CHICKPEA SEWING STUDIO

Let me tell you a little story, of what happens when you feel compelled to volunteer several days a week in the 1rst grade French class. Adorable children want to hug you, tell you stories in tiny voice with their faces very close to yours and generally want to share their many many GERMS! We are less than one month into it and I am already sick, really laying flat on my back sick...

Last night, before I hit bottom I made this ponte skirt following Sunni's simple drafting directions, it was my first self drafted anything and although not perfect at the hip level, I feel very comfortable in it and if still alive by the afternoon  Sunni can tell me all that went wrong. The skirt is named after Miriam, who loves all things tribal and is a great source of of inspiration in my carving efforts.

Mid construction I decided not to use a zipper (which I didn't have) and go for the seamless elastic waist instead. Since the fit is not perfect, it seemed like a better use of sewing time. Now faced with with a back seam I decided to add a little slit, easy-peasy-lemon-squeezy. See I can speak 1rst grader!

This skirt is probably the most worn me-made item in my wardrobe. It must fill a void I didn't know existed! The fabric was a remnant from a fashionable stitch, a rather thick linen that softened well in the wash. I hope I am lucky enough to find something similar again and recognize it when I do. Linen is not as strait forward to buy as we think.

I modified (not without difficulty) the original Wiksten Tulip Skirt to have a wide shorter placket. It is still a bit large so I had to retroactively add the ties, oh well! It has not prevented me from wearing it over and over. 

Much like a good pair of jeans, it gets more washed-out and interesting with age... I love the fading on the seam lines. The Wiksten tank sewn in silk-cotton voile works well with the skirt, so breezy for this warm early fall.

I really can't stand taking self portrait anymore, it is making blogging tedious when it should be fun. As my friend Miriam put it, we feel silly and old doing it. Because I love sewing clothes (suddenly) and don't want to stop blogging, I think I am going to ask Santa for a dress form, useful for sewing and taking pictures, it should help keep the silly at bay:

 Try and ignore the fuzzies at the top of my head! hehehe!

 I am taking a short sewing break during this intense back to school week. To be perfectly honest I am unsettled by the quiet of the house and seem to have difficulties getting anything done/started. I hope that next week will be more productive... or else!

It's not all twirling thumbs of course, I did get a much needed haircut today, and for once I let my stylist Shelby do what ever she wanted. It was not as terrifying as anticipated. She and I have good vibes and her ideas are usually (always) better than mine. 

I am taking advantage of this unexpected change to show off something I sewed this summer in prevision of Fall weather. a Tova dress from the Wikstenmade paper pattern bought eons ago. My first version in tunic length was doomed from the start when I selected the wrong size (XS). The second version in a Small came together quickly in this embroidered and over-dyed cotton, I like that the pattern gives me a lot of space in the shoulder but not too much in the bust. I will have to make it again, now that it is finally traced and tried.

I am not sure how to style it yet, but I imagine brown boots and a scarf will do just fine.

The placket is the only difficult step in this project, I would only advise to take your time at the corners. The sleeves are extremely well drafted and come together quickly with no wrinkles or tucks. I serged all the raw edges after sewing the seams.

Lately I have seen a few posts on threading sergers pop-up on blogs. I especially liked Sunni's for her tips on how to deal with the knots during the knot and pull method. I have a very simple serger, no thrills just a 3/4 overlock and a rolled hem and most of the time it is faster to just re-thread it completely. I downloaded the manual to my Ipad, best move ever. The serger is about 8 years old but is getting the workout of a lifetime with the new garment sewing craze that has taken over my life.

What I really wanted to know is if it needs to be oiled and where? To find out I asked my local BERNINA dealer, who also sells Janome sergers. I think the tips I am about to share would work for anyone with a simple serger. By the way, yes, you should oil it.

Before oiling I wanted to get rid of all the fluff. The dealer recommended an air compressor for the job. Lucky for me, Thomas is installing wood flooring in the next room and I just waited for my turn. This is the reason for the total lack of lint on the pictures. It was dreadful before trust me.

I learned that there are only two places where you should oil the machine, lucky for us they are easy to access and rather large. Can you spot the two shafts (long metal cylinders), the needles shaft and the large one at the bottom? Those are the only two things to oil, not bad at all. 

This one I was told is the most important!

In the last installment of the photoshoot by the hops vines I present to you one of the first things I sewed this summer. A linen dress from Salme Sewing Patterns. It is in fact a mash-up between that dress and the kimono sleeve top I blogged about recently. I traced both patterns and layered them on top of each other and made adjustments from there. This dress has seen a lot of play in the early summer but not as much once the temperature got in the 90's. I think it will come back in rotation in the fall. I like to wash the dress and dry it on low until it's just barely damp. it gives the linen a "washed" look, more soft than pressed but not quite wrinkled yet (on the picture it is pressed and then wringled, sigh!). 

