1. Moulage 2. Sloper. 3. Dress!

As promised, here is result #1 of making clothing from my moulage and sloper:

A casual, knit dress.

I drafted the sleeves too, for an extra challenge.

Another challenge was drafting everything by-the-book(ish.) It's a simple design; I didn't have to follow the rules, but it was good to prove to myself that I could and test out my moulage and sloper.

Princess lined back bodice.

There are still a few kinks. I'll work on 2 (including the sleeves) and live with 1.

Overall, I like it!

Monthly Issue Note: 

In these pictures I'm nearing the full results of Aunt Irma's upcoming visit I discussed in my last post. You can tell it most in the photo directly above. Not bad! I'm so happy!

Moulage and Sloper

It's been a while! I was in a crafting slump.

A moulage is like a body-double, a sausage casing made for your body. It's made out of woven fabric. It has just enough ease so you can try it on and not bust it! 

Years ago, I was in sewing school and had the opportunity to take a moulage class. So. Much. Fun! And so easy! Getting a sloper to fit had taken days and tears. The class itself took days, but the process was like a breath of fresh air. Instead of multiple fittings I made 1 version, a couple of small adjustments, tried it on to make sure, no adjustments. Yes! I was sold.

Unfortunately, or, rather, mostly fortunately, that moulage no longer fits. It hasn't for a while. I'd been meaning to make another, but it just didn't happen...Until now!

You can't tell, but I'm happy! Some issues with the bottom are because of sewing when tired. Lesson learned. They were fixed.


Here's what version #1 was like:

Adjustments were needed in the front and back.


Remember that lessoned I learned? I forgot it when I went to do the sloper:

Don't sew tired.

Once you've fixed the mistakes your tired self made, you can use the paper pattern of the moulage to check the fit of clothing, make a sloper (but not when sleepy) and use it to check the fit of other clothing patterns, make your own patterns and other things. Awesome!



Now, I don't like talking about stuff like this, but someone may find it helpful so I'm going to go ahead. As you may have noticed, I have a unique body. We all do! Mine gains about 10 pounds of water weight at a certain time of the month that then goes away until next time. Between that and other temporary changes, getting things to fit around that time is not fun. One thing that might look like a mistake but isn't is the extra room in the sloper. It's there for this issue. I want to see how clothing made to accommodate it will look month-long. Stay tuned for the results...once I do some other things that I really should do first. Until then, thank goodness for leggings, knit dresses, and lacy cardigans for warm weather wear!

More Exploding Etuis

Christmas was a while ago, but it takes my friends and me a while to get back in gear and exchange gifts! A long while. Just 1 more to go now, though! Shh.

This one went to D:

This one will go to E:

Now to get us- and the etuis -together for a crafternoon. 

Crafting Aids and Macarons

Wow! January is almost over!

Slowly I've been chipping away at the list of projects I want to do this year. Participating in this craftalong has certainly helped keep me motivated. 

Another aid is being able to work and watch TV at the same time. I heard of people doing this a while back and thought man, they must be nuts. How does that work? But then I tried it. Double the entertainment! I'd try it with audio books, but, while I love books, I hate being read to. I prefer to be in control or something. I'm not sure. 

Anyway...

I made up this Magic 8 macaron...

...and already sold one! That makes me feel so nice.

It's available as a kit too.

Remember my first one? Want to see it made up? Here you go:

And a side pic at the bottom there:

I have more projects- macarons, exploding etuis -either done or nearly done. Pictures are another story. I'm looking forward to sharing them!

Year-End News

Happy (Almost) New Year!

I got a head start on my projects list by getting this done:

He's so forceful, the little one! 

You can make your own with this kit, now available in my shop!

As with my other kits, I designed the fabric and had it printed by Spoonflower.

Bonus 'cron:
Now that the recipient has received, I wanted to share this...

In real life this Captain America-inspired Christmas present is less washed-out. I had to surreptitiously take pictures in a dark corner as the sun was going down to avoid ruining the surprise!

 Have a fantastic 2015!

Aaaaaand done!

I did it! I actually did it!

I've been making these for ages- not kits, just the surprisingly handy little macaron (or macaroon if you prefer) coin purse key fobs. I love how they're a little (1.5"!) canvas. The perfect size for a tiny design! 

I've hand-drawn or painted my others, but, for the kits (this one now available in my shop, more to come), I learned to make designs to upload to Spoonflower. It's not nearly as scary as I thought it'd be! I didn't have to learn Photoshop for it either. I have developed a kind of block against learning Photoshop.

