Every Cloud Has a Thinsulate Lining

This is how you purchase fabric online for a project (hypothetically speaking, let's say a coat):

Step 1: Search the Internet for the exact kind of fabric you want at the price you want.
Step 2: Broaden your range of possible fabrics.
Step 3: Broaden your range of acceptable prices.

Repeat steps 1-3 until you find an outer fabric and a lining fabric that you like.

Step 4: Carefully determine how much fabric you will need. Allow a little extra, because it will be a huge pain to get more if you run out.
Step 5: Order fabric (grimacing at exorbitant shipping cost optional).
Step 6: Receive email from supplier that they don't have enough of the outer fabric that you need, and can you make do with less? You cannot. Ask if you can backorder. You can't, and furthermore, once they run out of fabric, it is gone forever. Do you still want the lining? Of course not. Cancel your order.

Repeat steps 1-5.

Step 7: Track your fabric shipment obsessively. (optional)
Step 8: Pick up your package at the post office after weeks of waiting (at least, it feels that way). Try to restrain your surprise and dismay at the fact that you paid $12 shipping for a glorified plastic bag.
Step 9: Discover that the supplier's definition of "coat-weight" fabric is roughly equivalent to your definition of "airy shawl-weight."
Step 10: Order Thinsulate to put between the lining and the flimsy wool outer layer of your coat so you can wear it in temperatures below 60 degrees.
Step 11: This time actually grimace at the shipping costs because they are almost the same amount as what you're paying for the fabric itself.
Step 12: Remove "lower cost" from your shrinking list of benefits to creating your own coat versus just going to Macy's and buying one.

Interim Projects: Apron and Goodie Bags

My fabric is apparently taking the scenic route from California to Washington, because the last Fed-Ex update I have is from when it shipped from Sacramento on the 12th.

To keep myself busy in the meantime, in between all the Christmas shopping, pre-feast dieting, and decking of the halls, I've been puttering around the sewing room. First up was an apron made from scrap fabric we had around, done in the same pattern as an apron I made for my friend last winter.

Because I strive to be a domestic diva in all things possible.

It looks deceptively simple for all the work I put into it. The top has an interfaced facing, those straps had to be turned and pressed, and the ties in back and the whole flounce along the bottom (which is the whole reason why I picked this pattern) have narrow hems. I must have done a million yards of narrow hems by now, but they never get any quicker or more fun. On the upside, quilting cotton is pretty stable and easy to work with, so I had that going for me.

Once I finished that, it was on to the next project: goodie bags for an upcoming cookie exchange. I wanted to make drawstring bags that could hold 3-6 cookies each and could be reused, and they had to be simple, because I needed to make 14 of them. I haven't sewn things en masse since I was 8 and made blankets for every single one of my toy horses.

Toy horses are notoriously vulnerable to the icy winds of winter.

My original thought was getting some pretty festive organdy (a stiff, sheer fabric somewhat like chiffon) to use, but Jo-Ann's was surprisingly deficient in the holiday fabric department. Which was strange, because normally you can find holiday fabrics up the wazoo there (for Easter and Halloween, at least).

While their organdy selection was sadly lacking, I did find some cute homespun fabrics in green and red, and I finally picked one that has shiny red and green threads running through it.

The "pattern" I'm using is just a rectangle, 10-1/2" by 14", that will be folded in half to make a 9-1/2"x6" pouch. At least it was until I laid out my fabric and discovered that I wouldn't be able to fit my pattern piece on there enough times to get 14 pouches out of 1-2/3 yards of fabric. I shaved off half an inch so that the pattern's new dimensions were 10"x14", and that did it. By cutting conservatively, I was just able to get my 14 pieces out. 

Rectangles are the best.

After I cut out the pieces, I finished the top edge of the bag by pressing under 1/2", sewing close to the raw edge, and then zig-zag stitching over the raw edge to keep it from unraveling. It's not as elegant an edge as a narrow hem, but I couldn't be bothered to do that much pressing.

Step 2 was to sew up the sides to form the actual bag. That went quickly because after the first few, I decided to stop using pins and just hold the edges together while I sewed them up. LIKE A BOSS

If I was making just one of these for myself, I would have pressed the seams flat... but I wasn't, so I didn't.

Step 3 was to put in casing. Because I am lazy and also wanted to conserve fabric, I decided to sew on a wide ribbon as the drawstring casing, rather than pressing down more of the bag top and losing volume. The wide ribbon also adds a bit of decorative flair.

Again... no pins. Skillz.

