Goals and Plans for 2017

Goals and Plans for 2017

Again, I'm linking to Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow in the top 5 of 2016

These are in no way New Year's Resolutions.  Those are just too easy to break!

These are those goals and plans that relate to sewing.

Strangely,  though not so when I tell you more, my first goals concern weight and health.

• Many of my clothes have become too tight
• My bras were strangling me and I had to buy new ones (I do not have any plans to make bras)
• I saw a couple of RTW items that I liked but I was too big for the biggest size (regular range,  not plus sized range) or they are too short (one of the reasons I started making my own)
• I was becoming breathless far too easily
• I felt unwell
• I was sent for heart tests because of some enzyme and chest X-ray abnormalities and need to get a 24 hour monitor in January. There isn't a major problem. My heart rate is fast, probably because I am unfit. I have a minor ECG issue. I had heart surgery in 2000 to repair a congenital hole in the heart, found by chance after I'd had a couple of brief  transient ischaemic attacks which can be stroke precursors. I've been fine since.
• I have been getting no exercise since not playing golf,  that's since the end of September. I can only imagine increasing my fitness will benefit my heart!
• My knees hurt more than they did. They're having to carry more weight.
• I didn't like what I was seeing in the mirror.
• I had put on weight, but not as much I thought as would account for the way I was feeling and looking. I'm out of shape even more.

Today, I went back to Slimming World. I've been before and did well. David doesn't need to lose weight beyond the 2 or 3 pounds he's put on over Christmas but will be supportive. He doesn't see why people need to attend such things as Slimming World but I need that input. I was heavier this time than when I started last time. That time I lost 2 stones;  this time it needs to be nearer 3.

In addition, I will restart golf. I find that type of exercise more enjoyable than a gym.

Alison gave me a watch that measures steps etc and I've set some goals on that for daily activity. Even on a day to day basis, I'd become less active. Unfortunately, sewing is not a particularly active hobby. So far,  I've met my goals on daily activity,  but I did start easy!

Being slimmer will allow me to wear some clothes that I can't currently. Both those that I have that are currently too tight and those I might buy.

Blocks

I will sort out my blocks after I've got about half way with my weight loss. I have to do this. I will sew for where I am, though, as well as thinking about where I want to be. So I won't delay until I reach a weight goal - that was one of my previous u=issues with making trousers and I didn't ever finish.

Sewing Plans:

Last year,  I didn't actually complete a wearable garment for myself. That wasn't intentional. Sure, I was busy with wedding sewing for the first half of the year but found it difficult to get going afterwards. So in 2017 I will be sewing for me.  Not exclusively, as I do enjoy sewing for the family, but I'd like to get a few garments made for myself.

I have issues with RTW relating to fit (sure - quality too but I'm referring only to fit here). Some of the issues are related to my height (5’11”), some to my basic shape (pear), some to my ‘maturing’ body shape - more around the middle than I ever had and some because I'm overweight.

These are the items I find hardest to buy:

Trousers

RTW issues

• crotch length and depth too short;
• waist gaping as my waist is much smaller than my hips.
• My thighs are quite chunky,  too.
• I don't tend to have problems getting the legs long enough - and there are some specialist companies catering for tall women, should I need that.
• In addition, I don't like low rise. I prefer my waistband at my natural waist, or just below.

I intend 2017 to be the year of trousers.  I have consistently failed to get trousers to fit,  either RTW or me-made.  I attended a jeans making class; I can sew them,  but they don't fit. In class we drew up a pattern using Dennic Chunman Lo rather than say Aldrich  and it just didn't work. I wasn't the only one in this position. We tried to make changes but again the term ended before we had got far enough and I had no desire to continue.

My tutor  is going to help me get a decent trouser block. I believe she is thinking about draping though I'm not entirely sure.

Blouses/shirts

RTW issues

• Sleeve and body length. Most of my blouses and shirts have sleeves that are too short. While I'm happy to wear some styles over a skirt or trousers, I want to be able to tuck my blouses in securely.
• Being tall, I sometimes find that bust darts are too high as there isn't enough length between shoulder and bust.
• I don't like shirts with pockets as the positioning of them is usually not flattering on me.
• More recently I have found that my bust is bigger because of weight gain I assume and a couple of the shirts I have pull a bit at the front,  not an issue I had previously. I am quite wide shouldered. I am having to do FBAs on virtually all patterns and now feel that some of the. RTW that fitted me previously could do with the same!

As yet, I haven't chosen what I might like to make.

Jackets

RTW issues similar to blouses and shirts.

