Wiksten Shift Dress

Wiksten Shift Dress

with my Doc Marten shoes!

I have been following #wikstenshift on IG for a long time now and finally decided to buy the pattern and make the dress!  Last summer I bought 6 yards of Essex Linen to make a couple of Farrow dresses.  I like that pattern a lot, but the Essex is a bit too heavy, maybe not for the pattern, but for Central Texas.  The Farrow dress has a double layer of fabric on the front skirt to make the pockets.  It is an amazing and intriguing design, but once again, Texas.  Too hot! I probably need to find a source of linen that isn't quite as heavy as the Essex. On to the Wiksten Shift Dress!

Back in my studio, it was time to get busy! It feels weird putting in this much effort to make a garment without knowing if it will fit or if I will like it.  After thinking for a while, I opted to make a few alterations. It was tempting to put some bright yellow or bright pink for the pockets on my simple grey dress.  However, I decided to keep it simple. First up, cutting out the pieces:

I have long arms. So, I decided to pin the pattern to the shoulder seam of a dress I love, and check the pocket placement.  It was a bit too high, so I plan to lower it, not by a lot, but 1/2" will be perfect!

I also read the pattern before starting, which is pretty standard for me.  The finishing instructions for the pocket are pretty standard, but I wanted to try a lined pocket, using the same fabric that I would be using on the neck facing, a light grey dot print.

I cut out 2 pockets, and 2 pocket linings.  Because of the change, the process for sewing makes the pocket pattern a bit too big, so I altered it slightly.  With right sides together, I stitched along 3 sides, trimmed the corners, and then turned inside out.  After pressing, I zigzagged the bottom edge, and put two rows of topstitching along the top of the pocket.  Then I placed the pocket with the solid grey sides together sort of upside down on the placement dots:

I will stitch 1/2" from the bottom edge of the lined pocket (where the yellow, green, and blue pins are), and then flip the pockets up and pin in place.  

Next is to topstitch around the sides and the bottom edges. I wanted to be careful with the topstitching along the bottom edge because I didn't want the bottom seam to stick out and show.  So, as I approached each bottom corner, I used some forceps to sort of tuck it in and then proceeded to stitch slowly. It worked!

Once the pockets are complete, you proceed with sewing the rest of the dress.  I am going to add just a few more notes where I deviated from the pattern.

Neck facing:

I hate finishing the edge of a neck facing, especially when it says to turn under 1/4".  That is hard to do on a curve and have it look good.  For this dress it will be more important because that edge will be stitched to the dress front and the line of stitching will show, so the curve needs to be done well.  I opted to use a technique for appliqueing circles.  It requires hand stitching with small stitches a scant 1/4", then use a plastic ring, pull the threads to gather in the excess fabric on the folds, use some starch (applied with a cotton swab), and the iron.  It makes a beautiful edge!  Only, I didn't have a template for the shape of the facing.  I opted to just cut some freezer paper from the facing pattern piece, iron it to the back side of the fabric.  I used the hand stitching, the starch and the iron, and it is a really nice smooth curve!  Sweeeeeeeet!

Then I can peel off the freezer paper and use it again, if I make this dress again.  And I am thinking I might because I really love the pattern. I also like to finish the facing early on, so that it will be ready when I need it. 

I also like this photo of the process because it looks so scary! I call it the ring of a million stabby pins. 

Last step, the hem.  I was worried because this is called a short dress in the pattern, that it would be too short.  So, I did the hem slightly differently to allow the dress to be 1 1/4" longer.  I shouldn't have worried though, it would have been the perfect length for me just following the original instructions.  Next time I will know! (Also, in case I forget, I put a pencil note on the pattern!)

I wore my new dress all day, and it lived up to my unreasonably high expectations! The pockets are roomy! And, they do not sag or gap, perfect! I like the fit! It is roomy and a bit loose which makes it easy to move.  My fierce warrior stance: (ha ha!)

Well, that's it for my month of catching up on sewing chores.  Next week I will return to posting about the quilts I am working on.  I am not sure all these projects have been fun, but they have definitely been useful and worthwhile. I am glad to have them completed, vs. sitting in a pile! Cheers!

Pajama Pants

Pajama Pants

If someone made pj's like this, I would buy them, but they don't.  So, I have resigned myself to make them. Sometimes when you see a fabric, you just know it's destiny, and this was one of those times. Despite the fact that I don't enjoy sewing clothes, I do like wearing them! And, this pattern is so incredibly simple to make, only 6 steps! 

