Garments Archives • Page 7 of 11 • Jessica Smith Creates

July 1, 2015August 19, 2018

Miter by the Sea

To end the old backlog, I’ve come to show you my awesome shell.

In March, about a week before Spring Break, I was on Facebook well past my bedtime, and I saw that Cake Patterns was looking for testers for some of their new tops. I jumped at the chance, especially because I knew I’d have some built in sewing time. I jumped on board with their Miter Shell.

Of course, then the envelope with the pattern arrived and I sat there staring at it.

Firstly, I was facing the fact that my perfect week off had to include a Chemical Oceanography take home midterm, as well as a math program in Matlab that I had been already putting off for a week.

So of course, after putting off all of these things until the end of the week, I spent the Friday before school started back up not doing homework, but instead working on this new pattern.

I made the Espresso leggings a few years ago, and it was lovely. I’m not a leggings person… at least not unless their a pajama replacement. Or a replacement for tights in winter. But I still wear these leggings, and as soon as the inspiration strikes, I’ll take the pattern out again.

This means I was already familiar with the type of pattern, with the sizing and the connecting the dots loveliness.

I connected the appropriate dots, pulled out my roll of IKEA drawing paper that I use for patterns, and I traced and cut to my heart’s delight.

First I made it up in this orange mystery athletic wear knit that I had just received in a mystery fabric bundle thing. To be honest, the stuff had very little recovery, I used a stitch that was waaaaaay to small, and I found the back “laces” too large, so along with the lack of recovery, they were sagging (and they felt even more saggy). Also, with the square neckline, and my arguably large bra cup size, and therefore high “cut” of a bra, there was an inch of bra showing at the corners.

At that point, I kinda hated my creation. In a Frankenstein sort of way. Let’s start with the fact that it was bright neon orange. I’m not a bright orange kind of person. So I had very little interest in making this draft work, especially fiddling with it all day. (Also my day probably started at 11am. So all day may be misleading).

I went back to my homework until Sunday.

After spending all that time musing, in between chem and math, I realized that the only thing that I really needed to do to fix this was raise the neckline. I did that a little bit in the drafting, but mostly by taking up the shoulder seams. After that I shortened the neckline and arm binding to match, and cut the fabric. (I cut this one, the top of my Nettie dress, and my Nettie top all at once, so I knew for a fact that I didn’t have enough for the back weave, since I was eeking out everything I could just to get all three). I still needed something for the back weave, so I pulled out my collection of vintage notions, and found these lovely seam binding laces in the perfect colors. Of course, I didn’t have enough of either color, but I did have enough for a cool looking pattern!

This is such a comfy shirt. In reality, the weave rarely sees the light of day, mostly due to my cardigan obsession no matter what the outside temperature, but I think its such a nice touch. In the future, I might take in the back a smidge, to reduce the draping a bit. It’s nice when I’m not standing straight, which if I truly face it is most of the time, but it looks so loose in pictures. And the shoulders are quite wide on my uber narrow ones, so I might skinny those up too. Who knows, though. I might forget!

I’ve been waiting to share this with you for over three months, but I can now share that all of the Tidepool Collection, including this one, the Miter Shell, is up for sale on SewingCake.com. I’m definitely getting the Endeavor Trousers soon.

**I’d like to reiterate that all of these opinions are based on the testing copy, and I am unable to make remarks on the final product. But I’m sure its fabulous!

June 20, 2015August 19, 2018

Dinglehopper

Today I made this lovely cardigan and it makes an awesome topper to a Little Mermaid Disneybound/subtle cosplay.

If you want to read about the details on the cardigan, you can read them here, on the Monthly Stitch post.

But if you want to see my impromptu Ariel cosplay, here are my dinglehopper friendly pictures!

So this is my first Syrah skirt, a nice bright green, my Bronte top (or a RTW one), and my new Jenna cardigan!

P.S. This is probably just something weird, but these are honestly the only two pictures where I didn’t look at the camera, which definitely ruined the “illusion.”

June 12, 2015August 19, 2018

The Whole Package

So it’s now June.

That means it’s hot in the South. At least, anywhere that isn’t mountainous.

I was walking home from a ballroom lesson at 9:00PM, and I was still too hot, wearing jeans and a thin blouse, because it was still 85*F.

Any thought of taking up running this summer is quickly fleeing.

