i made some bags: grainline stowe bag

Bag blog post #2! 

I really liked the look of the Stowe Bag as soon as it came out - just the right balance of simple, elegant, and useful. I decided this would be great for storing my supplies at sewing class, where I have a little locker to keep my sewing and drafting kit. I got the PDF pattern a week or two before class began, thinking I could start making it more quickly than if I ordered the printed pattern (ha!), and then I wasted about a week and another $14 gearing myself up to go to FedEx to print it on the fancy super-wide paper. But as you can see, I did indeed sew the thing, and it's been hanging out in my locker at sewing school ever since. I do get to pull it out every Thursday, so it's not totally neglected, but I'm sort of trying to find an excuse to make another that I can use more than once a week.

I bought a remnant of some sort of canvas-y home goods fabric at my local fabric warehouse and got pre-made navy bias binding to contrast it. The fabric is nice and sturdy and works well here. I was planning to make this in a beautiful canvas from someone trendy like Cotton + Steel, but my thriftiness got the best of me for my first go at this bag and I went the cheap route.

I was a little surprised by how much fabric this bag took, given its compact finished size (although in hindsight it makes sense, with the boxy shape and interior pocket panels). I also had a hell of a time figuring out how to flatten and sew down the bottom so that it stays in that nice, squared-off shape. The instructions vaguely mentioned how to do this, but I ended up googling for awhile with little luck and finally figured it out myself. This (plus lots of bias binding) meant it wasn't quite as quick of a sew as I had expected, but I think I still threw it together in an evening or two.

I don't think there's much else to say - it's a good bag and a relatively quick sew!

i made some bags: manhattan purse

Despite huge pauses here on the blog, I do still have ambitions of blogging finished sewing projects that I've done. Newly sewn clothing has been pretty scarce around here lately (most of my time is still going into my sewing class and a little volunteer side project for a brand that I'm really excited about. And you know, my full time job). But I also have a fair amount of things I sewed last year and never photographed or just never blogged, so really I have no excuse but laziness (and busyness, for sure).

But hey! No blog apologies, I'm just going to try to pick things up a little bit. So I'm going to show you all a few bags I sewed over the course of spring and summer. I'm a very perfectionistic garment-sewer - I like clothes that fit well, and I've never been a fan of loose, forgiving outfits on my body, so anything I sew to wear takes a lot of time and iteration to get the right fit. Bags are a great break from this - the joy of just sewing a project start to finish, with no muslins, no fitting and pinching seams and ripping out stitches to resew a seam! And easy to photograph, since I can do it with no giant mirror or tripod (although this means no "action shots" for you).

The first - a lovely little purse, the Manhattan Bag from Emmaline Bags. I made the "Miss" size, which is the smaller one. It's exactly the right size for my wallet, phone, and sunglasses and pops right into my commute backpack when I head to work.

This was my first time sewing a purse, and it was pretty intimidating cutting out what felt like a billion pieces of three different fabrics and two types of interfacing. But the instructions were super clear, and the second half of construction felt really fast - everything just sort of came together into a finished purse, almost like magic.

I got a gray quilting cotton for the main body (in hindsight, I wish I'd gotten something sturdier but it works okay). The interior lining is another quilting cotton, which works fine, and I got a lovely Cotton + Steel canvas for the front panel. I agonized (slightly) over pattern placement and ended up centering the cozy pine trees and woodland creatures.

I really love the features of the purse. There's a front pocket (exterior, but sealed up with a magnetic snap when the top is down), and it's the perfect size for my phone and makes it easy to pull out. The zipper pocket on the front flap provides interesting contrast and is perfect for my transportation card (super easy to dig out even when the purse is buried in my backpack). The inside is just roomy enough to store what I need without losing anything in the bottom, and there's another interior pocket where I often end up stashing fabric scraps that I need to match thread to at the fabric store.

There are only a few small tweaks I would make if I did it again (and, spoiler: I did! As a gift). In addition to using a heavier fabric for the body, I regret some of my notion choices - the d-rings that hold the strap don't stay in place and always swing up vertically and bunch up the strap ends, and I wish I'd found a slider and made the strap adjustable. This was mostly because I ordered everything online (all from fabric.com, iirc) and options were limited, but I later went to Britex in downtown SF and had much better luck finding great metal bits for my later iteration.

Despite its imperfections, I use it almost daily since I made it in February and it's holding up great. I'm starting to think about making one (or something similar) in a nice leather, but I think it'll be awhile before I get that far through my "to sew" list, so I have some time to think about it.

Stay tuned for three (!) more bag posts, assuming I get my blogging shit together, including another Manhattan purse.

patternmaking class: an update

I mentioned in my last post that I've been taking a patternmaking class. Since it's been consuming so much of my free time, I thought I'd share how that's been going. tl;dr: very well!!