After that, I just threaded in my thinner organdy ribbon, tied it off, and voila! 

The color is weird because my camera hates incandescent lights and the color red.

My original plan was to do a double-drawstring bag, but in the interest of finishing the project before midnight, I decided to just do a single drawstring and call it good. It cinches up nicely, and I added a little extra ribbon so that the bag can be fastened with a knot, if desired.

After putting together 14 of those suckers, I'm really glad that I went for a reasonably simple pattern. Sometimes my ambitions get the better of me, but this time I actually started a project and finished it quickly. Go me!

Real Talk: Losing Weight Is Hard To Do, or, Sometimes I Bite Off More Than I Can Chew

Preliminary note: Still haven't heard anything from Fashion Fabrics Online, so I'm keeping my fingers crossed and hoping that no news is good news. In the meantime, please enjoy the following musings.


I'm on a diet.

This isn't the first time I've attempted to lose weight, but I'm hoping it will be the most successful. I scouted around the web for a while before settling on a fairly easy-to-follow program: exercise 6 days a week, cut out all refined sugars, and make sure every meal contains a good source of fibrous carbohydrates (fruits and veggies), protein (lean meats and eggs), and healthy fats (raw nuts, extra virgin olive oil, eggs, avocados, butter). Complex carbohydrates, found in potatoes, beans, grains, etc (again, as un-processed as possible) are allowed if eaten within an hour after the workout session.

I started on Monday (I know--I'm always enthusiastic at the outset) and so far I've been out on daily walks with my brother. I'm working in some interval training: after a good walking warm-up, I'll trade off jogging and walking every minute for about 12-15 minutes. I'm pretty out of shape, so I'm starting with this and I'm hoping to work up the jogging intervals over the next few weeks. The gravel road that I live down is very hilly, which keeps things interesting and is pretty good on my glutes.

My motivation stems from a desire to do something with myself--I can only spend so many days vegging out and playing Xbox before I start to get stir-crazy--and a nostalgia for the body I had before starting college.

I have never been a slender, willowy person, but in my freshman year of college I was a comfortable size 12 and on a good day, I could squeeze in to a size 10. I was, I think, more or less content with my body. The "freshmen 15" were inevitable: dining hall buffets, campus cafes, and stress certainly didn't help my eating habits. Although I paid for access to the school gym every quarter, working up the energy to go was difficult. I either had to get up early and go before class (and I am most definitely not a morning person) or work in a time in the afternoon, which I usually spent doing homework or socializing. I probably went a handful of times in the last four years.

By the time I got out at the end of this summer, I was an admitted size 14 (even my comfy Gap size 12 jeans were a squeeze) with a belly that is serious business. Looking back on pictures of my senior recital, in the dress I thought was great, is somewhat horrifying. How did I get so fat?


I guess it's easy to deny because I can't face a mirror without sucking it in. In the right clothes, I can still define the dip of my waist. But when I let it all hang out, so to speak, the grim reality sets in. I definitely need to lose weight.

I want to feel comfortable and sexy in my own skin again. I don't have any excuses any more: I have time and money to pick out and prepare meals that are healthy. I have nothing to do but exercise. I no longer have to depend on hourly caffeine infusions to get by every day. The closest Starbucks (or any fast food, for that matter) is a 20-minute drive away. I have all these jeans and skirts that I want to wear again, no muffin tops allowed. And I'm already thinking of warmer weather, of recitals I'm planning to play in, of summer vacations where I can wear shorts and tank tops and swim suits without shame.

So I'm dieting. It's hard. It requires, as Mad-Eye Moody would say, "CONSTANT VIGILANCE!" I have to curb my cravings. I'm a serious snacker, and bread is one of my favorite things to eat in the whole world. No more bread. No more ice cream. Sometimes I think, "Just one scoop wouldn't hurt." And then I think, "Do you really want that ice cream more than you want to be skinny?" And the answer is no.

The nice thing is that the diet and the exercise depend on each other. If I want carbs, I have to earn them. So it motivates me to get out there and run for a while, because I know that when I get back, I can eat my baked potato and feel that I truly deserve it. It's like a reward.

The sugar is a little harder to kick, because I definitely have a sweet tooth, and sugar lurks in more things than you'd expect. Teriyaki sauce? Sugar. Lunch meats? Sugar. Dried nuts? Sugar. Stevia, a kind of herbal sweetener, is okay; but the Stevia-in-the-Raw that I have also includes dextrose, which is a form of--you guessed it--sugar. It's hard to get away from, but so far I'm doing alright. I'm drinking my morning coffee with just a splash of milk, no sugar, and I've been eating a ton of fruits and vegetables. Fortunately, fruits are A-okay.