But that means that when the separates challenge at The Monthly Stitch came up, I knew that there would be no hope of Ginger Jeans, or even Ginger shorts (too tight for the weather). It had to be something skirt-like. Flowy and preferably breathable. And some sort of top.

It’s been windy, though. And windy plus skirts does not always make for a good combo.

Since I lost my pattern for culottes, which was arguable fatally flawed… (Butt length after creasing from sitting is not the best idea), I bought the Tania culottes pattern from Megan Nielsen.

And I love them.

I haven’t shown you my first pair yet, but rest assured its arriving soon.

This pair, though, exists because I went into Joann’s to get fabric for curtains… And came out with this loveliness.

Let’s forget for a moment that I’ve never really patternmatched. Because pattern placement to avoid flowers on boobs is not quite the same idea. And that I don’t really use patterns with very linear placements. Because it’s been engrained that I would need to be extra careful with those.

But I bought it anyway. Does it help that it was on sale for 50% off? I think in total the fabric cost me 15 bucks for 3 yards…

It might be a deep navy, but I’m considering it black. With the creamy offwhite, it was a warm black tone to it… Or so I’m telling myself. And it’s sheer enough that I wanted to line the culottes. Of course, I decided this after I got home from the store.

So this is my pair of self lined Tania culottes!

I measured a large for these, which surprised me a little, but my tummy did grow a bit from end of semester bad eating habits, so I trudged through it. Like many others, I cut the extra large length to go with the large other measurements. I did have to shorten the crotch curve, which I did uber-scientifically on my last pair (which was already finished) by sewing a larger seam allowance. Since that worked, I just transferred that to the pattern. I also followed the recommendation to raise the seam even more for the lining, which did bring about much confusion with the then four large skirt like pieces, but I think it worked out. Also I don’t have invisible zips handy, so I just put in a regular one. And a pocket. I added a pocket. Because it was very important.

Once I had put it all together, before letting it hang for a few days, I tried it on and immediately hated the wide waistband. It just looked so… wrong. Thinking back on it, I remember a pattern that suggests against stripes for the waistband since it was curved. And I’m guessing this was why. But also I’m a fairly short waisted person, but most of my belly fat exists in that lower region below the bellybutton, and with the high waistband, I was going to have to do some excessive fitting to get it to sit close to my body (stay tuned for that in my first version). So I decided to hack off half of it, and pulled out my bias binding collection and used some lovely green to deal with the seam. You can see a peek of it above. Also, look at that pattern almost matching. The lines are at least correct!

Then I let it sit for more days than I care to admit. You see, this week I’ve been having trouble getting to bed before 2AM. But instead of going with that flow, I’ve been still trying to sleep starting at 1, which cuts out a significant amount of available sewing time. As is the waking up late, BECAUSE I WENT TO BED AT 2!

I used my rolled hem foot. I think this marks the third time? And this is probably the first time with the right kind of fabric. It was not easy, and the hem is not even. The lining might even have been peeking out a smidgeon. Shush, don’t tell! But it’s pretty darn good for the first time on miles and miles of fabric.

And then the top. I love the Dandelion top/dress, and I figured it was time to make it again. Especially because I’m planning a “super secret” version. But first this one.

My fabric choices were easy. I had just made a Tania pair out of this linen, and it was a perfect amount to use for this shirt. And this lace, I love this lace. I used it on my last Dandelion, to accent the side panels, and the amount used for the yoke here didn’t take away any more yardage. Just into the scrappage from the previous one! I still have quite a few yards, and I’m not sure what to do with it.

I cut a medium, like I had done for my first one. The first one is nice and comfy, but it is a little loose above the bust, which I should’ve realized would become a problem in a sleeveless version. So there were quite a few alterations, including taking in the back, taking up the shoulders, taking in the side seams, changing the back yoke shape, eliminating the zipper, and taking in a wedge of the lace.

It’s still not perfect. I might need to readjust the bias tape, and I should take the shoulders up even more when I do that. But I’m kinda in love with it. It should also get softer after a wash, which’ll be nice. It’s not scratchy, but its also not soft. But soon. Soon it’ll be soft!

I like these two options together. We’ll see how much wear they get together. But they will certainly be mix and matchable! In fact this is the first intentional post on the beginning of a little capsule wardrobe. I’ll talk more about it later, I promise!