I feel that this particular linen number fills the gap in my wardrobe where a safari dress should be. It is on my sewing list for next summer if I can find the perfect pattern or patterns to mash up!

EDIT:

The dress and top use a facing at the neck, however I wanted to use a Liberty bias for this dress. The Liberty is from a minuscule remnant given to me by my aunt. She bought it in the 70's. I had to be very creative when piecing the binding but I like the end result very much!

Two more finished projects to come, but I promise to move away from this wall at once!

 Are you tired of this corner of my garden yet?

and by the way this is the last smile I could manage for the day!

For the third installment of the Wiksten tank (here are one and two), I decided to try cutting this cotton found at A Fashionable Stitch on the bias. After reading this Threads article I started to worry that I would have to add a ridiculous amount of ease on the sides but Sunny assured me that even thought she knew about the article with a fabric as stable as that cotton I had nothing to worry about. The process uses a lot more fabric than strait grain so I would only recommend this as a stash buster. I like the final look but wished I had used white muslin for the bias tape at the arm holes. I also think that staystitching the arms and neck hole might be a good idea. Regardless, neither one of those points is an issue but I feel like it could help someone along the way, as it stands it's a nice top to tuck into a skirt a bit too large at the waist.

next up: Salme Kimono dress in Linen!

Just a few hours before the deadline I have entered a pair of shorts so newly made I can still hear the BERNINA humming. I don't usually enter competitions but as they are finished time why not participate! 

If you feel friendly and so inclined you can "heart" them on this kollabora page. You have until Thursday to do so.

I used the City Gym Shorts pattern available for free on the Purl Bee webpage. It is an easy, strait forward pattern that as you can see with the lace insert and two colored waistband, can be modified at will. They are fool proof but so fast. unless you are using pre-made bias. I didn't. In fact I used bits and scraps found in my stash and not having to buy anything to make sleeping shorts gives an awesome feeling of thrift and practicality. Good times!

pattern: City Gym Shorts

Size : second smallest

fabrics: poly satin, cotton lace, black quilting cotton

Shorts On The Line is put together by Small + Friendly and Imagine Gnats.

Next up by the hops vines I present to you a slightly wrinkled simplicity 2215 skirt view, a Cynthia Rowley pattern. I wear this one a lot and had to fish it out the laundry basket for this shoot. The top is from comptoir des cotonniers, something I brought back from France. The skirt is easily matched with a black or white tank and possibly even a button up shirt (chambray?).

"I am covered in lint" moment

The choice of a linen-cotton blend plaid was pretty adventurous as the linen likes to shift while being cut making matching the plaid a bit tricky. The side invisible zipper next to the pocket gave me a bit of a sweat but ended up going smoothly. I should have listened to the pattern and used a lighter fabric for the pockets, my cotton blend is a bit bulky, but I am over it by now. Next time I will use rayon or muslin. 

I cut a size ten with no modifications, the fabric was purchased online from Fabricmart.com, it is unfortunately out of stock. I liked it right away, even in the almost mustard color scheme. It reminds me of TOAST UK, my favorite clothier to dream about. I have already ordered more fabric to make another, but Fabricmart can be a bit slow to ship sometimes and I am embarrassed to admit that I can't remember what it looks like!

Next episode of what I sewed this summer: Wiksten tank on the bias!

I realized this morning that I am approaching the now or never moment to share the many many things I sewed to wear this summer. In fact I wasn't able to photograph everything in one go and if I am smiling on the first pictures I am down right frowning by the last dress I photographed. I have said it many times, taking pictures of myself is like pulling a thousand nails from old hard wood floor ( ask me how I know!).

                                                 the little wrinkles at the bottom are just that, wrinkles!

In the next few days I want to share as many outfits as possible before my WIP's get completed. First I chose something I sewed twice, once in black silk and then in blue/periwinkle silk.

The pattern is by Salme and it is called the kimono top. I love Salme digital patterns, they are well drafted, current, affordable and more...

For my own version I used silk charmeuse bought at A Fashionable Stitch and since I both underestimated shrinkage and bought too little, I had to improvise a bottom hem facing. It's ok, not perfect. The shirt is meant to be tucked in a high waisted skirt so it should not be a problem. 

I cut the pattern in UK size 6 shortened the torso length by 1-2 inches.I did it in two places between the bottom hem and the underarm in order to keep the shape untouched. I took the neck in a bit in an attempt to hide my bra strap but I think I liked it better before, maybe a bra strap is not such a problem? I would like your opinion on this actually! I left the sleeves as-is and serged the entire thing.

The beaded bracelet was an attempt at a wrap bracelet. My beading loom can only extend so far so I added a little piece of chain to complete the journey around my wrist. Tricky to close but pretty don't you think? but the real question here is why is my neck green on this picture? wish I knew, maybe it's all the greenery I am standing on...

Next time : simplicity 2215 in a cotton linen blend!