Self Stitched September!

I've been participating in Self Stitched September, but I have not been contributing pictures. We are 8 days into the month and I figure that this is worth a report. I've been wearing one of the several iterations of the Hotpatterns Marrakesh pants. It's still warm enough to wear the linen versions that I made earlier this summer, with one of the many knit tops (commonly the Hotpatterns Sunshine top).

I've also been working on the Jalie 2909 pattern. Right now I've decided to make a version out of denim for casual Fridays. Even though I have the Jalie Jeans pattern, I decided that I didn't want to take the time to trace out and fit the pattern, so I'm making it from Jalie 2909 (the very simple trousers pattern). I dug into my stash (literally, they were on the bottom shelf) and I pulled out some denim I purchased from an online coop. The denim is purported to be a factory overrun from 7 for all Mankind jeans. I prewashed it a while ago, and have had it tucked away until I had a great jeans pattern that fit me in a wonderful way. Well, I decided not to wait for a jeans pattern, but use a trousers pattern. I'm glad that I didn't wait.

I think that I have learned my lesson about cheap fabric---when I made my first pair of pants (about 2 years ago), I used cheap denim from a chain fabric store. Even though I've worn these jeans many times and I have laundered them roughly (no delicate wash for me!) , they are stiff and they have a waxy finish. When I folded away and stored the 7 for all Mankind denim (over a year ago), I didn't notice any difference from other denim but gracious, last night when I cut it out with my rotary cutter, it was like slicing butter. The quality of the fabric really comes through. I'm having a very easy time cutting, and sewing the fabric. It's got a lovely hand and I'm enjoying sewing this garment (when I sewed with the cheaper denim, I was almost fighting the fabric). I almost wish that I had purchased more of this lovely denim, but when I look at the volume of my stash, I'm glad that I didn't. But if I see premium denim for sale again, I will think twice! I should be able to finish the jeans tomorrow night during Project Runway--all I have to do is finish add the waistband and hem them.

There was some sad news earlier this week. Fred Bloebaum from La Fred passed away from pancreatic cancer. I'm glad that I have some of her patterns (her designs and from her personal collection). I know that I will enjoy sewing with them, and per her advice, I will always wear my favorite colors.

Self Stitched September and Jalie 2909

Earlier this summer I signed up for Self Stitched September. Last weekend I realized that September is only a few weeks days away, so I had better start stitching for the cooler faller weather. Well, starting on Monday, the San Francisco Bay area has been hit by a heat wave. It's been averaging 90 plus degrees in my area. I have found it challenging to pull the wool blends from my stash to sew. I decided that I need to make some winter/autumn weight (err...this is San Francisco Bay area winter/autumn weight, which means that while it might get cold, we don't get any snow or ice that doesn't melt away).

I have made progress, though. I have made 3 pairs of Jalie 2909, Women's Classic Trousers. As I mentioned earlier, this is a very simple pattern with 3 pieces. The pattern is designed for a fabric with 20% crosswise stretch (one of my favorite tips for a knit gauge is located here on the Sewing Diva's blog (not the current blog)) but you can alter the pattern for fabrics with zero stretch. Two of the pairs of trousers are suitable for autumn, in color and fabric weight (the summer weight pair was made from a pastel plaid---I'm going to try and wear them several times before the season is over). I've used stash fabric from Happy Stop, Fabrix, and Michael's (Yay! that's close to 9 yards!). I'm planning on making two more pairs, so I can wear one pair each day to work. When I finish making the trousers, I'm going to look at some tops, jackets and sweater tops.

Since I have altered the pattern so it fits, these pants a very fast sewing job (umm. I'm not putting in the crease and I'm adding belt loops. I should probably draft a contour waistband so it fits better). Cutting out the fabric is very quick (rotary cutter), and I can sew a fly zipper in 20 minutes. I'm not doing an elaborate seam finishing: just top stitching down the seam allowances with decorative stitches.

I'm going to try and use my bias tape collection to finish the seams. Now that I know that the pattern has been suitably altered, I can see that it will be easy to apply the bias tape before assembling the different pattern pieces. I have bazillions of yards and packets of bias and seam tape. Whenever I go to an estate sale that mentions sewing goods, I end up with more bias tape and zippers. My zipper drawers are full (yes, I have TWO drawers of all sorts of zippers), and I need to create a more organized space for the bias tape (and everything else in my apartment).

Speaking of estate sales, I found the mother load on Monday night, and it was right around the corner from my house. I had a trip planned to Costco and took a quick look at Craigslist. I saw that a "free stuff" listing that described "some sewing goods." Since the house was close by I decided to drop by. It turned that the previous owner (deceased several months earlier) was a serial crafter, from sewing to knitting to rug hooking to jewelry making. I was able to go through the items and ended up with a large amount of vintage patterns (including a lot of Stretch-and-Sew patterns), seam tape, more zippers, random yardage of nylon tricot in funky 1970s patterns, hem markers, and other stuff that I'm still going through. I ended up splitting the available collection of stuff with another sewist who was also going through the materials. My tiny little car was packed when I drove away. I told the young couple who were handling the distribution to call me if they found the button collection, but I also advised them that they could probably sell the buttons on eBay, especially if the buttons were on cards or that they would make a nice memento for someone in the family. I have an over abundance of fabrics and notions, so now I need to actually use some of it. When I go to estate sales, sometimes I see the foreshadowing of my own life....

Self-Stitched September

more information about Self-Stitched September. I'm planning on participating in this event--I'm not certain if I can participate in the photo pool, but I know I can manage to wear something self-made.

'I, Rose, sign up as a participant of Self-Stitched-September. I endeavour to wear at least 1 handmade item of clothing every day for the duration of September 2010'.