perfect for winter. Plus, I’ve got about 5 cardigans that “match” it (pink, red, purple, plack and grey) so it feels different every time!

This version is made from a lovely rayon knit that I picked up meaning to make a cardigan for my mom - but I’m so glad it became this dress instead! I didn’t have enough fabric to do the flared skirt, so instead I drafted a simple a-line skirt instead. Here’s how: 

The gathering really doesn’t show up in pictures, but it’s a nice detail in person. It creates just enough ease over the tummy and rear, and looks pretty, too.

You can *almost* see it here: 

I sold pompom infinity scarves like this to a local shop last year, and they are one of my favourite things to wear. I’ve got 4 or 5! I  like that they stay put all day with no fidgeting, which is important while teaching.  

A few construction notes: 

• I pulled the neck binding really tight - probably 20+cm shorter than the pattern calls for. That helped keep things secure… until I top stitched it! I find that the pressure of the sewing machine foot stretches our knits when I top stitch, so on my other versions I’ve kept topstitching to a minimum. 


• Since this version, I’ve cut my bodice several sizes smaller. It always seems to work out though, whatever size I use… It’s a very forgiving pattern!


• No pockets! Actually, no pockets in any of my versions. What can I say? I just don’t care much about pockets! Particularly in this a-line version, I thought they would show through. 


• No hem! I didn’t finish the sleeves or hem at all! This knit doesn’t roll or stretch out, so I didn’t want to risk a ripply seam when I didn’t need to.

All in all, I LOVE this dress… which is why I’ve bought more fabric from the same line to make another! 

Sure, it’ll be really similar… but you can never have too much of a good thing, right? 

********

Now for something a little more… personal!  What do you wear under your knit dresses? I tend to wear them in winter with leggings, which then calls for a full or half slip… but I often don’t wear knit dresses in summer because of the dreaded VPL!  (I guess I could wear a slip in summer… not sure why that has never occurred to me… but it might take away from the breathability of the fabric.) Help! 

Holiday Sewing

Back to work tomorrow. This is usually the part of my holiday when I start panicing and trying to prolong things… desperately clinging to the last bit of time off! I has such a lovely break this year though that I can’t complain about going back to school. 

One of the real unexpected pleasures of the last two weeks has been connecting with all you through twitter and blogs. I only have close friend in the little town where I live (plus my husband, who is of course my best friend), so it’s been really amazing to meet even more fabulous people online! Thanks for joining in on my Top 5 lists and #sewingdares - I’ve had so much fun!

As for actual sewing, well… I’ve finished 7 garments! (God, I LOVE sewing with knits!) After Christmas I sat down with my new iPad and sketched out a list of projects I might work on. Its so handy to be able to draw, write, erase, and keep track of all my projects! 

Here’s what I came up with: 

As you can see, I finished 4 goals and started the other two: Here they are in the flesh!

Yup: 3 Renfrews, 3 Tiramisu dresses (one I forgot to add to the collage), a Day-to-night cowl, a self-drafted sloper (so much math!), and a dress made from the sloper! Far more importantly, I had a lovely time sewing. Blasting music, cleaning up the room a bit, dreaming of new plans, and chatting with all of you on Twitter at the same time!  A great holiday. 

Happy Monday, everyone! I’m sending good vibes your way! 

Tiramisu, the Third!

This holiday, I got completely obessesed by the Tiramisu pattern from Cake - which lead to 4 different versions, with fabric for one more!  I had so much fun doing Top 5 and then Sewing Dares that I’ve fallen completely behind on blogging FO, so I’m jumping right in with #3. I promise I’ll come back and blog the other ones later!

What I love about this pattern is that it works, every time. I’ve made it in cotton jersey, 4-way stretch jersey, poly ITY, and this heavy double knit, and they all FIT! I made little changes each time: Sizing the bodice down, playing with the skirt, using contrast fabric, and lengthening the sleeves. The beauty of a really well-drafted pattern though is that you can riff on a theme, making any changes you want, safe in the knowledge that it’ll work out in the end!

This fabric is seriously heavy, and all polyester, so I worried a bit about how it would turn out as a dress. The answer is, it’s great! Warm and cosy, shows no lumps or bumps, and the skirt is swingy and fun. I used a whole lot of steam to tame the thick seams, and set my serger to gather ever-so-slightly so that the seams didn’t get stretched out and wobbly. For topstitching, it really helped to gently force extra fabric under the machine foot as it sewed - resulted in nice, flat seams!

