Garments Archives • Page 10 of 11 • Jessica Smith Creates

February 6, 2014August 19, 2018

Meshy Mesh

There is about two feet of snow outside my window right now, and I’m about to tell you about a short sleeve mesh t-shirt I made.

In January. When there was snow on the ground as well.

This would also be a good time to mention that I’m behind on blogging. But instead of promising you to stay on top of it, I’d rather use it as a method to post more regularly, even if that means posting something much later than making and wearing it. A good key to knowing when I made it will be my “Stats” at the bottom that I’ll be including with all fabric related projects. I’ll probably include a stat or two for things non-fabric related, but the fabric one is the most important at the moment, with needing to stashbust before moving on to a new part of my life.

And now after that long paragraph, I present to you the meshy mesh t-shirt.

It’s tight enough. Not super tight, I’m going to get squares imprinted on my skin when removing. But also not, I can wear this over a bulky long sleeve top loose.

I had gotten the fabric from Fabric.com in September or October. It’s so soft, so I wanted to save it for something special, but at the same time I didn’t have a lot of it. In the end, I was able to make this shirt, and still have enough for a bit of a scarf.

I basically just used a t-shirt I had and placed it on the fold and used it as a pattern. I made it slightly wider on the bottom than the top, because I like having some space around the waistband, and made the sleeves a bit wider than on the pattern top, which honestly only had cap sleeves that weren’t going to make a good pattern. I probably could have made some set in sleeves, but I’m quite fond of it as it is. I simply sewed up the seams on the sides and shoulders, then cut strips of some beige jersey to use as binding. I’ll need wider widths in the future. Then I turned up the bottom hem and sewed. I promise the sleeve binding looks pretty nice when its on, as opposed to hanging limp and lifeless on a hanger on my wall.

The fabric makes this top feel nice. I forsee using this top quite a bit in the summer. Not when I’ll be outside a bunch, though it would make an awesome swimsuit cover, because I can imagine the sunburn, but I think it looks great over a tank top.

Unfortunately, I’m getting over a cold, so on my picture day of the week, I was in no shape to model. Think runny nose and intense sneezing attacks. Generally not a good picture plan.

So enjoy my limp lifeless hanging shirt!

January Project 6

Stashbusting – 6 fabrics used

January 26, 2014August 19, 2018

July in January

I caught the Archer bug.

Partially because I had some fabrics that I really wanted to make shirts from, but mostly because I was impressed with the fit of my first.

Neither of the fabrics were long enough to include sleeves, though. So I set about using the alterations suggested by Grainline for sleeveless versions, and I made two up! My main alterations at this point were to shorten the body, mostly because I don’t need the length, but also because I had a limited amount of fabric.

Remember how I said I was going to use a crisper iron-able fabric for my next version?

That didn’t happen. I started by using this green fabric, with a neat flower design. The flower has a raised velveteen pattern, as well, which occasionally proved tricky in that I couldn’t iron seams open. I also had to use a pink and brown fabric with a similar weight for the inside yolk and collarstand, since I barely had enough of the green to make the pattern work.

I used yellow bias binding on the sleeves, and white on the hem.

My hem is also very very tilted. I kinda like it though! If I was to wear it in a situation that doesn’t involve casual attire, I’d likely tuck it in to hide this fact.

All in all, it turned out better than I expected, since I was more using this for practice than for actual wearing. I don’t have lots of practice with such lightweight fabrics, but I love wearing them, so if I want to work with them in the future I might as well work on it with free to me fabrics now!

And then to my second sleeveless version.

This one was made out of real shirt-weight fabric. I should have started with this one, but I honestly wasn’t thinking about it when I got to work that day. It’s a nice cream and brown floral print that feels absolutely wonderful. The construction was easier, and there were no changes from the green one.

I think I finished the construction, from cutting to sewing, in two hours. Another forty five minutes for the red bias binding (though I’ve still got a minor fix on that), and then another hour plus for the buttons. I added more buttons to this one, for no real reason other than to torture my hands in sewing them in.

I’m glad I used the red binding and red buttons. It gives it a bit of flair. And adds some color. I like surreptitiously adding color to my wardrobe. It’s like I’m tricking myself into actually wearing color!

January Projects 3 and 4

Stashbusting – 4 fabrics used

January 21, 2014August 19, 2018

Magic is Power

I let you know earlier that I finished my Belle dress. I’m quite proud of it. I’m pretty sure I beamed through the entire first day of wearing it. But I didn’t get to take pictures of it before winter break, so I held off on this post.