Last term my class was on jacket tailoring. We made up a standard size jacket - 10 or 12 (UK). It would have fitted Helen widthwise but would have been too short in body and arms.  No chance of it fitting me! I didn't actually finish it as after we made the practice jacket, the idea was to make our own fitted jacket. We all ran out of time. I have made an initial fitting toile in calico and will make a few changes to the pattern and make up another toile,  this time in boiled wool. I'll give more details at a later stage.

I have also started the Morris blazer from Grainline.

I thought this would be easy but have found it rather more difficult than anticipated. It's a blazer without darts. I chose the correct size for my upper chest and shoulders and made a full bust adjustment, following the instructions on Grainline. Their instructions leave a side dart. I don't like that but don't see how to get rid of it sensibly. I made up a toile but chose a poor fabric - too thin and too stretchy.

After Christmas, I plan to finish this blazer, too. I have had to abandon the plans I had to use striped jersey as it is too thin. I may use a plain boiled wool.

SWAP (Sewing with a Plan)

The Stitchers Guild runs a kind of contest each year. I have never entered.  It involves producing a number of garments (11 this year)by sewing or knitting which work together, by end April. There are guidelines for these garments which are detailed elsewhere so I don't need to go into detail, particularly as I’m not sure which path I’ll take. There should be a combination of ‘bottoms’, ‘tops’, dresses and ‘overlayers’ some of which can be outerwear. They can include one made previously, one bought and although the official start date is Boxing Day,  you can start early. I tried to do one of the tops early (hacking from a RTW top) but ran out of time before Christmas.

Provided I manage the jackets, above, and the trouser block,  I hope to enter the SWAP.  I would put in 2 or 3 pairs of trousers,  plus or minus jeans, the two jackets mentioned above,  some tops and a cardigan. Even though my class next term is outerwear, I don't think I'll be trying any of that for this. If I decide to do this,  I may not finish it in the time available but would continue until I had completed it. I would include a couple of blouses/shirts and try to make a pair of close fitting trousers. Obviously, leggings would be easier and so faster, but I don't wear them.

I'm not yet absolutely committed to this so haven't made any detailed plan. You'll be the first to know if I go ahead! It could work for my reunion weekend.

Helen's wedding dress

I need to reassemble it! I took it apart to try to clean it, but unsuccessfully, and Helen is quite distressed that it has remained that way (disassembled more than the dirty part). So I'll put it together and get it back to her.

Helen's red silk dress

I should get that done relatively quickly as the toile only needed minor alteration. I'm likely to find the pockets most difficult. Interestingly, the pockets are actually gusseted and are like those in outerwear. We'll be looking at those next term. I don't see them as being very appropriate in a silk dress but Helen loves them. I have some photos of the dress but Ill wait until things are back to normal here (Just escaping for a few minutes)

Level 3 Sewing Class

Next term is outerwear and I think the third term is lingerie (can't quite remember offhand). I'm carrying on with the course.

40 year reunion

For our reunion 40 years after graduating from Glasgow University,  we will have a long weekend in a spa hotel in Scotland,  in November 2017. Some of my friends from uni don't intend to go,  which is sad, so I don't know how popular it will be. I plan to make a few garments for this long weekend, a travel wardrobe, maybe. Not sure what yet. I will include an evening dress,  though. Maybe.

I hope you all had a good Christmas break - and I wish you a Happy New Year 2017

My Top 5 Best Makes 2016

I'm joining Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow in the top 5 of 2016

Given that I spent most okay all of the 6 months leading up to my daughter's wedding designing and making dresses,  it's no surprise that wedding day finery tops my list - though I ran out of time to make my own outfit. After the wedding was over, I had no sewjo, so my output for the year to date is not great. I found that I needed the impetus from a contest, with a deadline, to achieve anything. Sad, really! I do have some other items, including items for me, that are not yet finished so I can't include at the time of writing this - I'll save it in draft to see if I do achieve anything else.

With all of the following, there are things I could improve. One of my resolutions, though, is not to be so hard on myself.

1

Helen's wedding dress

I think it is simple looking and sophisticated,  yet with that youthful edge. It's so totally Helen.

Helen had a large part to play in deciding what she wanted, modified by my lack of skills - some things were never on the cards! I learned a lot. I struggled a lot.  But I came through.

This was a self drafted pattern - unfortunately,  Helen didn't want one of the standard available patterns. (She was right,  though)

We chose a beautiful quality sandwashed silk crepe as the main fabric and this was underlined and lined with silk,  too - charmeuse and habotai.

It fitted her beautifully.

She loved it and she and I had compliments galore.

No, sorry, I have no plans at all to set up any kind of business...

You really couldn't afford me...

Cost of dress - priceless!

Blog post link: here

2

Bridesmaid dresses times 2

Helen and her two sisters were heavily involved in deciding what they wanted.