I shortened the waistband piece about 2cm… Looking at the pictures, maybe I went overboard! I like a highwaist though - things get lumpy lower down! :P

Have you seen Heather’s long-sleeved Tira? I followed her lead and just extended the line of the sleeves straight out from the pattern. In the end they are a little snug, but quite comfy. I worry about the amount of strain on the underarm seam though - Anyone know if there is a way to do a cut-on underarm gusset with knits? 

I’m a little bemused that this dress turn out looking so… dressy (It makes me feel like a 50’s dinner party hostess - but with stretch!) because the real reason I bought this fabric is that it matches the Christmas stocking I made my husband last year from a remnant! (He likes black. Everything must be black!) Turns out they aren’t exactly the same though - The dress fabric is there at the top, and the stocking fabric is in the bottom right. Definitely from the same line though. I have just enough of each leftover to make something small - I wonder what? 

In other news…

Sewing Dares are sweeping the twittersphere! If you want in, just gimme a shout here or on twitter, and we’ll come up with something perfect for you! I’ll update yesterday’s post soon with all the new dares.

I’m really enjoying the challenge of my own dare: to mix bold prints in one garment. It’s *just* outside my comfort zone, and surprisingly difficult to nail! My 4th Tira does actually involve missing prints, but that’s the one part of the dress I don’t love! More practice is needed before I’ve really nailed this dare. 

Sewing Dares!

It all started to innocently! K-Line said she wanted to make socks, I challenged her to start in a week, and she took me up on it… and then the power went straight to my head!

When Pretty Greivances causally mentioned she’d like to have a basic TNT that she could spice up with her trademark prints, I threw down the gauntlet: Make 3 tunics from one pattern!  She came right back with a dare for me: Mix prints! She also told me that my first options were “something a grownup would choose”, so clearly I need to raise the bar! (Edited: **Dare Completed!** 3 great tops have been made!)

And then I started daring everyone! Now here I am, spending my evening daring strangers to sew things… and having a  hell of a lot of fun, so I regret nothing! 

Here are the dares so far: 

• Sew Busy Lizzy:Hack a favourite pattern into something new. She’s going to make the Maria of Denmark Day/Night Cowl into a dress, and I know it will be fab! **Dare completed!** But wait! There’s more! One dare was not enough! She’s going to make a bathing suit AND an outfit for her trip to London! That’s bravery!


• Unique Schmuck: Oanh is going to make two sundresses from the same pattern, at the same time! **Dare Completed!** Two lovely dresses finished! 


• Three Dresses Project: Leila is going to (gasp!) use a pattern more than once!  **Dare Completed!** In fact, she made multiples of 3 different patterns! :) 


• Sew Exhausted makes beautiful things for her family - Now she’s been dared to make something nice for herself! **Dare Completed!**


• Handmade by Heather B: Heather is going to make something flirtatious for going out/events. Va-va-voom!


• Hot Mess Heifer is going to make not 1, not 2, but 3 t-shirts! (She already had one cut out - Head start!) 


• Seamless' Elena has been dared by SewBusyLizzy to make one dress for work, and style it 4 ways!


• Jen has been dared to be social on Twitter every day for a week.  **Dare Completed!** @grainlinestudio was a busy tweeter! 


• Clare from SewDixieLou: Make an everyday, “signature” dress from her vintage stash


• Inge from IngeMaat: Remake one of her least “Top 5 Fails” from 2012 into something (anything!) that she loves or is useful. 


• Bimble and Pimple: Amanda make a plain single-colour dress! (I trust she will still make it fun though, with texture or shape or trim or something!) 


• Notches and Notions: Make something using at least 1 of the giant buttons she accidentally ordered for another project**Dare Completed** 


• Maria of Denmark: Make fun underwear and some lounge pants! **Dare Completed!**


• House of Pinheiro is going to make a loose-fitting top - with Maria of Denmark’s Kimono Tee PDF pattern to boot! **Dare Completed!**


• Stephanie is going to start a blog! **Dare Completed!** Go check our her lovely new blog!