Luckily it only took two wearable muslins before I was able to create the real thing!

So the fabric is a performance knit that I got here from eBay in Mustard Gold.

A few months ago, I had shown you this shirt, which I used as the upper part of the dress.

I used the same pattern from my brown dress, with very few alterations. I did accidentally cut the fabric wrong, which is why I have a center front seam, but I don’t mind it!

The skirt currently is knee length, for the winter, but I’m planning to shorten it an inch or two before the con.

I love the short sleeves, and I’m pretty proud of the arm bands. First time making arm bands and everything!

And it’s got a nice big pocket!

There are some fitting issues in the back. Of course, I didn’t see these until I actually took pictures, so now I’m debating with myself over how to fix it.

I had tacked down the excess shirt fabric by hand, after using a decorative stitch to formally attach the shirt. On second thought, it was a good idea to do this, for fitting, but now that I’m looking at it, I’ll be cutting more of it off. The shirt probably won’t unravel, being a kind of knit. But this also gives me some leeway in re-fitting the back. I think the back will fit correctly if I attach the shirt back up a bit higher.

I worked over the break on the embellishments, though now I’m thinking of other ways to do the necklace.

I’m still considering removing the collar from the shirt. It’s looking a bit too Sleeping Beauty for me. Then I can make a real necklace, since it won’t be covered by the collar.

If I decide to not do that, then the designs will be sewn onto the dress.

Decisions, decisions.

January 19, 2014August 19, 2018

The Three Year Sweater

I’m not exaggerating on this. Three years.

This is the Roseanne Sweater from the book Blueprint Crochet by Robyn Chachula.

I started this sweater in sophomore year of college. Do you want to know how I know? Because I got the lovely yarn then. And I started the project not long afterward. At most a month afterward.

I’ve been showing you the progress I’ve made on this sweater for as long as I’ve had this blog, but then I forgot to work on it… some more.

The last time we discussed it, I had just started on the shawl collar. I think I finally finished the square blocks in October, and worked on filling in the triangles in November.

But this winter break was when I put my foot down. I was going to finish this sweater once and for all. This break. And when I decided this, I only had a week left. Because I love deadlines.

I finished up the collar last week, and attached the collar to the “vest”. Trying it on, it’s a little bit tight against the shoulders, but if I’m being honest, my gauge is crap, and I was very tense when I was crocheting that bit.

I’m a very tight crocheter. I continually have to move up three hooks just to get near the gauge.

So I folded over the wrapped sides, and crocheted them together. At this point, you are basically instructed to create a chain and then crochet ribbing perpendicular to the edge of the sweater. This is where my problem lies.

I cannot start crocheting in a straight line. It has thwarted every crocheted sweater or purse effort I’ve tried. Which is why I like squares and lace, which just so happens to be pretty.

At this point I switched gears and used a different yarn to rim the bottom of the sweater, and then I began to do a smaller version of the ribbing, which basically worked out well. To bring this yarn in with the rest of the sweater, I then added it around the collar.

In the end, I love this sweater, its cute and I made it, which is a plus.

January Project 2

January 9, 2014August 19, 2018

Waterfall Archer

So I finished my first version of Grainline’s Archer Button Up.

And I love it!

It’s comfy and cozy, and fits me.

I don’t love long sleeve shirts in the first place, since I almost always just roll up the sleeves to my elbows, but I wanted a thick one, like the plaid flannel shirts. But for one, I don’t actually like wearing plaid, and two flannel is often a bit too warm for me.

So when I was gifted this neat geometric blue fabric, I thought I’d give it a try. In retrospect, it’s a bit too thick for a first time through on this pattern. It certainly is a thick as a nice flannel, but without the fuzz and some of the warmth. But it worked out nicely.

I love that the only exposed seams are the side seams and the armscye. I definitely have no qualms about putting this in the wash, which is more than I can say about most of my projects.

It’s a little baggy, which is what I was going through for this one, but I may cut some of the bagginess on my next one.

Because I will be making another.

I also had to cut the sleeve down a bit. Because the shoulder seams drop off the shoulder a bit, the sleeves were incredibly long, but I did notice that when I moved up the seam, the sleeve length was a bit better. For proof on the enormous length on petite little me, see the picture above. The length was past my palm!

But all in all, I loved the pattern. After using a Simplicity pattern right before, I appreciated that all notches matched up easily. I will admit, though, that I used the sew along online, instead of the booklet instructions. I admire pictures, and it’s easier for me to understand better with full color pics.