Note: I did not purchase this pattern, it is what is left of an old and thread worn pair of pj's that was ripped apart to make the pattern.  This is not my go-to for sewing.  I prefer to buy a pattern and give the income to the designer.  I will show one of those next week. 

1.  Cut out the pieces.  I used 2 shapes, one for the front leg and one for the back, and I needed two of each.

2.  With right sides together, I pinned and then sewed the inseams of each front leg to a back leg. 

3. Then I sewed the two stitched sections together along the center front and center back. I always put 2 lines of stitching along the curves to strengthen the seam. 

4. The next seam makes the jamers look like pants!  I lined up the outer leg seams, front and back, with right sides together and stitch.  

5. Then I made a casing for the waistband. I opted to sew in the elastic so that it will never roll.  I also put buttonholes in the front so that I can have a drawstring too. 

6. Last step is to finish the bottom cuffs of each pant leg.  I turned in 1/2" two times and then stitched.  Super easy, and ready to wear!

Neckline alterations

Neckline alterations

I bought these 2 Marimeko dresses last week eagerly anticipating their arrival!!  I bought two colorways because the last time I bought a Marimeko dress from Uniqlo, I loved it so much, I wished I had bought two of them.  However, when I tried the first one on, the neckline of the dress was too high and was cutting me in the throat. The neckline would have been fine if the dress was at all stretchy, but it was not.  And, I didn't want to send them back.  The colors are too pretty, and the A line, aka TENT dress, is so comfortable and cool for the summer.  Fortunately the design of the dress had an ample facing on the inside. Here's the part where I admit my novice level of sewing, the facing was one of those that connects the neck and sleeve hole facing in one piece.  I don't understand it, I still don't, but I thought I would risk experimenting on the pink and orange dress, and if it went well, then I would have a dress that I loved to wear, and would be willing to risk the second one, the grey and white. 

The pink and orange alterations worked! Here is a before (the grey and white one) and after (the pink and orange one). 

The difference is subtle.  I only cut off about 3/4" inch, but it made a huge difference in being able to wear it. 

I started with detaching the facing tacks at the side seams, and then ripped out the stitching that attaches the seam allowance to the facing.  Is that called stay stitching? I don't think so....It was however, very fine and tiny stitching, and I had to put on two pairs of glasses to see it!

I skipped the photos for the rest of the pink and orange dress, please forgive me.  On to the grey and white one.  The next step is to arrange the neckline so that the right sides of the fabrics are together.  Then I lightly sketched the line that I wanted to sew.  I used the piece I cut off from the pink and orange dress as a reference, and I made this one just slightly larger, about an inch. 

I pinned the facing to the bodice so that there would be no slippage, and then stitched along the line.  The scary part is trimming the seam line with scissors.  Yikessss!

This entire operation would not be possible if the facing hadn't been so big, so thank you for that!  I would have had to devise something else, and this solution was so easy! The last step was to sew the seam allowance back down to the inside facing, and reattach the tacts at the side seams.  Super easy!

Here's my two leftovers!  Evidence of success and bravery! I think I will keep them!

The final product? The neckline is now low enough that it doesn't choke me!  Hurray!

KitchenAid mixer cover

 A new cover for my KitchenAid mixer

I have decided to use the month of July to catch up on some sewing jobs that I have put off for a while.  This first one is the oldest.  I bought the fabric for this project about 6 years ago when I remodeled my kitchen.  I went from cobalt blue and white tiles to a lovely pale seafoam glass tile with white. Are you wondering what is under this cover yet?  What color is my mixer??  It is ice blue! Perfect with the tiles.  And, apparently when I bought my new refrigerator they gave me the free mixer!! I almost considered just leaving it without a cover, because it looks so good to me, but the bowl collects dust when not in use, so...

The kitchen remodel was a success story with the exception of the mixer cover (below), which now is beyond the ability to clean to get the stains out.  In order to commit to the project, I knew that I would need to rip the seams out so that I wouldn't be tempted to postpone the project again.  This is one of those projects that I knew I could do, but really did not want to spend any time on it. 

You can see the ugly stains on this thing, but it is amazing what you can overlook when you don't want to do a thing...

After ripping out all the seams, I drew a paper pattern and started thinking about the construction.  I knew that I would NOT be adding piping, but I wanted to consider both the shape of the thing, and the finishing along the bottom. This project has 2 hump shaped side pieces, 1 long center piece that wraps front to back (or in my case, 2 center pieces because my new fabric has a directional pattern), and 1 piece to use for the pocket. The original cover has a lovely scalloped shape on the bottom, which I did not want.  So, I squared it up a bit.