June 8, 2015August 19, 2018

Overdue T-shirts

It’s high time I show you these t-shirts. It’s been two months. And I love three out of four to death. So these are definitely long overdue.

Now I’m thinking about the fine on my library card…

First up is a plain Nettie t-shirt.

Remember the brown one I made last year?

It’s almost the same pattern but with a bit more room around the midsection. It really means I spend less time picking it out of my lovely belly rolls when I sit down.

Come on, I know I’m not alone in that.

But this time… it’s turquoise.

Or aqua. Some people like to tell me that my sense of color is wrong. I’m going with turquoise.

P.S. Whoever owns the eBay shop that I bought this fabric from: I need more of this. Lots more in every color. It feels like butter. Or nothing. Whichever is your ideal texture. I’m going with butter. I don’t even know what its made of. But its that awesome!

Okay, second:

The Nettie top for a dress. Using the ultimate fabric from above

Basically I took my Nettie top pattern, chopped it an inch from the “waist” measurement, added wide elastic, and then this skirt bottom.

Actually this was an ultimate refashion of me mades. The waistband elastic came from a skirt that I made before I understood that a rectangle elastic skirt looks painfully awful on me if the “lining” and the outer fabric are both puffy and not at all drapey. And the skirt came from a Big 4 dress that just didn’t look right. Mostly because the top looked a bit, how should I put it… mumsy. Now I’m 23. That’s a perfectly okay time for a person to be a mum, but I feel like many don’t want to look like theirs. Cause that’s what this dress did for me. It made it look like I had saggy breasts and no waist. So I unpicked the skirt, and used it here!

Isn’t that better?

Super comfy and has become my long car ride dress. Because it’s awesome.

Third one:

Plantain

So a few years ago I made leggings out of this odd fabric from Walmart. And I had a lot left. And I couldn’t figure out what to do with it. So I made a Plantain. Not my favorite, but it is summer now. And that shirt is hot. Perhaps when it gets a bit cooler? My last one fell apart, so I couldn’t compare, but the last one was arguably destined to fall apart. My serger needs some more tinkering.

It’s still kinda a meh look for me. I think that my opinion on Plantains is that the sleeve is awesome, and it’s a great pattern to hack, but on me I much prefer a Nettie to a straight up Plantain.

And lastly:

A grey Bronte.

I got this spongy grey wonderfulness a few months ago, and I knew it was destined to be a Bronte. In all fairness, it should have been a sweater. That’s the kind of sponge I’m talking about. But I looked past that and made it up to be my most favoritest top ever. Or at least this month.

Note: favorite fabric is the turquoise, and this is the favorite shirt. Just to be clear.

I think I might have added some extra room to the bust, since it was creating deep lines in the first one, and I winged out the below-bust to give me some belly room, like with the Nettie.

It’s super comfy, and great when the air-conditioning makes you want to wear winter clothes in the middle of summer. Because if you do, then you die when you go back outside, so… I like this option better.

Well, there’s my t-shirts! I’ll do my MMM15 round up soon.

But first I should find that library card…

May 27, 2015August 23, 2022

Completely Different

And now for something completely different…

As a short person, I always assumed that I wouldn’t like maxi skirts, no matter what people say about how they can make you seem taller…

Those people wear heels.

Don’t get me wrong, I have nothing against swimming in fabric. Why do you think I love circle skirts?

I also love the feeling of fabric against my legs when I’m ballroom dancing, and jeans are just not cutting it. Frankly, this won’t work for that either, but still.

But I think I’m in love. (I did just say that about my couch to everyone, but it definitely applies to this skirt).

And I fell hard.

If you’ve been following my pictureless MMM15 posts, my Syrah skirt has made quite an impression, and not just because of a trip with limited outfits. (P.S. I got the pattern as part of a Perfect Pattern Parcel! Love those things) (ETA The Syrah skirt seems to no longer be available online, sorry!)

It’s just so darn comfy! Perhaps the comfiest I’ve been barring pajamas. And maybe even then… but that could mean that I need to make some pajamas.

I cut it out, and I’m pretty sure I took off maybe an inch of lengthdue to me being short. I went for the ruched waistband, which is great, but I bet I would’ve preferred the straight one.

Also pockets. I now require them in anything less than a ballroom only dress/skirt. So I pulled out the Hudson pockets and used them. I should draft them a little differently for the curved waist, but like ’em!