Lots of photos were taken for the instructions. Lots. Of. Photos.

Two whole test 'croons were made: One for the photos and one to make sure my instructions made sense. The white and yellow one is the latter. I wanted a kind-of blank sample, but I do love yellow so much. And orange. Red is good too. Warm colors make me happy!

Finishing a project makes me happy too! 

Fabric Paper (Popcorn) Bag Bag Tutorial

I’ve always wanted a bag based off a paper bag. I really like paper bags. They’re such a good size for so many things! I also really like popcorn. This Halloween I wanted to join the circus if you'll recall, so I got off my duff and made this:

Now it's time for this:

I used:

A paper lunch bag
Fabric for the outside (and fabric paint, masking tape, sponge brush, etc. to paint the stripes on the muslin if you're doing that. There are tons of great tutorials out there for painting fabric. This tutorial is just for the bag part. You can jazz it up or tame it down anyway you want!)
Lining fabric
Drawstring closure fabric (I used unpainted muslin. Cut 2 pieces as long as the top edge of your bag + 1/2” seam allowance and as tall as 1/2 of the finished bag width + 2” seam allowance so it can close in the middle.)
Interfacing (I used some cheap, light-weight stuff to give it a lunch bag personality.)
Cord
General sewing supplies like scissors, sewing machine, pins, etc.

After settling on a plan of action, I snagged a paper bag from the pantry and cut it open like this to use as my pattern:

Next time, I will square it up before cutting. What a silly mistake!

I just added 1/2” for the seam allowance by measuring that far away all around the bag except for the top (I wanted mine a smidgen shorter, so I didn’t add any on the straight parts there.) Draw where you want the seam allowance to be for the curved cut-outs at the top of the bag. Cut like this for the outside and lining.

Make and attach pockets if desired. (I just had one inside to hold my ID and such. Don’t forget to allow for the gusset and top seam when positioning.)

Take outer body piece and fold in half right-sides together so the edges of the small rectangles meet and the long edges are even. Sew. Repeat with other side. Repeat with lining, leaving an opening to turn bag through (or not. As long as the stitch length isn’t on teeny-tiny, the seam ripper is my friend. And it sure helps with pressing to sew it all closed)

Press open side seams. Trim to 1/4” if you want.

Take 1 body piece and open out a small rectangle so that the edges meet in 1 line, with the side-seam in the center of 1 side. Sew right-sides together with your seam allowance. Repeat with the other side and with the lining.

Iron in folds (like a paper bag!)

Sew closure pieces right sides together along short sides. Press open seams. Fold seam allowances under so the edges meet the seam like this…

…and iron.
Sew seam allowances down close to the edge, like hems. 

Press.

Press top edge of closure under 1/4”. Press under another 3/4”. Sew close to the edge.

With seam ripper open the side seams sewn into the hem. Slipstitch the inside side and the bottom 1/4” or so of the outside closed so the opening is only on the outside and the 1/4” raw edge inside is covered. These will be the openings for the drawstrings.

Time to put it all together!

Slip closure piece on the outside piece, aligning edges and side seams, right side facing right side of outer. Slip lining piece on, right side facing wrong side of closure, aligning edges and side seams. Sew around top edge using your seam allowance. Turn through lining and press, poking the rounds (and everything else) into shape!

Top stitch around top edge 3/4” away from the top edge with the closure tucked down inside.

Slipstitch lining opening closed.

Insert string for 1 side of drawstring in and out through 1 side. Knot. Repeat, going in and out through other side.

Your fabric paper bag bag is complete! Yay!

I ran away and joined the circus.

I decided that this Halloween I'd join the circus!

I made the dress...

...and lined it:

I bought both fabrics at the thrift store ages ago and was saving them with this costume in mind.

For a special weekend at the zoo (discount on admission if you come in costume!) I just wore a back cardi underneath:

But then I got the idea to cut apart some fishnet tape-style yarn, sew it together in strips and make "sleeves":

Halloween is my favorite holiday. I love the fun, the food, the mystery, the costumes, the creativity. It's the best!

I certainly had a great time this year.

Next up: Let's extend the season a bit with a tutorial on making your own drawstring "paper" bag. Popcorn bag stripes optional!

ps - check out Sew Geeky's linkup for some brilliant costumes!