I got out my trusty compass and estimated the shape at the top.  The old fabric is spongy and smushy and hard to get an exact shape.  I made some measurements and drew some lines.  

Next, I assembled all the pieces and made quilt sandwiches, slightly bigger than the pattern.  The one above is for the front pocket.  I opted to use the same material for the front and back of the pocket.  Then, when you look inside the pocket, all the fabric you see is this lovely graphic floral.  The other pieces (the centers, and the sides) are sandwiched with batting and a plain white fabric that will be the inside of the cover. I was super lazy with the basting and just pinned it together.  Let the quilting begin! 

For such a lovely simple graphic fabric, I opted to follow the pattern lines.  This was fun and pleasing at first, but it got boring rather quickly, and what started as a one day project, morphed into 5 days.  Nuts!

Then each piece was cut to shape and, with right sides together, stitched. That part went fairly quickly, except for putting the pocket on backwards, ripping it out and trying again.  Also, I don't have a serger, so before stitching the pieces together, I used a zig-zag stitch to finish all the edges.  This fabric was a light weight upholstery linen, and I was worried it would come unraveled in what I expect to be frequent washings. 

It was all good, except that either my measurements were wrong, or I failed to consider the seam allowances going around the shape of those hump side pieces when attaching the center pieces, but the bottom of the cover came out very uneven.  The centers were too long, and the sides were too short.  My solution was just to trim it all up nice and even, and then use a tiny 1/2" facing that wraps to the inside to finish the bottom edges.  

Here's the final product!

And it looks good with my 'new' tile and solid white countertops! I am happy! 

Log Cabin two-sided block

Log Cabin two-sided block

After making The Island, I decided to experiment with construction a two sided block with different designs on both sides, and yet both pieced.  I have seen this done at a masterful level by Emiko Toda Loeb.  I first saw her quilts at the International Quilt Festival many years ago. Her work has different designs on the front and the back, both constructed with a log cabin process.  They are amazing and wonderful! Please follow the link above if you would like to be delighted and inspired!

At some point, I saw a youtube video showing how she does it.  I don't remember if I used her technique exactly, but I got the broad strokes.  I started grabbing strips of fabric that had been left over from previous projects, with little regard to the color palette.  (Sorry about that!) I mostly wanted to try this technique.  It works! And like all good things, it requires some patience and practice.  I have been sewing long enough to realize when things are not going well, it is best to rip out a bit, and reconsider my process. For mine, I needed pins from the front, and then pins on the back to hold the thing together while stitching. 

I had so much fun with this little experiment, I forgot to take process photos, which I normally do just to help my memory.  I am not sure I would make an entire quilt like this, but I do like how nicely it turned out.  It has the same quality of being quilted at the same time it is constructed or pieced. 

I had planned to make a series of these and practice sewing the blocks together, but I lost interest after doing the first block. I was thinking it would be a great summer project, because you could quilt the blocks before joining them.  I was thinking some hand stitching would look good! Then you would not be baking under a large quilt while quilting.  

The only thing left was to finish it up.  Instead of choosing a binding or a facing, I just trimmed the batting and tucked the edges inside.  This is called a knife edge finish. 

Now it is complete and about the size of a good mug rug!

The Island

The Island

30" x 30"

This quilt is a reminder of where I grew up.  Corpus Christ is on a bay which is protected by barrier islands and has a seaport with a ship channel that connects to the Intracoastal Canal and the Gulf of Mexico.  We refer, affectionately, to the barrier islands as the 'island' or the 'beach'. And, I really love, love, love the beach! 

The barrier islands also serve a very important ecological purpose.  They protect the shoreline from big storms.  They also provide a protected wetland for many plant and animal species including lots of birds. This is where they form a very protected and cherished place in my heart. I always thought I would want to live there, until I took a geology class.  It seems very wasteful to build on a barrier island.  They are not permanent and are constantly shifting.  Not ideal, but humans live in NOW time, and geology is a much longer time perspective. The islands are also under constant attack by humans, from our waste, our concentrated industrial waste, and our constant desire to develop in such beautiful areas. 

I made a smaller version of this quilt, Sea, Sand, Sky and I liked it so much, that I decided to try a bigger version of it. 

