The Tank is Tanking

My mojo is waning, but I began the process of applying elastic today. The Kwik Sew book tells you several ways to do it, and since my Brother builds nests under elastic, I gave the serger a shot (it's my mom's old 3-thread Riccar). Promising results...this looks much better than the last time I tried a swimsuit.

But I realized that the fabric slipped out from under the elastic a couple of times, despite my best attempts - arggghhhhh!

Next time, I put the elastic on the bottom and the fabric on top...better. But then comes the moment of truth - folding it over and topstitching. I was scared to topstitch on the wrong side because of the nest problem that happens underneath, but I should've been more afraid of the uneven stitches I got from stretching inconsistently. (And I only applied elastic to the neckline so far.) Here you can also see my attempt to cover the legs more - but just on one side. Yeah, there's no matching that wavy pattern. Maybe the disruption in pattern will distract you from the uneven topstitching. (Each garment I make is a work in distractions from boo-boos.)

And I don't think you can see this at all, but below the scoop is not even touching me. There are at least a couple of inches between my lower back and the fabric. I saw one blogger mention doing a swayback adjustment on her swimsuit - may have to look into that.

In frustration, I decided to try the terrible boy shorts over the suit. I've created a new look - the swim john-john!

I went on to apply elastic to the elongated leg, but that bit about applying it 1 on 1 in front and stretching in the back didn't work out too well. I'll have to stretch a little bit in the front too. But that's for another day...and a better frame of mind.

Bathing Suits are Fast!

Holy moly - I traced the tank version one night, and yesterday I did the rest in 2 hours. Now that's without elastic, but I got the suit far enough to try on for fit. I lined the entire front. Here it is sewn together at the crotch - didn't think I'd get father than that, so I took a picture.

And here's a picture of my stitching. I used the serger for all of it but basting the sides, and you do have to be careful to get all layers in there. You can see the lining showing through where I missed it.

So I modeled it for the family last night because I was so proud, and everyone averted their eyes and groaned at the front view. The consensus was "too much crotch," because I used the high-leg version. (Now there was certainly nothing hanging out, but apparently when you can see the crease at the front of your hip, it's just gross.) So I'm not showing you that picture...also because my thighs are just so pasty and cottage cheesy in that picture.

But when I turned around to show them the back, they all went, "Oh, well that looks nice." (Probably because it actually looks like a real bathing suit.) Remember there's no elastic yet, so I'm holding the bottom to simulate the coverage.

So I'm headed back upstairs to see if I can creatively add some leg coverage and do the elastic. At least I can wear this at the beach around family...as long as none of Drew's friends are there.

We Interrupt This Dress...

I have a minor crisis. Blue Angels weekend is in 3 weeks and I need a new bathing suit. Yes, I went with the same group of people last year and wore my bikini with lots of margaritas and no shame, but I've been wearing that bikini for at least 3 years now! Here's a picture of the setup. You're in the water for several hours (see people in floats and standing) so there's no point in wearing a cute pareo or wrap. (See the Blue Angels I caught in the right corner?)

Okay, so I cruised PR some last night for the 2 patterns I have and started on 2 years ago, and there's no hope of turning them into one-pieces, which I've decided to go with. (Enough of the stretch marks, already!) But I remembered I bought the Kwik Sew Swim & Action Wear book - hooray! I didn't have that when I ruined the boy shorts, so I'm hopeful the elastic will work out this time. So I began my research for the best style. First I tried on all my old suits (I never throw them away) and salvaged what I liked best about each one. Here they are being menaced with scissors!

And here's what I ended up with - lots of pads, a couple of nylon padding bra cups, and some buckles....

And here's where I get stuck. The princess seamed one-piece is slimming, but you can't do anything interesting with it besides contrasting fabric, which I don't have.

Here's what I do have - bought off Fabric.com 2 years ago.

So here's the other option - the spaghetti strap style, which unfortunately has a high back. (That's my skinniest feature, so I was hoping to emphasize it.) But you can jazz it up with beads to take the attention off the hips!

So I'm torn - whatcha think? The suits that I bought that I like the most are halter style, which also brings attention up from the hips, but there's no option for a one-piece like that. Maybe I'll have to draft one...

And on a side note - do you get Boston Proper catalog? I get one once a year for some reason, and look what I saw:

I made that very dress, see? I totally should've done the straps like hers. (I bet nobody told HER that stripes made her hips look wide!)

And check this dress on sale:

That is so totally my current dress in progress!

Maybe I should draft a swimsuit like the catalog has....wait, I don't have any leopard-print.

Dress in Progress

Good Lord, did somebody throw up on my dress form?! Oh, wait, that's the back of the dress - it's not really THAT shiny, but I told you it would be a surprise!

Let's talk about my awful zipper application. Now I've done fly-front zippers in pants, and invisible zippers in Mardi Gras dresses, but I'm not used to a straight-forward centered zipper. The pattern tells you to stitch the center back seam up to the small dot, then press the 5/8" seam allowance up to the neck, then, "Slide the zipper right side up under the seam allowance and topstitch." I'm serious. There was no "baste the seam closed and press seam allowance open," no "unzip the zipper and stitch the right tape to the right seam allowance," no nothing! Now, of course the zipper came with detailed instructions, but I was feeling the simplicity of the Simplicity, so I just pinned, basted, and topstitched...which was the wrong thing to do, as evidenced by my horrible wrinkles. I did go back and fix that glaring pucker in the blue, but next time I'll do the whole thing by the rules.

