Me Made June day 2 and 3

Day 2 of Me Made June was an exciting one filled with many graduations, and all the busy end of the school year stuff. Wanted to feel cool yet business casual. Out of the closet came a Burda Plus Fashion sleeveless top plus a short sleeve knit jacket I picked up thrifting. This top I finished in early May and I've worn it quiet a bit since.

 Pattern: 

This is my rendition of Burda Plus Fashion spring/summer 2011 421

Pattern Description: 

Burda Magazine has described this top as simple, figure hugging and sleeveless. TO me it is a dress alternative to your basic tank top.

Pattern Sizing:

Burda sizes 44-46-48-50-52-54

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes and no mine end up with little wings at my hipline.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

These are your typical Burda Magazine instructions. They are complete but at some points you wonder were they are going. What I learned was that the are accurate as long as you follow step by step.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

Love that this top can be dressed up our down depending on what type of knit you use. It has nice thic straps so no bra peaking out.

Don’t really like how tight the underarms are. It not bad because you have no bra showing but next one I will make just a little looser in the underarm.

Fabric Used:

This was some poly knit I rescued at the Thrift Shoppe

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

Using Pattern Fitting with Confidence I did a slide and pivot FBA of 15cm and need to add 26cm to the waist.  This might have been over done since I end up with some wings at my hipline. Over all the top fit well.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

Yes I plan to make this again as it is very comfortable to wear and dress up nicely. Yes I do recommend it to others. Beginners make sure you follow the directions step by step.

Conclusion:

This is a fun and simple alternative to you normal basic summer tank.

Today which is Me Made Day 3 was a busy hot and stick last day of school. Wanted to stay cool standing out in the heat at the end of year carnival.  So out came McCall's 5663. I originally made this now oop pattern back in the summer of 2008. Still love the flowiness of this thin knit top.

Time to get back to my jean design project. Happy sewing.

Me Made June Day 1

Welcome to the first day of June. Today was a casual day at work and all I could think was the need for comfort in our unair-conditioned building. So today I wore my Burda crops originally made back in May 2009.

These pants come from the Burda Plus spring/summer issue (E895). I made them out of some lovely denim. You can read more about my rendition of Burda 410 on my pattern review of them. I matched them up with a simple tee that was a project that some of my local high school students have under taken. To learn more about their project and the t-shirt please visit their website.

Here is a close up of the shirt.

Me Made June Challenge

After much anticipation and thought I have decided to take on Zoe's Me Made June Challenge. The idea of the challenge is to wear more of your own creations for one months. I believe this will help them get into the rotation of of ones wardrobe so I really love these types of challenges. This is my first time I will be going at it. So I'll be trying to keep it simple. I can't promise I will post daily but I will be posting what I wear. Hope you"ll join in the fun.

I, Jen of http://jtscloset-jen.blogspot.com/, sign up as a participant of Me-Made-June '11. I endeavour to wear
at least 3 of my self made garments each week for the duration of June 2011'

The Jean Class Begins

Hi everyone. Sorry about the lack of posting. In the mean time I've been busy making a few more pairs of Lutterloh lounge pant for the gym and a few more tops. I'll post a review of the projects when there is a bit more time.

I wanted to give you an update about the denim and my question about the best way to learn. After much though I decided to pass up for the present on the Jeans for Everybody DVD. I think it maybe an excellent product and it will remain on my wish list. Instead I decided to take the New Zealand Lutterloh class Jeans Designing. I am very excited about this class. Sonja's materials for the class are excellent and well written. A master pattern to work from comes with the class materials and Sonja makes herself available for questions 4 times a year during each class running session. I will be taking more classes in the future. 

On to the meat and potatoes of this post. I have not got very far on my jeans yet but I thought I would give you a few little glimpses of the pattern, layout and front pocket construction.

 One challenge with Lutterloh is making sure you have your grain lines in the correct place. The information both in this class and the instructions in Sonya's ebook helped with this.

 The pocket construction was not as complicated as one might expect. But let me tell you using the machine needles made for denim really helped. I also purchased a walking foot for the sewing machine and was surprised that it sewed through 5 layers of denim no problem.