The fabric is some kind of mystery fabric that is at least 75% of definitely polyester. But it dries in a split second!

I followed the instructions and bought swimsuit fabric for the “slip,” and because I’m short I probably have enough for at least 4 more, since I didn’t quite add in all the length to that one either.

There was a bit of an issue easing in all the fabric, especially when I added the pockets, but I don’t mind a slight wrinkle or two!

Because the fabric is a knit, I made the executive decision not to hem it. Instead it got caught on my sandals for a week. I fixed it by cutting down the sandals instead.

So, definitely a super comfy make, that was concurrent with some Tania culottes… Also green. Do you sense a theme? Because I definitely do. And I’m pretty certain that my next make will be too.

April 3, 2015August 19, 2018

Bronte

This should be the last make that I’ve been holding onto forever.

Last fall I let a lot of projects fall behind on the blog because of the dreaded math class. But now that it’s over I’ve been posting lots!

Partially it’s in anticipation of beating the last month of school in this semester and that means it’s likely that I’ll have yet another spotty posting record. But you don’t mind, right?

Back to the point.

This is my first Bronte! It’s comfy and cute, though I should’ve decided against the baseball vibe. Also I’m definitely sucking in for these pics. In reality, it doesn’t much matter whether I am or not, since its not as noticeable in the real world, but in pictures I can see it terribly. Maybe it’s because I wear cardigans all year round, which hides all manners of extra cookie eating excursions, but sometimes photographs miss… the way that I want stuff to be.

So the fabric is this t shirt jersey that I bought specifically for this. It’s got a bit of stretch, but it’s not the softest ever. But because it’s not fluid, cutting was easier!

The brown is yet again the mystery fabric that I made my comfy tee and chocolate bodysuit from. I’m almost out, I promise!

The shirt itself was quite easy to put together, and other than the decision on how to tack down the neck and, pretty simple from a decision standpoint. The seam allowance was small enough that you kinda have to follow the rules, which is good. I like to overthink things so whenever decisions are taken away from me the entire process comes out less stressful.

I’ve actually got another one cut out, ready to sew and hopefully post soon, so look forward to that!

March 19, 2015August 19, 2018

Green and Grey

This may be my most comfy “work appropriate” dress.

I say that in quotes because, as a graduate student, my work attire is pretty much jeans and shirts. But as a tutor, especially one so close to the age of my students, sometimes I dress a little dressy to stand out.

But I don’t care, because this Dandelion is fantastic for both worlds.

I made this up last November, I think. I was giving a presentation, and I needed to get my mind off of it, so I made this!

The grey fabric is the same as my swingy circle skirt, and I think I’ve still got a bit left… some kind of slightly stretchy lightweight suiting. The lace was given to me by my mom, ego had gotten it from a friend who previously taught home ec for a school that then got rid of the sewing side.

As much as I find it unfortunate that the kids are missing out on the wonders of sewing, I’m pleased that I got some awesome French lace! There was also some lace in black and a burnt orange, so I’m looking forward to some nice lace makes!

So I made up the sweetheart neckline version… I ended up not needing to put in a zipper, which was perfect, due to the stretch of the fabric. When I don’t have to fiddle to put a zipper in, everyone’s life is happier!

Plus being able to just pull this over my head feels fantastic!

I did have a problem with the facings that was pretty much all my fault. Even though I have some interfacing, all I’ve got is the sew in kind, so after making a muslin for this dress, I just used the muslin facings as interfacing… which added tons of bulk in the neckline.

For a while I got away with just folding the facings under, but they started to roll out. So I stitched them, and the excess started to roll out. So finally a few days ago, I tacked down the ends of the facing to the seamlines in order to keep everything in its place.

Have I mentioned comfy? It does ride up a bunch when I wear it with leggings, but soon it’ll be too warm for leggings, and then I’ll be sailing smooth!

March 17, 2015August 19, 2018

Emerald Circle Skirt

During one of the big storms that hit the South this winter I started dreaming of a wool skirt. And then I remembered my plans to make another circle skirt, this time out of a real color.

Grey is a great color, but it’s not someone’s first thought when you say “Pick a color!”

So I went online to the magical land of eBay and got this great emerald wool crepe. This one’s a nice weighty fabric with a loose weave and a lovely texture.

