Making patterns and the sewing frenzy

 

I don’t think it is any surprise that I like to make my own patterns most of the time.  This saves me money in the grand scheme of my sewing, but it also saves a bit of frustration.   I have had many times where the article of clothing doesn’t fit after sewing it up from a pattern.  That is not fun at all when your work goes down the drain.

If I find a pattern that fits, I use the crap out of it.  True story…most of Anya’s tops and dresses are based off a simple knit top pattern from about 3 years ago.  I have re-drafted it as she grew, but that was the base for so many of her clothes.  Once you figure out how to change a base pattern into different things, you really don’t need to buy any patterns.  I could have just as easily used a purchased top that fit well for that base pattern.  The sleeves are a bit harder to draft well that way, but it could have still been done.

Let me introduce you to Glad Press N’ Seal.  You may even have it in your kitchen!  Mine is NOT in my kitchen, but in my sewing room.  The first time I heard that you could use Glad Press N’ Seal to make patterns, it was like an epiphany!  One of those, “Of course…why didn’t I think of that!” type of moments.

I tried to find a tutorial on how to make patterns with Glad Press N’ Seal from RTW clothes to share with you, and this one describes the process pretty well.  Basically, you are tearing off a piece, smoothing it over the article of clothing (turned inside out), tracing the stitching line, and then transferring that to a paper pattern (along with a seam allowance).

I would recommend making a muslin out of your less coveted fabric for the first-time use, but if it is a knit or something with a lot of stretch, you have more wiggle room.  Literally and figuratively. 😉

This is a pair of leggings for me.  Leggings are a bit reminiscent of my youth, only back then you wore a belly shirt with them.  It was pretty Klassy.  Now that we are older, we wear long shirts that cover our bum.

I made the pattern from a pair of leggings I already have, only I made the rise higher and added a 3” waistband.  Seriously, this is better than Spanx.  Holds in all that loose skin from having babies and the extra pudge from eating real butter.  That is the great thing about making your own patterns.  You can adjust an “almost good fitting” article of clothing to one that fits pretty well.

The fabric of these leggings reminds me of some space age uniform.  It is metallic gray with quite the sheen and stretchy.  These are really comfy to wear.

This next clothing item was a bit more difficult.  This is a princess-seamed top, so the front and the back are more form fitting.  The original shirt was made out of stretch cotton poplin, with a zipper down the side and 8 pieces for the front.  I simplied it a bit, because that was just too much work for me.  I had to make facings for the neckline, but other than that it was pretty straight-forward.

Here is the first one.  This shirt fit pretty well, as the poplin has a generous amount of stretch to it.  The fit issues I had on this one were that the back near the arms is not wide enough, since the bra straps will be shown off, the v-neck was too big and popped out, and it was just a little bit too big overall.  I adjusted the pattern for those issues.  The fabric having plenty of stretch and being a little big meant that I didn’t need to add in the side-seam zipper.  Score!

Then I got cocky and cut out two more shirts after making the pattern modifications noted above.  Neither shirt had as much stretch as the shirt above, and that was very bad.  One must pay attention to that ever important detail.

Here is mistake #1…the fabric isn’t really that breathable, as it seems to have a plastic-y, almost laminated feel to it. It is very cool fabric, though, and has a little bit of stretch to it, too.  Unfortunately, I didn’t take that “little bit” into account when I cut it out.  It is too small in the bust area, so it doesn’t fit.  It’s pretty, though, isn’t it?

Here is mistake #2…another top out of cream stretch cotton poplin, but it doesn’t have as much stretch as the first top.  I decided to fancy it up by doing tucks that reverse on each side, and then added a cowl-neck in a cream stretch chiffon.  To make the tucks, I had to elongate the pattern for the amount of material needed for the tucks.  That meant cutting the pattern in those spots and adding onto it.  Then I marked the fabric where the tucks were placed to make sure they were put in the right spot.

I am going to submit this top to the Spring Top Sewalong, since I do like the design of it the most. 

The shirt is a little tight on me, so I was pretty bummed about that.  It is my favorite of all of the shirts, though.  I also made the skirt I am wearing here.  It is my pattern that I have used for a good year, as it just fits so nicely.  Another pattern that was based off another item of clothing I had in my closet.

Then here is the last one (so far).  I added a ruffle to fancy up the neckline and made it a smidge bigger since the cream one was a little tight.  The edges of the ruffle were made from doing a rolled hem on the serger.  I really, really tried to do a narrow hem using the special foot on my sewing machine, but I just couldn’t get it to work.  I need to watch some You Tube videos or something to figure that thing out.

I am wearing it here with a simple jersey maxi skirt that I also made.  This fabric was in the box of one-off fabric runs at the fabric store.  I like to dive into that big box to see what they have, since you can find some interesting pieces in there.  I based this skirt off the pattern for the skirt above, and elongated it.  My first attempt with the skirt was with a foldover yoga waist.  That didn’t work, as it is just too thin and stretchy.  I cut it off and I did another waistband with the 3″ elastic.  This will be nice and flattering during the summer months, and I can wear tons of different colors for a top. 

Now that I have written a novel, I will leave it at that for this week.  Yes…I do have more sewing to show because I am on a roll!