And here's the front. I TOLD you there would be a diamond over something, and the hoo-hah wins! Do you see how I carefully raised the fabric so the diamonds at the shoulders would not be right over the boobs? (This placement does highlight the ovaries, although you could argue that those are kidneys.)

I just attached the neck facing and pressed it under to see what it was going to look like - I haven't undersewn or anything. I like the keyhole.


You're supposed to attach a button and loop to close the top - we'll see. I also have to attach the sleeves.

So I think this is going to be really cute, but the REAL fabric will be even cuter. I may have to wear this at Lake Martin when we do the big family trip in July. (We will now pause for the backlash from my family...)

A New Construction Order

So I did go to Joann's and get the magnetic snaps that Gwen recommended for the purse, but they didn't have the sew-in ones - they were jam in! They have 2 prongs and you just cut 2 slits where they go, put the little cap on the other side, and bang 'em down with a hammer - yeehah!

So I started on the 60's dress next, and I'm just not in a mood for lots of altering pattern tissue and cutting, so I did a quick tissue fit and saw that I needed to add a couple of inches to the back around the hips, etc. Then I took a one-hour nap and went back to it - I love summer! Here's what the tissue looks like now, and I bet I didn't do that right, but this is just for the muslin.
I just realized I don't have a pic of the fabric, which will make it a surprise when you see it, because I got it on the sale table at Hancock, and I mean it was by the front door, which is where they put the really bad stuff! It's a polyester slinky thing, and my mother hated it. It's shades of brown with blue and yellow geometric shapes all over it. I worked hard on pattern placement, but SOMEthing's going to have a blue diamond highlighting it - you'll see. It screams 60's, so I think it'll be great.

OH! The whole point of tonight was to describe my new method of sewing when not really into it. I fixed the back pattern piece, cut it out, then went straight to the machine and sewed the darts and stay-stitched the neckline, then sewed and pressed the back seam to prep for the zipper. I would've put that sucker in if I had one tonight, but I didn't, so I went on and cut out the FRONT and sewed up those darts, etc.

Do you ever do that? I just get so tired of laying out and cutting, sometimes you just need to get to the machine!

I'll get a pic of it tomorrow, and we can take a vote on whether they'll let me out of the house wearing it...

The Jeans Purse

Okay, you know I'm always negative, so let's get that out of the way first, then I'll resign myself to the fact that it is what it is, and my niece is just a kid and not a fashion critic, so she'll probably be okay with it. So I thought the selvage of the silk shantung was fun and ruffly and tried to use that at the top of the lining, but it looked rough, and my mom said it didn't look finished. (So "fun and ruffly" - fail.) Well I had already sewn it in and didn't want to rip the whole thing out, so I just folded it down and stitched again. Here's what that looks like, and I don't know why this shade of pink refuses to be photographed appropriately - I messed with the tint to tone it down.

Now I'm sad about my purse strap, because it actually is too wide, and short of folding it in half and stitching, I can't fix it. Lucas tried it on for me (because he's closer to her size than I am, that's why) and then put it over his head to wear it across the body, and that looks fine. So this will be her travel bag or her book bag or something like that, but probably not her purse. Here's where I topstitched it to make it look a little quilty.

So here it is unadorned - no problem. Wide strap, but no problem....

Except look what that extra stitching did. (I cannot even believe I am showing you this. This is like baring my soul - I am lazy and don't even attempt to fix my tension before I start sewing the real thing.)

Yes, the tension was off and so the pink thread shows on the outside. (So pink up top and blue in the bobbin - fail.) And I was paying attention to the inside, not the outside, obviously. I hand-walked it over the zipper and the rivets, but I probably should've hand-sewed the entire thing. No, I should've sewed it higher up on the waistband instead of trying to stitch in the ditch there. (So "stitch in the ditch" - fail - I mean I'm on the other side of the road!)

So I was just disgusted with myself that I sewed the belt loops down and the whole plan was to put cute belts through there. I was fixing to cry. But look - I attempted to thread the belt....and it works!
And maybe tying it like this will hide the stitching you can see up close!

Okay, so on that note I will let all the disappointment go with a deep exhale, and I will be happy that my first attempt at a jeans purse is certainly usable. If she gets a job as a newspaper delivery girl, she will certainly be the most stylish!

Oh, anybody got any suggestions on a closure? It's too late to install a zipper (snorting with laughter), and Velcro doesn't seem very substantial...but if this is just to carry books around then you don't really need a closure...hmmm.

Father's Day - Too Busy to Post!

But here's a little preview of what I've been working on. My niece spotted a jeans purse at a craft fair with Auburn details, so I figured I could make that myself. This won't be Auburn, but I have 2 belts that coordinate, so she can change the look up if she wants. The color in the second picture is the true color - it's not red.

I got the okay for the fuschia lining from my SIL first, because I don't know what girls are carrying these days, but she said hot pink was in, so this is the leftover fabric from my vintage Butterick dress I wore to a breast cancer benefit.

I looked at EVERY image of "jeans purse" on the internet this weekend, and this is the strap I like - I sewed the wrong sides of the silk shantung to a strip of denim and turned them inside out with the plan to do some topstitching and sew them in the ends of the purse tomorrow, hopefully.

So when I finish that, I'll get back to that 70's dress I was so excited about...and then the baby clothes! Hope y'all had a great weekend. I supervised Drew cooking steaks for Father's Day dinner and Lucas setting an elaborate table complete with "silk" napkins (they're cotton, but if they're not paper he apparently thinks they're silk) and tall candles. He actually wanted to use the real silver, but I talked him out of it because I haven't polished it lately. Fancy, schmancy! (Drew told Dean that he would take responsibility for the steaks, but he had nothing to do with the candles.)