1. I wanted it quilted, but with no quilting showing on the front.

2. And, I wanted to put something cool on the back (okay, this is not new for me!)

The main idea was to piece each strip by sewing the seam on top of the batting and backing. This will both piece the front while simultaneously quilt the back. This meant that before I even started sewing the top, I needed to have the back ready to go. Note: I was also working on an even bigger quilt with this color palette and had decided to do some screen printing for it.  You may have seen some of my Instagram posts with the whales, turtles, crab, and the oil tanker? This new smaller quilt was the perfect size for 3 whales, so I printed it on a whole cloth:

I love the way it looks like they are holding "hands"!!!

Then I cut all of those strips. The width of each strip is 1/2" after sewing. I needed 1" strips slightly longer than 30" (to have extra to wrap to the back for the facing). And, it is easy to calculate how many, because....math! Sixty strips were needed, with the top and bottom ones slightly wider so that they too can be wrapped to the back. For a while, I had these up on my design wall, looking ever so lovely, but then I needed my design wall for something else, and needed to take the strips down. I wanted to keep them in the order that I planned to sew them. I came up with this, and it worked beautifully!

I layered them on the safety pin, one by one, and when I pulled them off, voila! They were still in the same order! Ha ha! Reminded me of geology and the Law of Superposition, which states that younger layers of rock sit on top of older layers.  A perfect law for sedimentary rocks and sedentary work!

My plan was to sew as you go, or maybe it is called quilt as you go?  I don't think this idea is original, but it was new to me.  After finishing the quilt, and deciding to blog about it, I decided to google it, and sure enough, there are a LOT of youtube videos on how to do this! For this project it was perfect, because the piecing IS the quilting.  It will look simple and flat with no extra texture on the front, and yet it will still be quilted for stability of the piece. 

I started with the backing and the batting. I decided to hand baste these two layers before stitching the strips in place. 

With the basting complete, I added the first two strips of sky fabric, and then stitched it.

This is after opening the first seam and pressing. I also matched thread colors for piecing because I wanted the different colors to refer to the colors on the front for the back side with the whales. 

As I made progress, I started to notice that there was some slippage.  It was getting increasingly hard to sew precisely on top of this spongy batting sandwich. Arghhh! My solution was to press the next strip in place, then pin it.  I next turned the entire thing over, drew stitching lines lightly in pencil with a long rotary cutting ruler, and stitched on the back side.

There was not a lot of room for the pins with such narrow strips, but there was enough. This shows the pins and the stitching.  Here's a photo from the back side:

I find it interesting that even the simplest ideas require practice and problem solving.  I also found that changing the thread colors 60 times did not make much difference at all on the back side (see below).  It is so subtle that I question if it was worth doing.  You might notice it if you stand really close and put your glasses on! Otherwise, it was a bit of a bust.  Ultimately, the back looks quilted (because it is), and the front does not (even though it also is).  I really like how this turned out. 

Last steps are the finishing, facing the edges and adding a hanging sleeve.

Since the back was white, I used a very small white strip to face it.  Because some of the front flips to the back, it makes a really nice graduated color frame around the whales.  

Here is the back completed:

This shows the back with the hanging tube on it at the top.  The hanging tube was top-stitched with corresponding 9 different colors so that it blends it and does not distract from the imagery.  

I like the richness of the colors on this quilt and currently have it hanging in my living room.  It will be nice to enjoy it in it's new space before entering it into an exhibit.  If it gets in, I will be happy that it gets to be seen in real life and hopefully inspire or connect with others in a way that is qualitatively different than seeing it on-line. If it does not get in, I will get to enjoy it longer.  One of the perks of spending the time and effort to make it! :)  Cheers and happy sewing!

Caterpillars/Butterflies

Caterpillars/Butterflies

64" x 62"

Whoot hoo!  Finally finished with this one! 

Caterpillar side:

Butterfly side:

This quilt for me is all about the similarities and differences between the four panels.  They each have things in common with each other, but also differences.  And, from my previous post... I love the way the tops of the butterfly panels flow together in a continuous arc.  It is a metaphor for the differences in individuals and yet they all belong to the same family or community. It is a feeling of belonging, like a safety net, or a protective arc, like an umbrella, helping us weather the storm.

You may notice that the white fabric on the back looks a bit less than white? Each panel has a slight color cast because there are so very many threads of different colors used for the quilting.

Quilting:

Even though I pin basted the quilt, I wanted absolutely no shifting between the layers.  I started in the middle and worked my way out by removing the pins, and replacing with hand basting every 2 inches or so.  Then I filled in with some machine quilting.  Then I went back in for the close spaced machine quilted lines.

You can see the front (the green and orange), with the rolled up section of the back (the blue butterfly).