This time I made a 3/4 circle skirt, since the fabric already had enough body, and twirling would be dangerous enough.

I just had acquired a bunch of mystery fabric, and done of it was stiff and canvas like, so I used that as interfacing, since I always forget to obtain heavy interfacing.

And pockets. I put in (drumroll please: tssssssssssss) two pockets! Not one, which is acceptable, but two. Cause I love pockets!

Everything was going perfectly… until the hem. Now, I should have known better than to attempt using my rolled hem foot for such a thick fabric… but I don’t learn. So after an hour of attempting, I gave up.

My piles and piles of vintage bias tape called to me, and I found this nice goldish beige. I’m pretty sure it isn’t the original color, as I think it just aged that way, but I love it!

So I attached this lovely double fold to the bottom and called it a day!

I think I’m in love with this skirt, and I’m proud to wear it for St Patrick’s Day!

Of course, though, it’s now quite warm out. Oh well!

March 16, 2015February 6, 2020

Yellowtail

I’ve had this project done for weeks now.

Maybe even a month or two.
Definitely a month or four.

A long while… but I’ve finally fixed it up so I like it and wear it, so ours time to share!

This is my first version of the Yellowtail Cami. It’s a cute pattern and fills in with my wardrobe needs.

I’ve been buying camisoles from Forever 21 for years now… they’re just so comfortable and inexpensive and great for layering. But all of mine are stretching out. The elastic to hold n most of them up had stretched out to twice the normal size. Now, I could just fix it with new fold over elastic, but where’s the fun in that? Plus slippery fabric.

I bought this pattern at the same time as the Dandelion Dress pattern (which I still need to show you), since the design lines were so unique. And it looked more sophisticated than my normal ones.

But for my first time through I wanted to use scraps and scraps only, so I happened to have enough t shirt weight fabric, so I started with that! It came together rather quickly, with only some minor confusion involving the top front pieces, and especially with me sewing them in backward.

And I had a top! But I found that, at least for this fabric, the fit was off. Some of this was due to pressing errors, but I think I should have just sized down on the pattern.

I ended up taking in the side seams and adjusting the angle of the front top pieces so it would lie flatter across my chest, but it still gapes a little. With a smaller size and stretchier fabrics this problem will probably go away.

I also will probably lengthen it in my next make as well, since I like my tops to reach at least a couple of inches past my belt. This was in part due to my cutting choices, and partly due to the cut off the pattern.

Most of the time I wear it as an undershirt-type thing… Which is really how I wear camis anyway. But I like that the top is pretty and peeks out nicely at the top, since its a higher cami than I normally wear.

But all in all a nice little top! I can’t wait to make more!

February 10, 2015August 19, 2018

Tardis Corset Belt

I had already told you a few months ago now that I wanted to work on something new with leather, which is why I needed to finish the quiver so desperately.

It really was the need to make my Tardis belt.

As I’ve told you before, I wanted to wear at least part of my costume for Halloween, and a big part of the costume for me at least was the corset-belt, since it was supposed to represent a good portion of the Tardis. Before starting it, I had planned for it to represent the console, but upon further reflection (and me forgetting that was my plan) it all changed.

First up was the “muslin”, in order to see if my design would even work. I used the same cardboard from my quiver, and cut out a pattern that would fit around my hips, go up a bit in the back, and not impede any future bustle arrangements. It took some wiggling and some cutting down before I hit the right shape, but it was worth it.

I took a leather belly and lined up my pattern pieces to fit on it efficiently. My goal with leather is to always keep as much as possible, and since there isn’t exactly a grain this is totally possible, unlike fabric.

I used this funky tool that I had found in a scrap drawer to draw my pattern, and cut it out with a swivel knife very carefully to keep the circles as circular as possible.

I then got to the tooling, which ended up being more strenuous than I thought. I had run into the quandary of how much of this should be in relief, and how much raised. I ended up deciding that the round things should be raised, so I had to tamp down the entire background. Love the round things! A sore wrist later, the tooling was done.

Lacing was kind of required, though, since this was destined to be a corset. But how? I tested a few methods and lacing cords, but punching holes ended up being the best option.

At that point I considered it done… until Halloween morning. Then I decided that sparkles were necessary, and I painted the borders gold and glued on sequins to the round things.

And finally it was truly done, at least enough for Halloween! I may end up painting some more, but I’m pretty pleased with it!