January Project #1

Stashbusting – 1 fabric used

December 28, 2013August 19, 2018

Olives and Skirts

I can say with 100% certainty that I have never told you that I like olives.

But I do. I really like olives.

My favorite are black olives. As a kid I would eat an entire can, including the juice. Now, I tend to hold off on the juice, at least.

But I definitely like green olives as well. In fact, when I was abroad I couldn’t find black olives, so I ended up eating a lot of green olives.

I know you’re not here to see me ramble about olives though.

A year ago, or so, I received a bunch of free fabric of varying types from when my friendly costume shop did a stash cleanout.

I got this lovely olive green mystery knit. I used it, along with a funky textured woven fabric, to make a lovely cardigan, with rounded hems and long sleeves, loosely based on this tutorial: Billy Cardigan. Please enjoy my fuzzy picture of it, from when I did a subtle Donna cosplay.

But I still had a small amount of fabric to use up, and in practice for a stashbusting resolution I’ll be making, I wanted to use it up. I toyed with the idea of a shirt, but the fabric is a bit heavy, so I nixed that. Then I thought about a hoodie, but I didn’t think I had enough fabric to make it long sleeved. The idea at the back of my head sprung up swiftly, and I quickly found the folded mini tutorial.

I’m not one for mini skirts, though. I do have one, in olive green corduroy, actually, but I don’t often wear it.

But I do have need for a warmer winter skirt. So when I read in the tutorial intro that the skirt was warm, I was sold.

And then I took a look at the fabric I had. It was a tight squeeze. I had to frankenstein the lining. Three pieces, seamed together. It was too ugly to photograph, but luckily, it never has to be seen! And on top of that, lookee here:

This is all of the fabric I have left!

My skirt ended up longer, so for me it’s a bit of a pencil skirt. But a nice warm pencil skirt.

I followed the tutorial pretty much exactly, though I did lengthen the measurements a smidgeon. You see, I was forgetting at this point that I am short in stature, and that almost anything will end up longer on me. So I ended up taking a bit off in the end.

The other thing I changed was not fully finishing the waistband. I stretched and stitched the waistband to the inside, but because it’s knit and doesn’t need finishing, I left it open on the outside. When I tried it on at this point, I realised that I could make it a high waisted, or a normal waisted skirt this way, to match my mood. It’s snug enough that it’ll stay on without wobbling, so I thought at least for the moment that I would leave it as is.

It has nothing to do with the fact that I don’t have matching thread or anything.

November 6, 2013August 19, 2018

Belle Mark 2

This is the beginning of a new way of arranging my projects.

My normal lackadaisical method of working projects just wasn’t working for the progress that I wanted to be making.

So I’ve decided to work on one costume set at a time. First Belle, then Susan, then the TARDIS.

This doesn’t mean I won’t be working on other projects as well. But in terms of my long term projects, I’ve got to have a plan…

After the first attempt of this dress, I was a little disheartened. The bodice was too long, the skirt too short, and the entire contraption was just a little too big to be worn on its own.

On my new pattern pieces, I took in the bodice, lowered the point of the neckline, shortened the bodice, widened the waistband, and changed the skirt from a full circle skirt to a 3/4 circle skirt.

My serger is having timing issues, so I borrowed one to quickly put the dress together. Once the pattern pieces were finalized and the pieces cut out, it only took me about a half an hour to put it together. I had cut two pieces of waistband, and pieced them like a casing before attaching them to the bodice and skirt.

I knew I wanted to put the real dress on a pre-made shirt, and I happened to have this lace stretch skirt hanging around. I had planned to use this shirt for a similar purpose on a different project, but it seems that I have misplaced it. So I’ll be using the shirt for this!

The pictures here have the dress pinned onto this shirt, simply because I don’t have the white thread at this moment to sew it together. But I needed to see it all attached to really know how it would end up on the finished product.

I probably won’t show it to you when it’s totally done, since I’ll be much happier with the real dress, otherwise known as Mark 3. I can’t wait to really wear this dress, though. It’s such an improvement over the first that I almost can’t believe it.

And soon I’ll be off to do the final version of the dress. Stay tuned!

October 31, 2013August 19, 2018

Everything’s shiny, Cap’n!

I love my captain!

And my new Kaylee inspired dress!

Both The Patchwork Pirate and Dianne from Dianne’s Costumes and Research have wonderful recreations of Kaylee’s Prairie Harpy dress.

Dianne had found this fabric from Fabric Tales that matches the original very nearly.

But I don’t have that fabric, or the money to obtain it at the steep price.

