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Messages - indigotiger

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Sewalongs and Competitions / Re: 2023 Capsule Wardrobe Sewalong
« on: February 02, 2023, 05:14:18 AM »

I fell in love with this printed fabric last year, for some reason the combination of the complex colorway and the conversational landscape really spoke to me, so much so that I broke my intention to not purchase new fabric, and bought enough to make a blouse. There are practically all the colors in my wardrobe to a greater or lesser degree, as well as a whole variety of bright or subtle accent colors.

I see teal and turquoise, of course, which is what first attracted my eye, as those are the newest colors in my everyday clothing. In addition, there are indigo blues from dark navy to pale, taupe, greys dark and light, a number of green and greenish mixed hues, and some startling pinks and even a tiny bit of yellow and white. The landscape feels very PNW to me, with islands in water, and here and there the woodland rhododendrons. This is going to be my springtime sewing inspiration.

What am I going to make? First off, this fabric will become a blouse. I have some dark teal heavy linen, which will become a pinafore. The blouse will also coordinate with my grey linen pinafore and others, and the teal pinafore will coordinate with a number of tops, blouses, and dresses already in my closet. If I really feel the mojo, I have a length of plaid checked cotton flannel in teal and dark blue, that could be made up into a shirt.  (I would like to make a reverse applique cardigan jacket with some of the teal cotton lycra jersey that has been waiting on my shelf for the last two years, but still don't have a clear vision for that piece, so I will continue to wait...)

2
First off thanks Ruthie for the invite to come and comment here...

Personally, I am not competitive, and prefer a "sew-along" to a "competition". I am more interested in the camaraderie and inspiration of seeing what others are sewing than in trying to "be #1". Also it seems that the time needed for the moderators to set up things like voting must be considerable

I was formerly pretty active in the "world of SWAP", starting when it was sponsored by Timmel Fabrics, and then when it moved to Stitchers Guild. SWAP as a format really changed my sewing and wardrobe planning in a positive way over the years, not particularly the contest aspect, but the thinking about how what I sew fit together as a coherent wardrobe, and how that made my everyday life easier.

That said, I had decided last year that I would no longer be an active SWAP participant; I no longer need to add 13 new garments to my closet every year, but rather want to either fill a specific gap in my wardrobe (hello new raincoat!), or replace a particular garment that has worn out past mending. I want to do more slow, careful, learning new skills sort of sewing...

As far as ideas for online challenges, I am quite fond of the 6-PAC concept, or its smaller "sisters". Other ideas could be things like choose an "orphan" garment from your closet and make several things that coordinate and help it integrate with the rest of your wardrobe. Or, make something using a technique new to you that you always wanted to try. Or "fun with fastenings" using things like zippers, snaps, or toggles etc. Or outerwear. Or underwear. I will be really curious to find out what gets decided, and how it may integrate with my sewing plans for 2023

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Previous sewalong entries / Re: THINK PINK ... 1/7 - 31/7
« on: June 30, 2020, 00:27:03 AM »
I looked through my entire fabric stash and there is no pink fabric at all. The closest I came was I have a piece of wool felt that is a sort of peach/pink color... not sure at all what I could make from that? I think it was intended to be used as part of a toy, years ago??

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Previous sewalong entries / Re: Aaaaannnnd In the Garden ...
« on: June 25, 2020, 15:35:38 PM »
I would love a sew-on patch please...

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Previous sewalong entries / Re: Aaaaannnnd In the Garden ...
« on: June 19, 2020, 20:07:43 PM »
I am truly startled to be one of the three! There were so many fantastic entries  that I had a very difficult time choosing who to vote for, and each floral entry was worthy of congratulations. I am grateful for the votes, and even more grateful for the inspiration to push my efforts a little further in trying new things...

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indigotiger's Entry - Floral Blouse

What event/occasion is it for: everyday wear, especially in springtime

Pattern used: self-drafted TNT button front blouse pattern

I really wanted to make something cheerful to wear, and this teal floral print was a lot more colorful than my usual grey/brown/black/indigo wardrobe, while still being something that would coordinate with what is in my closet. I had purchased the fabric sometime in the past few years, probably because it reminded me of Liberty Lawn prints...

Cutting out and putting the blouse together would be fairly straightforward, since it is a TNT pattern and my isolation weight loss didn't affect any crucial fitting issues, just made the blouse a little more loose fitting. However, for some reason, the project told me that it wanted to have decorative rick rack piping added to the collar and center front! (surely I am not the only seamster who has their projects "speak" to them) While I have done regular flat piping in the past, I have never worked with rick rack before, and after hunting for quite a while online, I found someone selling some vintage all cotton pale blue tiny rick rack... I wanted small, because I wanted subtle, not too twee. I didn't realise that the very narrow trim would be as difficult as it turned out to be to sandwich accurately when sewing the collar seams. There were a number of places I needed to go back and re-stitch, as the difference between catching the rick rack in the seam correctly, sewing it in too deeply so it didn't show, and not actually catching the little zig zags was literally a thread of difference.

Fortunately, stitching the rick rack into the front button bands was less fraught, as it could be done with the components all in plain sight:

I was pretty pleased with the final effect of adding the rick rack trim, it did add just the touch of emphasis without making it look like a child's garment:

Here is the blouse "as worn"... I am next planning on making a teal linen pinafore for an even more "summery" look, but as this blouse will coordinate with all the current pinafores in my closet, so I am quite content


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Thanks for reminding me... I will try and take a photo today...