The caterpillar side of the blue panel with all the quilting lines going through the tiny pieced "humps".

The same section of the quilt from the butterfly side showing the quilting lines and thread colors

. 

Quilt Textures:

You may remember from the previous post, my concerns about doing this matchstick densely spaced quilting over all the tiny pieces sections with lots of seam bulk? Well, I opted to put in the carefully trimmed batting.  In some sections, I even put in the extra batting just to add another element of texture design.  It is kind of cool how the circles show up on the other side, just from the extra individual circles of batting that are inside the quilt, and how they allude to the design on the opposite side of the quilt.

This side is the caterpillar side.  I inserted a circle of batting under the white circle.

This is the butterfly side of the same panel.  Can you see the evidence of the extra circle shaped batting?

It is a subtle effect but really quite interesting!

Two-sided binding:

The very top photos show the quilt photographed on a grey back board.  If you look closely, you can see that the binding does not distract from the design.  I pieced it to match the different colored sections, and I made it two-sided.  That way, it could be white on one side of the quilt, and black on the other.  This required a "knife-edge" binding, which was not at all easy.

Also, on the butterfly side of the quilt, I tried to match the black binding to the section of the wings that were going off the edge of the quilt.  I made a design decision to just use a solid black, even though there were more colors on the edge. 

Hanging tube:

The quilt was so heavily quilted, that a simple white tube (the same color as the background fabric), would have stuck out and not blended in. I made the painstaking decision to top stitch the tube with all the same colors.  Yeah, I did that!

One color at a time, I went down the tube and traced where it should go. This is the mostly empty sleeve on top of the back of the quilt.

Nearly there, I am almost finished with this blue section and ready to move on to the warmer section on the right.

Here is the tube sewn with a tuck and pinned to the back.

The photo of the butterfly side of the quilt at the top has the hanging sleeve already sewn on it.  Can't see it? Yep, that was the point!  Success!!!

Quilting over seam allowances

Quilting over seam allowances

My most recent finish was a two-sided quilt, and the front side has some tiny piecing on it, which makes for some hefty seam allowance bulk for my consideration. Just recently I heard about hump jumpers. (You can google it to find places to buy one or see youtube videos on how to use them.)

Perhaps you have experienced the really bad tension problems that result from sewing over a bulky seam? The reason for the biggish loops of thread that appear on the back side is that your walking foot is not level while sewing over them. As it approaches the thick stack of seam allowances, the front of the foot tilts up. As you sew over and exit the thick stack, the front of the foot tilts down.  I don't know why that should matter, but it does. The hump jumper is meant to place under your sewing machine foot, first in the back, then take a few stitches, and then move it to the front....all in an effort to keep your sewing machine foot level while going over the changes in thickness. This sounds fine and reasonable to me, with the exception that there are just so many changes in thickness as I sew across a section of tiny piecing. It would require so many stops and moving of that hump jumper, that I would NEVER make it across an entire seam, much less hundreds of lines of stitching. 

My quilt required great precision on both sides though, because it is two-sided, so I had to do solve the dilemma. That's when my mind thought up this crazy scheme. I tried it out on a practice sample first.

I decided to use batting as a way to build up an extra layer of thickness near the bulkiest seams, in an effort to keep the walking foot slightly more level as it goes over. I put a piece of batting on the back side of the sections with tiny piecing. Then I cut a circle around the most extensive bulky seams, for each seam. 

I pinned the Swiss cheese looking batting in place (which will be basted if I decide to use this technique). Then I added a second layer of a full batting, and then sandwiched the entire thing together with top, the two batting layers and the back, held by more pins. 

Then I went crazy with the matchstick quilting. 

For convenience, I opted for one color of thread for the experiment. I was surprised how this much  orange thread changes the appearance of the white fabric. Regardless, I was very satisfied with the performance of the process. There was also an unexpected "gift" in this process. Either the cut out holes or the bulky seams left a vague texture that can be seen on the back. 

My mind reels with possibilities of how to use this in the future! And, this little sample was successful enough to give me confidence to move on the machine quilting of my Caterpillar quilt.  

Life imitating art?

Life imitating art?

I just saw this on Facebook (okay, with my scheduled posts, that was probably a weeks ago!), but it so closely resembles my art, that I found it a bit uncanny.  And, the truth is that this type of urban development is not new.  My work was based on Central Park in NYC.  Still, I like that developers are considering open space and recreational activities for residents. 

It reminds me of this quilt (Central Park), made in 2010. You can read more about it here.

They look remarkably similar, yes? Amazing!!