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To the Batcave!

2012 May 6

by elizabeth_admin

Last night I went to my first live band concert in ages. I saw Andrew Bird, a college classmate of mine who’s made it big. It was a great night. He played at the Beacon Theatre on the Upper West Side, an absolutely gorgeous theater. I scored the tickets from a co-worker who couldn’t make it at the last minute. Gotta love that. It was a great evening of great music. I love live music. Love it.

And I wore my new top to the concert too. This time around, I made a few changes to the pattern, Burda 6-2009-109. Of course. What seamstress doesn’t tweak a pattern each time she makes it?

The first thing I changed, or tried to, was the neckline shape. I knew I was going to try to bind the neck with my binding attachment on the coverstitch machine and I also knew it would look better on a rounded neckline. Unfortunately, I didn’t round it out enough. I will do better next time.

Unintentional change to pattern: I completely forgot to reinforce the shoulder seams in my excitement to have a new top to wear to the concert. Oops! I hope it doesn’t have any long-term consequences (emphasis on the long).

I left off the sleeve cuffs and just fray-checked the seam ends. I wanted to shorten the sleeves a little to make this a more summer-friendly top. Originally I was going to coverstitch the hems, but when I was pinning I realized that the tapered shape of the sleeves would torque the hem. Next time I will change the sleeve shape at the end so I can hem them.

I used my coverstitch machine to bind the neck edge. I was really excited about this part. I wanted to have a very professional neck binding. On my first version of this top, I sewed on the binding with my sewing machine and while not noticeable to a non-sewer, I notice the many imperfections. See for yourself.

See how uneven that is? I love the coverstitch binding much better. Oh and here is the coverstitch hem.

Some notes on using the coverstitch:

I used Katie’s and Melissa’s tips for using the binding attachment on my coverstitch machine. I practiced a few times before binding my actual top. My binding attachment isn’t as fancy as Katie’s as it doesn’t have the “feeder” which keeps the bias strip evenly distributed into the binder. So I draped my strip on the Featherweight next to my coverstitch machine. I was a little intimidated to use it in the beginning, but it actually is pretty easy to use. My best tip is to practice, practice, practice before you attempt it on your garment.
I have already used my coverstitch for hems before with no problems. This fabric though (a burnout knit from Mood Fabrics) was a little on the thin side and curled over itself if you so much as a glanced at it. So there were spots where the coverstitch stitches didn’t catch the hem allowance. I just hand tacked those areas rather then ripping out a a coverstitch hem and doing it over. Some things are worth doing over and others are not. This was one of those times it was not. It’s a casual top, not a ball gown.

But enough wordy wordy stuff. Here’s how it looked on in an infamous bathroom shot.

I knew when I bought this fabric that it was destined for a top like this. I just love it.

Happy coverstitching everyone!

Sneak Peek: Burda 06-2009-109 Batwing Top V2

2012 May 5

by elizabeth_admin

I’m so excited about my new top. Sewed up most of it last night. Put the finishing touches on it this morning. Here’s a sneak peek.

I will post the dets tomorrow. Tonight? I am going to my first live concert since before Jack was born. Putting on my dancing shoes now. :)

Happy coverstitching!

Forgotten

2012 May 3

by elizabeth_admin

I have been thinking a lot about painting recently. (Sorry, not much sewing going on this week due to my mojo completely disappearing on me.) And suddenly, I remembered that I had painted a mural, at my sister’s request, for my niece Katie’s nursery. I can’t remember all the details as to how it came about. Maybe she was talking about wanting a wall decal or just about decorating Katie’s nursery, but the next thing I knew, I was painting a mural. Painting. Something I had never done before. Something about which I knew nothing or had any experience (beyond finger painting in kindergarten). I don’t know how or why I thought I could pull it off, but apparently I thought I could.

Here was my process:

I bought an art projector, this one I think.
Found an image online, similar to any of these.
Projected the image onto the wall at the size/scale wanted
Traced the projected image on the wall in pencil
Started to paint what I saw on the printout.

This was an in-progress picture. I don’t have a final picture myself; I’m not sure why. And my sister has since changed apartments, so this mural doesn’t even exist anymore.

Seems pretty easy right? Kind of like paint by numbers easy. I didn’t have to figure out how to shade, or how to scale the flowers in relation to the branch. Tracing an image allowed for a relaxed verisimilitude. The problems I ran into were more technical in nature, like:

Which size brush to use?
How or when do you blend wet paint?
How do you prevent muddiness of colors?

If you look at the top right, you will see some muddy, brownish petals. I tried to blend colors (rather unsuccessfully) to get the color I wanted, but instead I came out with a brownish mess. To be honest, I can’t remember if I corrected the color later or not, after the paint had dried. As I mentioned earlier, this picture is not of the final mural as you can still see some of the pencil tracings. I hadn’t painted some of the flowers yet, nor any of the greenery. The bird is looking mighty cute though. I remember that Katie spent a great deal of time staring at the bird when she was a baby. Each successive petal was easier and easier to paint and to replicate the look of the original image.

Now that I have remembered this forgotten project from 6 years ago and talked through some of the details and process of it, I feel the urge to create something similar again. Maybe with some pre-stretched canvas. Maybe a triptych of this kind of scene. I do love me some chinoiserie. Wouldn’t something like this be so beautiful, inspiring, and peaceful hanging above your sewing machines?

Kathy of Spottedroo is continuing her learn how to paint series. Check out her latest post!

Happy painting, sewing, or whatever crafting you’re doing right now everyone!

P.S. Don’t forget you can purchase your very own Man Forgetting Tour Concert t-shirt (or mug or magnet or totebag) at SEWN’s very own store. Click through to purchase and help Momma’s House with the profits from all sales. See original post here.

Official Man Forgetting Tour T-shirts!

2012 May 1

by elizabeth_admin

I had so much fun on my Man Forgetting Tour of 2012, I wanted to memorialize it for all time. You can join in on the fun memories too! Following on the Selfish Seamstress’ lead, I created custom Man Forgetting Tour t-shirts and other tour trophies on Zazzle.com available for purchase. The tour logo was designed by the famous Susie Riley! In another tip of the hat to Selfish Herself, 100% of the profits from the sales of the tour memorabilia will be donated to Momma’s House, a not-for-profit organization which provides housing for young, single mothers and their children for up to 2 years. Their mission statement is:

“MOMMAS is a home for young mothers aged 17 to 23 years and their babies. For approximately two years, the young mothers at MOMMAS House continue education or vocational experience interrupted by pregnancy. With guidance and direction, the young mothers can learn to support themselves and their children independently.”

As a single mom myself, I couldn’t imagine not having the support of my family and friends during my pregnancy and through to today. Parenting is hard enough in a two-parent household, let alone being a single parent. Momma’s House helps create a stable environment when a child needs it most and gives their mothers a safe place to raise their children during a most vulnerable time.

Click here to access SEWN’s very own Zazzle store. Here’s a shot of the awesome tour t-shirt.

Click the reset button on the logo at the top of the post if you need to forget a man and want to buy some Man Forgetting Tour of 2012 memorabilia (and help support an amazing organization while you’re at it).

Weird, I have this nagging feeling that I’ve forgotten something. Oh well.

Highlights from the Man Forgetting Tour 2012

2012 April 29

by elizabeth_admin

Here are some more photographic highlights from my Man Forgetting Tour 2012. It was highly successful. I can’t even remember who I was supposed to forget. And my heart feels healed and ready for someone new. In fact, I dreamt that I was dating David Gahan from Depeche Mode last night. Talk about better pastures.