8
almost there on my floral blouse... I still need to take some better photos than this "hanger shot" of it in the closet:

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Beautiful fabric.  I went to an exhibition devoted to Liberty's and saw a jacket made from upside down fabric.  :S
While this isn't Liberty (alas) the print had very much a similar feel to it IMHO, which is why it appealed to me. That is pretty funny that an exhibition garment would have missed something like that :o

10
I'm going to join in... I am going to make a floral blouse from this indigo/teal floral cotton. I will be using my TNT bias front blouse pattern, and inserting pale blue vintage micro rick rack (that I found on Etsy) as "piping" in the collar edge, and maybe down the front of the button band edges and the sleeve cuff bands
When I took a closer look at the fabric before marking the pattern pieces and cutting them out, I realised that the print was directional, which I had somehow not noticed when I bought it. This will complicate the cutting layout, as it would look subtly wierd, I think, to have the foliage not all going in the same direction. This fabric has so many colors in the print (indigo, medium blue, light blue, teal, light teal, leaf green, gold, and white) that it will be wearable with all my pinafores, including the new teal/black chambray and the new grey linen both waiting to be stitched up... I am eager to finish cutting this blouse out and getting started!

11
What lovely flowered fabrics everyone has!  :flower: :flower: :flower:... I am so tempted to join in, though I have no exciting ideas for what to make. I may try and make a blouse, as I have some multicolor/teal cotton that is in sort of a Liberty style print, and I might have some rayon that is vaguely floral, for a popover summer top.  Once I finish sewing the huge batch of masks that I promised to other people, I want to sew something spring-like for myself, just for fun

12
Indigotiger's entry

what I made: Black/grey gingham flannel shirt

pattern used: My TNT personal bias front bodice pattern

about the project: I wanted to make a warm cotton flannel winter shirt, using a length of heavy work-weight gingham flannel. My TNT pattern has 3/4 length sleeves and a cuff binding, but here I wanted shirt length sleeves, with real buttoned cuffs and a traditional tower placket. both of which would require me to do some additional drafting and a number of additional steps in construction.

When I tried laying out the pattern pieces, it was obvious that there was not quite enough of the flannel, so I had to find some other fabric to use as an accent. I had a piece of black/grey polkadot quilt cotton which I decided to use for the inner cuffs and inner placket, the yoke lining, the undercollar, and the binding for the collar seam. I am very pleased with how the accent fabric adds a subtle embellishment to the shirt. This was my very first time making a tower placket; I used this excellent tutorial from Pam Erny, and was delighted at how it turned out. I will definitely make some more cuffed shirts in the future!
This is my flannel shirt, as worn with my black corduroy pinafore and a pair of grey knit loose leggings
The collar and neckline of the shirt, showing two different sides of the polkadot fabric (yoke facing, and bias binding along collar shirt seam), bias and straight-of-grain use of the gingham flannel.
The successful tower placket, both closed (above), and open (below)...again showing how I used the polkadot fabric to line the cuff and also to create the inner placket.

13
The black/grey gingham flannel shirt is completed, and my guesstimate for how long to make the sleeves turned out to be just right. I will be making a note of that on the pattern for future reference, and foresee some additional shirts (as opposed to blouses) in my future sewing at some point...
The collar and neckline of the shirt, showing two different sides of the polkadot fabric (yoke facing, and bias binding along collar shirt seam), bias and straight-of-grain use of the gingham flannel.
The successful tower placket, both closed (above), and open (below)...again showing how I used the polkadot fabric to line the cuff and also to create the inner placket.
I'll have another photo or two of how the shirt looks when I am wearing it soon....

14
So my next project is the grey/black flannel shirt. There is just enough fabric to eke out most of the pattern pieces, if I cut the undercollar, inner cuffs, inner yoke, and the under placket from a complimentary fabric. Fortunately I found some suitable remnants of quilting cotton fabric, black with grey polkadots (used for a former everyday dress). I'm looking forward to the challenge of learning how to make the tower placket.

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Previous sewalong entries / Re: 6PAC Wardrobing contest - 10.02.-10.05.2020
« on: February 02, 2020, 04:56:13 AM »
1   grey chore coat,  Frenchglen Barn Jacket, heavy grey canvas
2   grey linen pinafore, self drafted TNT (heavyweight linen)
3    grey rayon top, embellished with block printing, self drafted (textured rayon remnant deep stash)

1   teal/black linen pinafore, self-drafted TNT (Kaufman Essex linen/cotton)
2    indigotiger rayon popover, self drafted TNT (printed rayon with indigo tigers)
3    teal/multicolor rayon top, self drafted, colorblocked, using several coordinating vintage 80's fabrics

the chore coat is a new-to-me pattern, so there will necessarily be at least one and probably more than one muslins needed... I've been feeling like adding teal/turquoise as an accent color for a while, and this seems like the perfect excuse. It feels like more of a warm season color to me than my usual grey/indigo/black/brown, so a teal pinafore will be a good transitional option.

I just realised last night that I could use the same idea as my popover dresses to make a shorter version as a top to wear under a pinafore when the weather is warming. This will let me use some of the smaller remnants in my stash as well as give me another option for my favorite thing: surface embellishment...  Both of the tops will be able to be worn under either of the pinafores (as well as with most all of the ones already in my closet, ditto for the popover dress with the indigo tigers. (that print has a black background with what look like grey accents, and tigers in two different shades of indigo and teal... the fabric is on back order until the end of March)

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