Again, these were self drafted patterns, each slightly different to take account of figure differences. Alison wanted a wider band while Joanne preferred narrower to emphasise her waist. Alison is a carrot or inverted triangle and Joanne is an hourglass.

The fabric was a lovely quality crepe back satin in the exact shade of the groom's tie. It was lined and interlined.

The skirts were circle skirts. After hanging, there was some (a lot!) unevenness in the hem and because a fair bit got cut off,  a band was added to increase the length to that desired.

I ran out of time and the final dresses were sewn by a dressmaker,  including the necessary band, but I very much consider them my makes as I had made and fitted so many toiles and of course designed the pattern.

Successful. Blog post here

3

Still on the wedding - groom’s waistcoat

This was made using a Burda pattern. The pattern was slightly lengthened and slimmed down a lot to fit my son-in-law and meet his ease preferences.

The fabric was a beautiful wool silk chosen by my daughter and sil for its colour as well as its quality. The colour exactly matched his Cambridge blue tie  (the bridesmaid dress fabric was bought at the same time). The fabric sewed beautifully.

The back of the waistcoat was a surprise for the wedding guests - it was silk printed with a slightly reduced version of our family tartan. The silk was rather slippery and difficult to get the checks to stay square and lined up properly - I got help from David. I had never made a waistcoat but enjoyed this and it looked good.

A has worn it since and has further plans for it in 2017.

I'd certainly make another waistcoat.
Blog post here

4

Shorts/culottes for Joanne - times 2

At Joanne's request, I hacked her favourite pair of shorts (she calls them shorts, I thought of them as culottes but others on PR didn't agree and shorts they were!) for her birthday.

First toile after tracing 

Working toile - I needed to work out the various factors

I used double georgette for the body of the shorts and the same double georgette for the lining. The lining was bagged at the bottom, with guipure lace inserted between the layers. The shorts had side pockets and the pocket on the left had a concealed zip hidden inside. I was very pleased to master that particular skill as I can see it being very useful in future.

Blog post here and here

I was very pleased with the shorts and posted them off to Joanne - then less than 2 weeks later, PR had its Sewing Bee contest and the task for the first round was to create a pair of shorts! I had to make another pair!

This time, because of time constraints (there was less than a week from announcement to submission), I wasn't able to send off for the same lovely double georgette. I was able to buy georgette locally-ish but it just wasn't the same quality and was more difficult to cut and to sew. Unfortunately, too, the local shop had guipure lace of a different design, but not enough of it, so the second pair had identical lace.

Joanne agreed to model the shorts for the contest (a requirement was that they were photographed on a model) but again, because of time constraints, this wasn't possible and I borrowed a model from my sewing bee! I was surprised to get through to the next round.

I still haven't seen Joanne in either pair! One problem was the shorts were so similar (she did want black!) that she's a little concerned, I believe, that others will think she's wearing the one pair of shorts continuously. But no, she didn't agree with my suggestion of a different colour, or longer etc.

Blog post here and here
PR Sewing Bee entry here

5

Shirt for my older grandson (aged 7)

Last year, I saw a shirt Deepika on Pattern review had made and fell in love with the fabric., which I was able to buy from the US, the only source I could find at the time. I loved the Modern geek fabric. This fitted so beautifully with my grandson's interests, that I bought it and planned to make shirts for him and for hos younger brother. That was supposed to be around Christmas last year but it didn't happen, needless to say.

The the PR sewing for Children contest came up. This time I had a month, as is usual with the contests other than the sewing bee. I made up a toile in age 9 but ended up increasing the real thing to age 10. I haven't done the shirt for his little brother as yet, but hope there will still be enough fabric left.

I made no changes to the pattern (see what I mean - it's so much easier to sew for others - especially children). My grandson likes the shirt and has chosen it to wear on a few occasions. I don't have a great photo of him wearing it. There are a couple of photos but, well, they're not very good.

PR Contest entry here
Blog post here 

6

Okay, I'm cheating - I'm including a garment number 6 in case you don't feel I should have included the bridesmaid dresses (I didn't ever put these on PR)

Garment 5/6 is the most recent skirt I've made for Helen.

It's my most recent blog post.

I like it and would make it again.

I think it is a good practice for the tartan skirt which I will eventually make Helen using our family tartan.

For Christmas, I have a few other garments on the cards. A hacked silk dress for Helen and kimonos for Joanne and Alison. I hope I will get them done but as I draft this doc, they're not even started. I was going to save this post until later, but it's probably better now as we're all busy in the next few weeks.

I've noticed, as I'm sure you will have, too, that all the above are garments for others. I've come to realise that I actually prefer sewing for family than for myself, I think due to fit issues. I do have a few of the things I've made for myself that would be better in the 'disaster, dahling' section. I think the 'misses' section will be next!

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!