Stashes...Do We Really Need Them?

 Do we really need a fabric stash?  I have a stash that has accumulated over the last 20 years.  There is also a pattern stash that has been accumulated for an even longer time than that.  Folks, there is always more fabric and more patterns.  So, why do we fill the need to buy more fabric or patterns?

After reading this article which mainly applies to quilters but can easily apply to garment makers as well,  I really wonder about stash building.  I kinda encourage new sewers not to get caught in building a stash because the excitement is in getting the new fabric and new pattern not in the stash.  Am I the only one that does not get excited about the stash anymore?  New fabric will always be more attractive to me.  

If internet fabric sales (ie, fabric.com) had not happened, would we still have local fabric stores? That is really some food for thought.  Internet sales can be helpful to a local store in this time period.  Should the local garment stores (if you are lucky enough to have one) offer more classes?  Learn to sew classes would most likely be of interest.  Beginner home dec stuff, quilting classes, etc.  

Maybe I will a build a page for quick and easy projects that could possibly help with stash reduction of garment fabrics.  It will most likely just be inspiration type photos or links.  

Thoughts?

Happy Stitching!

Go To Patterns...

 Do you have go to patterns that seem to always be in rotation?  I seem to have collected a few.  Here are my favorites:

1.  Liesl & Co Classic Shirt pattern. The hard part was fitting this pattern.  Once the fitting was accomplished, I have made a couple of long shirted shirts and a popover dress.  I need to make a couple of shirts for warm weather.  

2.  Fabrics-store.com Phoebe Tank.  This is a freebie for registered people.  Once the fitting is finished, you have a great warm weather top.  I have made at least seven of this tanks.  It really is time to mix up a little bit by making some minor changes.  Every time I make new tanks, I evaluate the fit and make tweaks.

3.  Pamela's Patterns The Magic Pencil Skirt.  Oh, this one is a quickie.  Need a skirt in a flash?  This one is it as long as it is a stretch fabric.  I have at least four versions of this and one is hand sewn in the Alabama Chanin style.

4.  Love Notions Allegro Bottoms.  This is another quickie once it is fitted. I've made at least four pairs of pants and one skirt.  No doubt, there will be more in the future.

5.  Merchant & Mills Camber Set.  I purchased this pattern to make the top but have yet to do it.  However, the dress is wonderful.  I have three versions and love them all but the linen one is my favorite.  Maybe next year the top will get made.

I am still looking for a good t-shirt pattern, a blazer jacket pattern, trousers, woven tops that are different from the classic shirt and the tank.  

What are your favorite patterns?  Are they quick items to make or are they a classic pattern for you?

Happy Stitching!

Inspiration...Cap Sleeve Top

 Sometimes you find things that make you say "Wow".  That is how I feel about this top.

This is the Striped Cap-Sleeve Top by Carolina Herrera. Price tag: $1590.00.  Details:  round neckline, button front, cap sleeves, relaxed fit, viscose/elastine, dry clean.

I love, love, love the look of this top and sincerely hope I can locate a pattern that I can duplicate it.  This is such a beautiful play with stripes.  You really need to check the Neiman Marcus site so you can see the whole outfit because it is matchy, matchy.

I started looking for a kinda similar pattern because perfect matches are hard to find. I did find a pattern that might work.  Here is the line drawing:

This is the bonus view of the Sage Top from Seamwork.  Yes, that means you have to be a member at Seamwork to have access to this view.  What the pattern has - shoulder princess seam, button front.  What the pattern doesn't have - cap sleeves, higher neckline, center back seam.

I will continue to look around for other alteratives.  As much as I like the Seamwork community, the top patterns are a real struggle for me to fit as I am much shorter in the upper chest.  Sometimes, the struggle of fitting is not worth the amount of time that it takes to accomplish for one garment.

Hope you are inspired to create something wonderful.

Happy Stitching!

Inspiration...Button Down Shirt

 I have found an interesting button down shirt.  It is just a little bit different.  Here is a glimpse:

This is the Button-Down Striped Cotton Shirt by Lafayette 148 New York.  Price tag: $598.00.  Details: Approximately 28-inches long, spread collar, button front, long sleeves, button cuff, chest pocket, back yoke with stitched box pleat, shirt tail hem, relaxed fit, cotton, unlined.

Here is a glimpse at the back:

The back pleat would be so easy to duplicate.  Just add the needed amount at the fold and mark it.  Note that this is stitched all the way to the hem and then pressed flat.  It is a small detail but so easy to change the look of the shirt.

The other detail that is a bit different on the shirt is the collar stand.  If you look closely, you can see that there are two buttons instead of the normal one button.  I am not sure about how to duplicate that.  I am fairly certain that there is more to it than just sewing an extra buttonhole/button. If anyone has any ideas, please let me know.  I have been known to sit and play with this type of item.

As for the pattern, my standard go to button down shirt:

This is the Liesl & Co Classic Shirt.  I have sewn this shirt many times and it is a great pattern.  Things to change would be not to add the button/buttonhole to sleeve placket and add the pleat down the back of the shirt.

Hope you are inspired to create something wonderful.

Happy Stitching!

1st Classic Shirt....

 The fitted pattern for my Liesl & Co Classic Shirt had gone missing and it took a couple of weeks to locate it.  The first shirt for this season, I am using a stash fabric:

The original post where I discussed using this fabric is here.  While I was pressing it, I found this:

The dreaded flaw marker.  Thankfully, the flaw is fairly close to the edge.  Unfortunately, I was not informed that this was a fabric with a flaw.  I did carefully iron this to make sure that was the only one.  This is the only obvious flaw.  There is a second marker shown in the picture but I could not locate another flaw.  I will try to cut around this section of the fabric.

The actual cutting out of this shirt was a real adventure due to my kittens.  I chose to cut out in a single layer and the kittens seemed to find pins interesting.  They were taking them out almost as fast I was pinning.  It was only certain pins that they found interesting.  The first night was very frustrating but the second day I was able to finish the cutting out.

The adventures continued as the sewing.  Kittens stitching their head through the machine harp.  They continued pulling out every pin that looked interested.  Then, they sewing machine needle.  There was more than once that I thought one of them was going to get a paw under the needle but I was able to thwart every attempt.  

The very last thing that happened to this project is I ran out of thread.  I did start with a new spool of thread but obviously a small spool is not big enough for a button down shirt with lots of topstitching.  Thankful, the local JoAnn Fabrics had the matching thread.  Since I was at JoAnn's, I went ahead and looked at buttons.  It was truly a pitiful selection.  Obviously, the closest store to me is not looking for garment sewers.  There is another nearby store.  It is only a little further away.  Maybe it is time that I investigated it.

Running out of thread kinda put my sewjo off for a few days but I finally finished it.  Here is the result:

I am really happy with the shirt and hope that it will be worn a lot.  There are ton of mistakes but that happens with almost everything that I make anymore.  

On to the next project.

Happy Stitching!