I do, however, have this fabric! Not perfect, but I think Kaylee would have definitely worn this fabric if she had the chance. It’s playful and colorful enough. Or maybe that’s just me.

And I have a lot of it. It being the same fabric I used for my culottes. And I have some left over still.

It also wrinkles all over the place. It’ll crease just by lightly folding, even without ironing or pressing it.

I draped the bodice on a borrowed dress form, though it seems I’m a bit chestier than then form is.

At that point I didn’t care much about the direction of the grain of the fabric, since I was using scraps for all of it.

Aren’t scraps lovely?

So then I let it sit around awhile as I was thinking on a skirt plan. Or rather, while I was doing that homework and classes thing…

I lined it in the meantime, which brought about it’s own challenges, but worked out well in the end.

And then I got to work on the skirt. I knew it needed to be at least a little bit full, and I knew that my dress needed to be lined.

In the end I cut out a few rectangles and sewed it all up.

And then it was too tight. Pencil skirt tight.

So I unpicked all of that and added another identically sized rectangle, which brought the fullness I had wanted.

Sewed the waistband to the bodice, and tried it on.

At this point I realized that the bodice was big around my actual waist, in order to get it over my head.

Looking at the inspiration photos of Jewel Staite as Kaylee, I saw that she had an attached belt. So I set about making some belt-like strips. I didn’t want to make one that would actually tie around me, as I often find them uncomfortable, so I had them attach with hooks and eyes.

And finally success!

It matches really well with the jacket I made for my Halloween costume, since the blue is mirrored in the dress fabric.

So all in all, a happy Halloween!

October 25, 2013August 19, 2018

Ever sail in a Firefly

So I’ve been hard at work on my Halloween costume.

I’ve told you that I was planning on making a version of Kaylee’s dress from Out of Gas, one of my favorite episodes in Firefly. It also shows up in the The Message.

And I have! I promise! However, I haven’t exactly taken pictures in it yet. The post is upcoming, I promise!

I had decided while I was working on the dress that I should be Kaylee for Halloween!

Halloween where I live, though, is quite cold, so I always build in temperature ready ideas into my costume.

So I decided that my next project was going to be Kaylee’s blue oriental jacket.

Because I could.

I ordered my brocade from ebay, and it turned out to be exactly what I was hoping for. (I’ve had mixed results with finding fabric on ebay).

I made a muslin, which I had to hack up and maneuver to get it to fit. I had started with my bodice block, since I knew it was rather fitting, but I took out a bunch of the shaping on the bottom. The jacket in the show is oversized and shapeless, so I didn’t feel bad about taking some liberties.

I cut out the fabric, and had just enough to do so. Unfortunately, I couldn’t pattern match as much as I wanted, but I at least had everything set up in the right direction.

Starting out, I wanted to have a double breasted front for warmth. In the end it didn’t work out. The front closes about evenly matched with each other, and I can’t button the top button, because I have a thing about close fitting necks.

Looking back at past projects, I’ve never quite drafted sleeves correctly. One of these days I’ll figure it out, but that day wasn’t my cutting day. I ended up easing the remaining sleeve head fabric into pleats in the back, which gave a very cute tailored look.

The back is a bit tight, which at least keeps me in better posture, having to stand up straight instead of my usual slumping. I don’t have the best movement range because of this and the kinda tight sleeve caps.

But I love my new jacket! And I’m going to wear it forever and ever.

I will leave you with a picture of my subtle cosplay for the day. Kaylee’s hairbuns and jacket!

October 16, 2013August 19, 2018

I eat cake for the frosting.

I don’t really enjoy cake.

The food kind or the sewing kind.

Don’t get me wrong, the perfect kind of cake can be magical and exactly what I need after a super long week.

But my sewing has been quite frosting oriented.

AKA costumes.

Then I realized I had forgotten my only pair of leggings at home.

I’m not one to wear leggings without a dress or a skirt. For me, I just don’t find them a proper substitute for pants.

But they are so much better for wearing under dresses and stuff than tights, if simply because they don’t pool around my ankles over time.

So I decided to buy Cake’s pdf version of the Espresso leggings.

I got some of the cheapest knit fabric from Walmart, and grabbed my scissors, tape, and elastic to get started.

Then I procrastinated. And continued to procrastinate.

But yesterday I finally made up the pattern. From cutting to sewing it took me no longer than an hour, and the leggings fit me like a glove!

I will cut the strings, though. Oops! But look at the adorable ricrac tag!

I’m very excited, and I’m never planning on buying leggings again!

Cause I know I can just make some wonderful ones!

Thanks Cake!