#seamwork

[pre-raphaelitepunk]

2022 Sewing Plans: Contemporary

So, I've been working incorporating a new aspect of my aesthetic into my sewing that I'm calling

Bi Femme Clownery...

I'll make a longer, navel-gazing artist's statement about what has birthed this stylistic turn--the concepts, beliefs, and questions I am working on integrating and therefore expressing through clothing--at a later date. But for now, let it suffice to say that the elements of my particular interpretation are as follows:

Oversized collars, ruffles, sleeves, buttons, and shoes/boots

High-saturation colors; especially pink

High-contrast  color schemes

Stripes

Checks

Polka dots

Stylized florals & other natural elements; especially strawberries

Patchwork

Pattern mixing

Cuteness

Absurdism

I won't be trying to make a complete wardrobe this year (I learned my lesson last year about overloading myself with projects). But a single outfit? That's well within reach and a few of the items even overlap with my Historybounding Capsule projects.

The first pattern on the list is the Mood Sewciety Kiri Dress. I want to shorten the body and the sleeves and use this beautiful fabric I bought on Spoonflower by the artist @blindthesun

The project that overlaps with my Historybounding Capsule is a pair pants that blends the Seamwork Nolan jeans with the Seamwork Ani trousers to make something similarly to Lucy + Yak Addison jeans. They will match the top above.

The final item is a breezy summer dress, though I haven't decided on a pattern yet. I own a few patterns and even have some printed and ready to cut, but none are *exactly* what I've had in mind, so I'll have to decide how much altering I want to do.

I basically need some easy throw-on dresses that will let the body breath while looking pretty af. Maxi-length, full gathers, ruffles, sleeved is probably better for work, preferably made of linen or cotton. I have a few pieces in my fabric stash that might work...

[dressselfies]

erica wrap dress, cotton spandex

[lazyexceptwhencooking]

Just bought this pattern and I’m excited to make it this weekend! 

[pre-raphaelitepunk]

2022 Sewing Plans: Historybounding

Last year, I made a bedgown/wrapper-inspired robe thing lol, I made a cardigan (I want to remake it, but that's for another post), I made an 18th century petticoat, and an 18th century shift. What's next for 2022?

What I learned last year is that my capacity is always lower than I think it is. My eyes are bigger than the amount of time, energy, and attention I actually have to make and sew, especially since I want to spend energy not just on my personal wardrobe but on quilting as well. So I'm going to focus on just a few projects that I really desperately want that will be super satisfying to complete by January. If I've done that, I can come back to the drawing board and add more projects next spring or once I've finished.

#2

I *really* want a supportive slip in the style of the Lengberg castle brassiere/bathhouse dress and I may do this project instead of making a 2nd shift. I think these will work great as under layers for any summer dresses I make

Lengberg Castle brassiere

From the first time I saw the Lengberg Castle underwear I knew that I would want to make something similar. Having big breasts complicates t

#7

I also need to focus on making pants. I've built it up the many steps of testing and fitting the two patterns I want to use (Seamwork Nolan and Seamwork Ani) as really difficult in my mind and it's been super hard to get over that hump mentally.

I basically want to make a dupe of the Lucy + Yak Addison jeans in black with strawberry patches, in emerald green, and in a rainbow stripe. For the first pair, I have black corduroy and strawberry patches that I want to sew on to the pants, as well as the buttons.

#13

I definitely want to sew a vest of some kind. Either the Black Snail shawl collar waistcoat pattern or a looser, less structured Merchant + Mills Miller Vest. It would be nice if it matched one of the pairs of pants

.

[dressselfies]

scuba knit

[kittandjuni]

A Tigeriffic Top

Pattern: Hansie, size 8 Designer: Seamwork Fabric: Lady McElroy, Tigeriffic, viscose challis lawn

This was a fun one!

My local sewing shop has a large format printer so when I went in to grab my print order, I spotted their basket of remnants and my eye was drawn to this super cool tiger print. $26 for a yard and a quarter, which was about exactly the right amount for this Hansie pattern.

Hansie, which is free(!) is just four pattern pieces: front, back, front neckline facing, back neckline facing. I had some light interfacing in my stash to line the facing pieces, and I pulled some leftover black bias tape from a previous project to finish the hem. This whole thing cost me $31 including the cost of printing the pattern.

Large format printing is a godsend, by the way.

Anyway, I was a little apprehensive about cutting into this fabric, but I took my time transferring the markings and carefully cutting out the pattern, and sewing with it was very satisfying. After doing the 16 darts on the Sorrel Bag, these two darts sewed up VERY easily.

Including cutting the paper pattern, pattern pieces, and sewing, I think this whole thing took about four hours.

It looks boxy on the hanger, but drapes better on the body. This will look cute with shorts this summer, or half-tucked into jeans with some accessorizing.

I might try this again in a neutral linen, but we'll see. I have some other plans for the next few projects before I can return to this one.

[kittandjuni]

An Upcycled Bag

Designer: Seamwork Pattern: Sorrel Tote Fabric: 100% cotton shower curtain

I'm in the middle of a bathroom renovation which meant replacing the shower curtain with something floor-to-ceiling length. That left this beautiful cotton, embroidered border print without a home or a purpose. How about a new life as a bag?

I bought this shower curtain around 2018 or so. It was from one of Target's Opalhouse collections. Apart from a few water stains and yellowing at the bottom, it has held up very well over the years. And despite heavy duty wash cycles, the magenta embroidery has never started to come undone. It's a good piece.

Seamwork just happened to release their free Sorrel Tote pattern this season and I thought the border print would look great, especially if I could manage to match it up between the front and back.

Not bad!

There was enough of the embroidery to make a pocket with, too.

I think it turned out great. My only gripe with it is that I tried to interface the shell because it's a very lightweight fabric, but the interface from my stash must have been old because it wouldn't adhere very well. It's stitched in there now, but it's not exactly "one piece," you know.

This whole thing only took a few hours. I didn't find anything particularly difficult about it besides following directions, but that's a me problem. The greatest challenge with this pattern, if you're not used to doing them, is the number of darts required. There are two fronts (shell and lining) and two backs (shell and lining), each with 4 darts. That's 16 darts. So if you're not good at them before Sorrel, you WILL be good at them by the time you're done with Sorrel.

I sent a few pics to my mom when it was done and she said she liked it, so she is now in possession of it.

Outtake: Sewing assistant Juni testing out the fabric.

[sundervalentin]

I bought the Shelter Clothing mini olivia dress second hand and then I hacked the Seamwork Dara blouse pattern to make THREE copies of it 🫣 in under a week

To say I am obsessed with this design is an understatement.

I only stopped because I want to make some linen versions but I don't have any linen fabric right now