I'm taking the class at Apparel Arts in Oakland, across the bay from my home in SF. I'm in their most intense class - the 2.5 year(ish) course in patternmaking and design. It meets once a week for three hours, and there's homework on top of that. I leave work early on Thursdays and usually make it home from class around 9pm, and I spend a decent chunk of my weekend doing homework (usually sewing rough muslins of the exercises I drafted in class).

There are several large units that cover specific areas of patternmaking - skirts, bodices, pants, sleeves, etc. I'm almost done with the skirts section: I've drafted 34 separate components and sewn up 26 of those, often combining a few into one skirt where it makes sense. All that's left in this unit is to design, draft, and sew two final skirts (wearable, not just out of muslin - hooray!) and take a written test.

The design portion is the part I've been the most nervous about from the beginning. I was the kid who dreamed of being an artist for years, and then switched from AP Art to AP Calc my senior year because I was too afraid of having to be creative. I've always missed that creative side of me (this blog has been a place to share the ways I let it come out a bit)... but I feel really out of practice and honestly scared to put my creative endeavors on display for the world (or even just to my classmates and teacher).

That said, I'm finally realizing it's worth pushing myself, so I'm going to try to my best to create things that I'm excited about and proud of. I've started sketching fashion ideas from time to time, reminding myself that putting something down on paper is infinitely better than waiting until I think I have the perfect idea. I also bought The Artist's Way at the recommendation of my therapist. It seems like it could be a great resource and push for me, but I'm pretty nervous about the commitment involved (for starters, having to get up 30 minutes early every. single. day. to journal for half an hour, no excuses).

I think my sketching has been paying off, as I have two skirt ideas that I'm excited to draft and try out in real fabric. It's been fun seeing my original ideas evolve into something I like way more.

Stay tuned - hopefully in a few weeks I'll have some real, self-designed, self-drafted skirts to share! In the meantime, here are some shots from class and of my homework (all taken with my phone, usually in bad incandescent lighting - sorry not sorry, I rarely have the pleasure of working in nice natural daylight!).

so much drafting in class!

some early muslins

asymmetrical skirt back. I definitely want to make something colorblocked using this seam technique someday.

drafting at home.

accordion pleats (these were fun!)

my last skirt assignment - a pencil skirt with a straight waistband, a kick pleat, and a jump pleat lining. phew!

The story of Thurlow shorts that weren't meant to be (yet)

I haven't blogged a sewing success in awhile. Partially because I really hate trying to get photos of myself in my dark, crowded home (or out in the world with strangers all around - *shudder*). But it also feels like I haven't sewn anything wearable in ages.

I started taking a patternmaking class in mid-March and it's been pretty wonderful. At first I was laughing at the absurdity of maybe sticking with it for the whole 2.5 years, but I keep finding myself really looking forward to learning to make things later in the curriculum (button-up shirts! bomber jackets! pants!!) and honestly I'm still excited to spend most of my weekends doing homework for it. So I kinda think/hope I may be able to stick it out!

But spending most of my weekend drafting patterns and sewing muslins means I have way less time than I used to to sew real, finished things that I can actually, you know, wear. And I still have a full time job (which has been extra busy lately) and a pup (who was sick this past week), and boy it's a lot. I just want a finished project to feel excited about!

So this is the story of the shorts I've spent bits and pieces of weeknights and weekends on in the last month and a half. There have been lessons and successes and mistakes, and I'm about to shelve these mostly-finished jerks indefinitely because it is just not happening right now. I have trouble just letting go of something unfinished, so this post is my closure (at least until I decide to try again).

The shorts

These are the Thurlow shorts from Sewaholic. This was my first time buying from this company, and honestly I haven't had the best experience. Certainly some of my issues were due to just not being experienced in the techniques that are glossed over in the instructions. But in general, I think I'll stick to my tried and true favorites (Deer & Doe + Tilly & the Buttons never let me down!).

I was, erm, inspired by a pair that Lauren of Lladybird posted on her blog and .... decided to straight up remake them, buying the fabric she suggested too. I've seriously been trying to buy a pair of cool-toned red shorts for years and everything I've found is more of a summery coral, so I was in love as soon as I saw them! I bought a ton of the fabric and previously made a skirt with it, which I adore.

Muslins

Since shorts and pants are tricky to fit (so many dimensions!) I made a muslin. Two actually! The first was far too big, so on the second I went down a size and made some other tweaks (hacked off some length, added a bit to the tight front crotch). I tried these one and thought "yup, looks good to me!". But I think the lack of fly and different fabric from my final pair threw me off and I was wrong... More on that later.

I finished muslin #2 only a week after starting. Not bad, considering I only had so much time to work on these!

 

Learning things

There were a ton of new skills I picked up while making these. The first one - welt pockets. I started going by the pretty sparse instructions and got a bit lost, but Lladybird's sewalong got me right back on track (and I managed to hide what was a minor mistake and make what I think are pretty damn good welt pockets!). Look!!

