The Tardis HurricaneTank Top
Sep. 14th, 2011 01:44 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
chrysillaB/c its Tardis blue, and I made it during the hurricane to keep from freaking out.
This is the second of this pattern that I've made. The first was this one:
But there were a lot of mistakes. Making 'muslins' seems like a lot of work, but I think I need that much work for things to turn out well. A friend suggested I make things out of cheap wearable cotton (or whatever is called for) first, so then if the first attempt turns out nice I can get some use out of it. Ironically, I did the opposite for this pattern, using the nice rayon crepe first and the cheap cotton second. Whups.
When I was tromping around the fabric district, I found this fabric and wanted to use it for a long skirt pattern, but they only had a yard or two left. Figured I'd try this blouse again.
One thing I'd learned about me while making the purple blouse was that I strongly dislike making straps and sashes. And the purple's sash was annoying due to the tie-together bow that doesn't actually do anything. I'm boring about clothes, I like them to be efficient, and if its going to have a tie it had better actually tie something down. So for the blue one I picked up a similar navy colored set of velvet ribbons for the straps and sash. And left out the extra for the bow. Which left me only three pattern pieces that needed to be cut, huzzah!
The purple blouse came out too big, so I made the blue one size smaller (is now perfect) and used the purple's (badly, clumsily) finished straps to figure out how long the blue needed to be. Also perfect.
So from now on, I start with the cheap stuff when I can before going on to the nice (and annoyingly slippery) fabric. Or maybe I should just quit with slippery fabrics all together.
Actually, wait, I already ordered a big box of fabric while I was sick. I won't know if that was a good/bad idea until it gets here. Whups. But some of it is cheap, nice looking cotton for skirts I've already made before, and cheap muslin for mockups of a jacket and a vintage dress I have proper fabric for already. There are a few bits of stretch knit for patterns I'm not making mock ups for... I think. They look pretty simple tho. And a simple cotton dress, made of a spidery Hallowe'en cotton that was on sale, b/c that would just be really fun. Never to old to be a poseur goth ;-)
This weekend I organized my fabric stash, writing down what I have and how much so I can look around for patterns that use up my leftovers. Realized I had enough material left over from the blue vest (that didn't quite work out) plus a *proper* lining fabric (that's why it didn't work out) to make a second. Also smaller than the first version. It will be blue with bronze, so a Ravenclaw vest ;-) I also may have enough black satin & crepe scraps to make a third tank top blouse, but I think two may be enough for now.
On a whim, I spent some time yesterday looking at new stuff on Macy's website, and then comparing it to commercial patterns elsewhere online. Just to see how they compared. As it turns out, I have the materials (if not yet the skillz) to knock-off a lot of store items. Yay!
Also researching some costume bits, but I'm not sure that I'll have time to make them before Wicked Faire. The first rule of costume sewing @ DCon is apparently "Never pay full price for a commercial pattern," so I'm fine waiting until those patterns go on sale. There is something I'd like to make for Wicked with a pattern I already have (a long evening coat, in Chinese patterned broadcloth, maybe with the matching slip dress), but I have plenty of things I could wear if that doesn't come together in time.
<3 Chrysilla
This is the second of this pattern that I've made. The first was this one:
But there were a lot of mistakes. Making 'muslins' seems like a lot of work, but I think I need that much work for things to turn out well. A friend suggested I make things out of cheap wearable cotton (or whatever is called for) first, so then if the first attempt turns out nice I can get some use out of it. Ironically, I did the opposite for this pattern, using the nice rayon crepe first and the cheap cotton second. Whups.
When I was tromping around the fabric district, I found this fabric and wanted to use it for a long skirt pattern, but they only had a yard or two left. Figured I'd try this blouse again.
One thing I'd learned about me while making the purple blouse was that I strongly dislike making straps and sashes. And the purple's sash was annoying due to the tie-together bow that doesn't actually do anything. I'm boring about clothes, I like them to be efficient, and if its going to have a tie it had better actually tie something down. So for the blue one I picked up a similar navy colored set of velvet ribbons for the straps and sash. And left out the extra for the bow. Which left me only three pattern pieces that needed to be cut, huzzah!
The purple blouse came out too big, so I made the blue one size smaller (is now perfect) and used the purple's (badly, clumsily) finished straps to figure out how long the blue needed to be. Also perfect.
So from now on, I start with the cheap stuff when I can before going on to the nice (and annoyingly slippery) fabric. Or maybe I should just quit with slippery fabrics all together.
Actually, wait, I already ordered a big box of fabric while I was sick. I won't know if that was a good/bad idea until it gets here. Whups. But some of it is cheap, nice looking cotton for skirts I've already made before, and cheap muslin for mockups of a jacket and a vintage dress I have proper fabric for already. There are a few bits of stretch knit for patterns I'm not making mock ups for... I think. They look pretty simple tho. And a simple cotton dress, made of a spidery Hallowe'en cotton that was on sale, b/c that would just be really fun. Never to old to be a poseur goth ;-)
This weekend I organized my fabric stash, writing down what I have and how much so I can look around for patterns that use up my leftovers. Realized I had enough material left over from the blue vest (that didn't quite work out) plus a *proper* lining fabric (that's why it didn't work out) to make a second. Also smaller than the first version. It will be blue with bronze, so a Ravenclaw vest ;-) I also may have enough black satin & crepe scraps to make a third tank top blouse, but I think two may be enough for now.
On a whim, I spent some time yesterday looking at new stuff on Macy's website, and then comparing it to commercial patterns elsewhere online. Just to see how they compared. As it turns out, I have the materials (if not yet the skillz) to knock-off a lot of store items. Yay!
Also researching some costume bits, but I'm not sure that I'll have time to make them before Wicked Faire. The first rule of costume sewing @ DCon is apparently "Never pay full price for a commercial pattern," so I'm fine waiting until those patterns go on sale. There is something I'd like to make for Wicked with a pattern I already have (a long evening coat, in Chinese patterned broadcloth, maybe with the matching slip dress), but I have plenty of things I could wear if that doesn't come together in time.
<3 Chrysilla