 Another helpful tip was to use my overcast/edger foot to do my double row of top stitching. It kept the top stitching fairly even. And it was very easy to use my machines needle positions to create the look.

Also following the instructions from the class on making a French seam my front pocket bags look wonderful. I cut the whole pocket from butterfly quilting cotton that my mothers friend gave me for free.  Love it. That is all I have to share today. Happy sewing and I will keep this project updated for you.

How Do you Best Learn



The Sewing Library

 How do you best learn? Every year about this time I decide it's time in invest in something new to increase my knowledge of my craft of sewing. My mind starts race should I purchase a new book or DVD. How about a class. Living in the area I do class are pretty much limited to those online at sites like PR or Lutterloh NZ.

Having recently saved 10 yards of denim form my local Goodwill store I've been obsessed with the idea of making a pair of jeans. But were does one begin? Today in the inbox of my email I received ad for Jeans for Real People.  The video is 3 hours long and promises a start to finsh look at making a great pair of jeans. Hmm now it's got me thinking just how much info about jean making is too much. Should I buy this video as well as the project on jean making from Lutterloh NZ? Will this video be a one time watch or a great resource to add to the sewing shelf?

So tell me whats your favorite way to learn and grow into a better sewist? Do you have a favorite resource or class?

Denim, Denim and More Denim!

10 yards of denim was happily rescued by me from the local Goodwill store. Three weeks ago after 3 separate visits I knew it was begging for a home even if it meant sitting in my fabric stash. At the time I had some idea I would try a pair of  jeans or two but had no idea that a big part of this springs style watch would be denim. Denim jackets, denim blazers, denim skirts, denim dress and denim pants all in several styles inspired by the '70's and else where. It will be interesting watching the return of the high waisted pant from that era and deciding if it is for me this time around.

Embracing the current spring trend of denim I have decided to attempt to make a new pair of jeans. Or perhaps this resolution comes from the fact that of the 4 pairs of denim in my closet I currently always grab the same pair. And that poor pair of pants has decide most recently to rebel in fit like all of it's brothers and sisters hanging in the closet because they are too tight or refuse to stay up on the tummy. A good pair of jeans is like a good pair of tights and stays where it is suppose to.

To begin this denim adventure I have decided to consult the experts about pants. Out has come Pants For Real People by Pati Palmer and Marta Alto and Making Trousers for Men and Woman by David Page Coffin. My brain is still debating if I should invest in Lutterloh Jeans Making class or tool away on my own until I have my chosen pair perfected.

Do you have a favorite pair of jeans you have made?

Happy Super Bowl everyone. Although I think the Steelers are a good team I would not be a true girl of the green and yellow country with out saying GO PACKERS GO.



Try To Think Spring

One of this winter worst storms is passing slightly south of us. When I say slightly I mean the worst part of the storm.  Both Milwaukee and Chicago areas have started shutting down, and schools not 30 miles away had off today and are already canceling school tomorrow. one local collage today said no class so far. But this is WI and the weather changes by the minute.

One thing I know that is not going to change is that winter will last another 6 weeks at least. So thinking spring is very hard, but wanting to add color to the grey days is a must. So I've come up with the idea that I need to create a late winter/early spring collection. I will be doing the collection as a endless combination style collection where one piece plays off of the last so the each piece can work with 2 or more pieces.

The first idea is to create some color with a palette of denim, orange and brown.  Which could work easily through three seasons. Fabric clockwise is dark blue denim, orange double knit, brown print poly woven, orange satin that was permanently wrinkled during washing, cotton lycra knit in upbeat dots, orange rayon blend knit and a brown print rpl knit. Missing would be brown double knit for a pair of pants, skirt and jacket combo.

The second color idea for some reason yells summer to me, and for that reason alone I think I might hold it off. Clockwise aqua bamboo knit, royal blue prl, aqua rib knit, cotton blend satin twill print in white, aqua and royal, charcoal poly blend with royal pin stripe. Whats missing would be a white double knit for a skirt/dress and royal blue double knit for a pants/skirt.

What do you think? Happy sewing.