• PunkMik is going to make something from Gertie’s book - work appropriate for her new job! :) 


• Chris Lucas is going to make herself a cute high-waisted pencil skirt!


• Sown Brooklyn will make something designed/drawn by one of her kids! 


• Ginger Makes is going to bite the bullet and make a bodice sloper!


• Erin at Dog Under My Desk is going to sew a t-shirt! (You won’t regret it - T-shirts are my favourite sewing project!) 


• Amity Originals is going to make trousers! (Brave woman!) 


• Suzy Sewing is going to do two dares: Make a t-shirt AND use a croquis for sketching dress designs.


• My awesomesauce sister Anne is a dye-hard knitter (See what I did there? Hahaha - puns.) She’s going to design and co-sew a knitting project bag! She’s started with a Pinterest board full of ideas…


• OonaBallona has accepted a dare from GingerMakes and SownBrooklyn to make her dear husband a shirt! Will there be vibrant spandex leggings to match? 


• In return, Oona has challenge ME to make a maxi dress - out of Liberty Lifestyle? Eeek! 


• Buzy Lizzie in Brizzy is going to make a vintage shirtdress! 


• Buckingham Road has accepted two dares: Make something out of knit, and make pants, a skirt or a dress to go with her fantastic Cordova Jacket! 


• Thewallinna gave herself a serious challenge: Finish her couture dress by January 20th!


• Falling Through Your Clothes has too much in her stash (poor woman! :P) so she is going to use one piece to sew something for herself, and give away another piece or use it to sew for someone else!


• Made with Hugs and Kisses is in training to be a teacher, so I’ve dared her to sew an interview dress! 


• Sew and So is making #onedresstorulethemall - her wedding dress! meanwhile, she’s been dared to join twitter and post a list of things she’ll make once the wedding dress is done! **Dare Completed!** Well done! 

Here are the official Sewing Dare Rules: 

1. Have fun. Stop if it is not fun. 


2. There is no rush - Do your dare whenever you want! 


3. Did I mention to have fun? 

Get the graphic yourself, and start sewing/blogging/daring more sewists! 

(ps. Oh yeah - Fair warning: My initial dare to K-Line is driving her nuts! Why did I think it was smart to dare more people?)

(pps. K-Line is *almost* enjoying sock-making now! My faith in dares is restored.)

Top 5: Reflecting on reflections!

Hi everyone! I want to thank you all so much for playing along with my Top 5 of 2012 project - In the end I think about 50 people posted lists! I really enjoyed seeing people’s reflections popping up in my blog reader for the last few weeks, and most of all, I loved discovering new blogs! (If you haven’t poked through the list of participants here, you really should!) 

Before moving on to blogging about 2013 projects, I wanted to take a moment to think about what I might do differently next time. I’d love your input: If I were to propose the same project in 2013, what should we keep/change? 

• It seems like 5 was a good number - though I was very happy to see people bending the “rules” by making longer or shorter lists!


• Seeing the hits and misses was a really great introduction to newly-discovered blogs - I made me want to dig back to find the original posts! Likewise, it was lovely to be reminded of past projects from familiar bloggers. 


• The reflections and goals were interesting - a good chance to think about our sewing as a whole, instead of focusing project by project. 


• By far, the toughest post was the Inspirations - which is funny, because it was the  original motivation for the project! I wanted a chance to thank the people who helped, motivated and inspired us… but I hadn’t thought ahead to how naming some people might make us afraid of hurting others! I think this one has to change!

I’ve been wondering how to change the “Inspirational Blogs and Bloggers” post for next year… Here are a few different ideas that would accomplish the same goal of spreading the bloggy love and recommending new blogs to each other: 

• 5 Local Bloggers: Introduce us to bloggers in your city/region/country! or 


• Go say “Thanks!”: Instead of posting a list, go to the other people’s blogs and leave a comment saying, “Thanks for the inspiration and support!” or 


• 5 online sewing stores/resources/communities that you love to use: I’m always looking for new online fabric stores, or the perfect tutorial for something tricky… This could be a catch-all category of good, useful stuff! or 


• … I don’t know! Do you have any ideas? 

Help! My brain has run dry… Please let me know in the comments if you have any suggestions!

(Thanks again for joining me in these posts!)