Zipper drama

(So much zipper drama.)

I got started on the first couple of steps for the zipper fly and then... panic. I needed a 4 inch zipper and wanted to go with metal. Turns out they don't really sell those at most places. I googled and the internet made it sound easy to remove teeth with pliers, but I was getting ready for my trip at this point and decided to wait to fight this zipper battle.

I got back and eventually decided to face my fears. I did some more googling, took a pair of needle-nosed pliers to the zipper, and... nothing. I literally could not remove a single tooth, and I was worried I would destroy the zipper tape if I tried any more aggressively. I finally found something that suggested another tool (a side cutter), so I ordered one of these on amazon and put my shorts on hold again.

The side cutters came and I went for it. It was awkward and a bit messy but things were going ok! Until - I managed to let my zipper pull get too high and it fell off its tracks. The only way to get it back on was to remove the bottom stopper and pull it up from the base. In doing so, I broke the bottom piece in two and had a bit of a meltdown for a few minutes. IIRC this was a weeknight after a loooong day at work. Not the best time to try this.

I managed to channel my frustration into an instagram post (ha), and it was actually the best. My friend tagged her friend who is a real fashion designer, and she left me comments across a few posts with way more tips. I was excited to try again! But my zipper was already broken beyond repair so I had to wait.

I was able to make it to the fabric store a few days later and bought 3 more zippers (basically everything they had in metal+black under 10"). I tried again, this time being careful with the pull so it didn't come off again, and being extra patient and careful when removing the teeth. Using a combination of my side cutter and pliers, I made a beautiful 4" zipper! Hooray for successes! After this, the fly was pretty straightforward (although again, the sewalong helped clear up some of the more vague instructions). Another new skill!

 

I'm still wondering how so many people have made these shorts/pants and there isn't more on the internet about shortening a stubborn metal zipper! But it's possible a polyester zipper, which is easier to shorten and to find in 4" length, is better here anyway. Whoops.

Waistband confusion

On a roll again! Time for the waistband - I know how to make these! I interfaced, sewing the facing to the outside waistband, topstitched and pressed, and attached one side. Then I got to the other side, which goes under the other side of the waistband at the front fly and has a little triangle point where they overlap. And... my waistband was far too short in the front, even though the center back and all notches matched up just right. I spent an evening trying to figure out what I could have done wrong, then scouring the sewalong and googling. I finally realized I'm not the only one with this problem. Even the sewalong host had run into this and just chalked it up to her own error!

I tried to figure out what was wrong here. As a commenter pointed out, the waistband pieces are the only ones that don't mention included seam allowances on the pattern. I at one point convinced myself that the waistband was probably missing seam allowance all around. But - adding a seam allowance at the center back would completely throw off the notches matching from that direction. So I'm just confused. I emailed Sewaholic support a week ago asking if they can clarify and... no response :( I'm pretty convinced this is an error or oversight in some way (since I'm far from the only one who has had this issue), and I'm frustrated that I haven't heard anything back.

I decided to hack it myself by just adding some length right at the front. I measured how much longer it would need to be and ended up adding an extra 1 1/8" between the frontmost notch and the front point. (Which is eerily close to adding 5/8" seam allowances x 2....) I made an entire new left waistband (main fabric, facing, 2x interfacing and assembly) then attached it to my shorts. Time to baste up the back and check the fit!

Fit

Wahhhhhh. I tried them on and... so tight! A giant wedgie! Whyyy!? I can hardly fit my hands in the pockets, the zipper bulges, and there are lines all around the crotch. And oh dear god, the butt. Looking back at my muslin photo, I can see some of the front issues. But it is way exaggerated in the final shorts. And since I thought I was good to go, I finished seam allowances as I went and don't have much room to take the seams out. (I tried. It wasn't enough to help.) I can put them on but they are pretty uncomfortable and ride up in the butt enough that I deem them unwearable. sigh. After a month and a half of working on these, it's very frustrating to have to start over.

butt shot ^ sorrynotsorry.

I did recently buy The Perfect Fit, although I haven't even opened it yet. I think it'll help me modify these so I can start another pair (and surely those will go more quickly, with so many lessons learned!). But honestly I don't have the patience for another go at these shorts right now.

Maybe I'll find a friend who is just a little smaller than me and would wear a pair of red shorts and finish these up (eventually). All that's left is attaching the inside of the waistband, adding belt loops, hemming and cuffing (they'll lose several inches of length), and adding a button and hook & eye. And hopefully someday I'll finally fulfill my own red shorts dreams :)

But for now I'm off to sew some summer-y Deer & Doe patterns I've been eyeing for awhile (seriously - I have a big backlog after spending so long on these). And I have to say I'm not really sad to say goodbye to working on these shorts for awhile.

Bye, Thurlows.