Slowly Sewing

To be perfectly honest, for the first time in the 10+ years I've been sewing, I haven't wanted to sew. A year into the pandemic, I blame quarantine. Never before have I had so much unlimited time to sew. It was fun for the first few weeks. It kept me entertained for many months. And now... I've sewn it all. Couple that with nowhere fun to wear your creations and it's just... not that interesting. I'm slowly picking up projects again but also giving myself the space to nap, take dog walks, make waffles, whatever mood strikes. 

BUT I still have a few things photographed that I want to share with you, so you'll see that dribbling out until I get my "sewjo" back. 

Pattern: Victoria Jones's Waimea Ranch Shirt

Fabric: remnant chambray

Cost: gift

First up, my favorite button-up shirt pattern, the Waimea Ranch Shirt. I've written about it before, but it's the perfectly relaxed fit shirt with just the right amount of shaping. Just check out the back, which has those nice little fish-eye darts that nip in the extra fabric right where it's needed. 

And those pleated sleeves.

I got a little obsessed with the demin details on this one. I used red thread to do double lines of topstitching throughout (which I now realize is why I'm out of red thread). I also did flat-felled seams and have to admit that this was probably the first time I've EVER used flat-felled seams on a garment. I normally default to French seams as I find flat-felled seams to be much too finicky. They were a bit finicky but mostly worked out well.   

I did make one alteration to the pattern, which was to convert the pointed front and back of the yoke (more of a Western style) to straight seams. That makes this pattern much more versatile for me. 

I used leftover denim shirting from another project, turning it inside out to get a bit more of a worn/bleached look. 

The shirt has snap closures on the front and cuffs. But I messed up an got the from Amazon and they're already popping off all over. So I'll probably have to replace them at some point which is such a pain. 

I do love a good denim shirt though and hope I get some wear out of this when the weather warms up. 

My Comfy Clothes

I used to think that the goal of sewing my own clothes was to be glamorous all the time. Make the prettiest dress for the party! The most interest top for work! The best fitting slacks. And there are still plenty of occasions for glamour (I am designing a really fun wedding guest dress right now). But in my current job, where I work out of an office with some friends who aren't my professional coworkers, I mostly just want to be comfortable on a day-to-day basis. In fact, it's those casual days that make dressing up, whether for a client meeting or a party, all the more fun. And not having to care all the time about what I'm wearing can make way for getting other shit done.

Does comfort always have to be at odds with glamour? No, probably not. But I don't think I'm ever going to be as comfy in my dressy clothes as in my stretchy pants and loose fitting shirt. And that is what I'm sharing with you today: my comfy clothes. Hopefully, I have made them somewhat interesting, but deep down these are the functional fabrics of my wardrobe.

Pattern: Victoria Jones's Waimea Ranch Shirt and my trusty Mambo No. 5 pants block
Fabric:  2 yds windowpane plaid flannel and 1.5 yds stretch bottom-weight fabric
Cost: $22 for the shirt, and free fabric from our fabric swap for the pants

Both of these patterns I've made up before. The top is the Waimea Ranch Shirt, designed by Hawaiian patternmaker Victoria Jones to include lots of hidden shaping in a comfortable performance shirt. The pattern is a joy to sew up and has lots of great techniques, like how to cleanly attach the collar and stand. The only difference I made from last time, other than not sewing it in a horribly off-grain fabric, was to shorten the sleeves by 2 inches and sew a straight size small rather than grading out to the waist. I love the shaping in this shirt and how it is still curvy without being fitted. It can be sewn in sizes small (31-inch bust) to 2X (48-inch bust).

I am especially proud of my pattern-matching across the front and the fact that I finally bought a snap setter, which made this whole process a lot easier. The cuffs, collar, and pocket are all cut on the bias, too.


The pants are the same old pants block I have been playing around with for a few years: my Mambo No. 5. I picked up this rather thick corded stretch mystery fabric at the Bay Area Sewists fabric swap meetup and decided they would make the perfect pair of pull-on pants. To keep them looking more like pants than leggings, I was careful not to overfit them, using my pants pattern rather than a leggings pattern. The waistband has elastic encased inside to keep everything secure. These are by far my comfiest pants right now, and I have to try to not wear them every single day of the week.

So, this is my comfy, cozy, share-an-office-with-dudes, wear-every-day outfit. Do you have any favorite comfy patterns I should be trying? 

New Pattern and a Plaid Shirt

Like me, my mom sews a lot. She makes tops and dresses, but what she is most interested in sewing right now are button-front shirts. She makes them for my dad, my brother, and even gorgeous ones for herself using beautiful repurposed scarves and elegant details. Unlike me, she is much more detail-oriented and her shirts are just perfect. Hand-stitched cuffs and collars, perfectly matched button plackets across the front, and beautiful technique throughout. They are a thing of envy. 

As someone who also loves sewing a good shirt, it is fun to pick her brain for tips on sewing. Did she attach that collar stand by hand? Were the plackets cut on the bias? We could talk about this for hours, leaving everyone else in the house scratching their heads (or rolling their eyes).

Pattern: Victoria Jones's Waimea Ranch Shirt

Fabric: 2 yds cotton flannel

Cost: free from fabric swap

But today's pattern provided me with a completely different source of knowledge and inspiration for shirt sewing. The Waimea Ranch Shirt from Victoria Jones patterns, which you may have seen featured on Pattern Review, is so full of amazing shirt-making techniques and knowledge that I even brought it home to show mom.  

Victoria herself sent it over to me to try out and I am just now getting back into regular sewing and had the chance to make it up. While I have sewn many shirt patterns, what made this one special was the beautifully written instructions. In many indie patterns this means that they hold your hands through all the "omg so hard" bits, but in this case you can really tell that Victoria has thought through each technique to give you the best finish possible. My absolute favorite detail were the instructions for partially machine stitching the last step when attaching the collar and stand. It took a little practice to get right, but the results are beautiful and much more professional looking. I have even used it on a few shirt since!

The fit of the shirt is designed as loose, easy to wear camp or gardening shirt. For those that love the Grainline Archer shirt, this is a similar fit. However, unlike the Archer, this shirt has some built-in shaping, such as a rotated dart disguised by the front of the yoke and some fish-eye darts in the back. The result is a relaxed shirt without drag lines or other fitting problems. For those who prefer a closer fit shirt, many of the techniques I learned here can be applied to other patterns. 

The not-so-fun part of the shirt was my fabric. It was horribly off grain, which is just a disaster when you are trying to match buffalo plaid. Luckily, the print hides the utter wonkiness, but the yoke is much higher on one side than the other in the front and I had to hem it a bit too short for my taste (the pattern as drafted is actually a bit longer). Luckily the shirt pattern was forgiving, or else all this learning may have been for naught. 

I also got to add in some contrasting blue double gauze bits, which make me happy when I wear it :)

They say it is spring now but we have had (much needed) rain for weeks and I have a cold, so I will continue to snuggle up in my plaid flannel until we get some sun!