But so far, it's working! The numbers on the scale are inching down every day. It's so gratifying to see some success. I suspect a lot of this is due to the no-sugar, few-carbs approach, but it feels good to get out and get my blood pumping again. At the very least, I'm starting to feel as though I'm accomplishing something, and that is as good a reward as any.

The Coatmaker Rides Again!

Well, after the last ordering fiasco, it took me a while to look around and decide what I wanted to do. I couldn't just lay aside this whole coat idea, because I just bought a new pair of boots for Christmas and I need something to wear with them.

Jo-Ann's continues to disappoint me with their complete lack of the boucle fabric I so desperately desire, and a bit of web scouring has convinced me that, unfortunately, Fashion Fabrics Online has the cheap fabric market cornered. So it was with some reluctance that I scanned their offerings to see if I could come up with a second-best choice to the lovely abstract plaid I'd picked out before.

I found another plaid, one which I'd actually considered before. It follows the same black/white idea of my previous boucle choice, but the pattern is a little bolder.

It's 100% wool and had the added bonus of costing only $10.75 a yard, so I've got my fingers crossed that this one goes through. I did purchase a little more fabric than I attempted to last time--5-1/4 yards versus the 4-7/8 that I technically need, so that I can match up the stripes, hopefully, when I'm cutting everything out.

For the lining, I was initially considering a light silver fabric, but I decided to go dark this time: a burgundy check by Ralph Lauren and, apparently, imported from France:

Ooh la la!

Hard to tell if it's reddish or purplish in that picture (with a name like "burgundy," you'd think reddish, but I guess that's one of those colors that is open to interpretation), but either one should go nicely with the black and white of the boucle. I also wanted a darker fabric in case if shows through the looser weave of the boucle. That's a problem I didn't have with the uber-thick melton coat I sewed last year, but I'll have to keep it in mind until I actually see the boucle in person. The price was pretty decent on this one--$3.95 a yard--so I'm hoping it turns out to be a nice sturdy lining. The skimpy polyester linings I've tried from Jo-Ann's just don't hold up to constant wear and tear.

Now that my order is all sent off, I just have to cross my fingers and hope they're able to get enough fabric. And in the meantime, I'll clear out the sewing room in anticipation.

Number (and wallet) crunchin'

After a fabulous weekend spent shooting, drawing, reading, and going to see an orchestra concert, I woke up this morning and realized that I needed to hurry up and calculate my coat fabric yardage so I could order it while it was still on sale.

The pattern I'm using is Simplicity 2311, which is a Project Runway design:

The cool thing about the Project Runway designs is that they are set up to make you feel like a fashion designer (even though in reality, you're still cutting out pre-drawn pieces). This means that each element of the pattern is calculated with separate yardage, so you can mix-and-match for your own final result. The things you can choose in this pattern are:

Short length (mid-thigh) vs. long length (knee)

Double-breasted (with one-point lapel) vs. single-breasted (with two-point lapel)

Gathered-top sleeve vs. smooth sleeve

Tie belt vs. sewn-in faux belt (or, I suppose, no belt at all)

I decided to do the short length, single-breasted, smooth-sleeved coat with tie belt. On the pattern picture, it's the bottom right drawing, but shorter.

I may also change the tie belt to a buckle belt, if I can find a buckle that I like.

Instead of just taking the pattern yardages from the back of the envelope, I decided to open up the pattern instructions and see if the yardages looked reasonable. They're usually good, but last spring I made a purse with some seriously terrible yardage estimates--I had to scrape to get all the pattern pieces in the fabric I'd purchased. Since I'm working with much more expensive fabric now, I wanted to make doubly sure that I had the right amount of fabric.

The main coat part looked good, but I noticed that they had you buy two separate amounts of fabric for the sleeves, 7/8 yard, and the tie belt, 1 1/4 yard. Because the tie belt is long and skinny, it needs that length of fabric--but then you have a lot left over. The boucle I'm getting comes in a 60" width, so on a hunch, I measured the widest part of the sleeve pattern. It came out to 18". That, plus the 6" for the tie belt, and 3" for the tie belt carriers (though I can probably fit that onto another part of the layout if need be) only comes out to  27" wide. The fabric, when folded in half, will be around 30" wide. 

This means that I can actually cut out the extra 7/8 yard called for in the sleeve layout, and just combine the sleeve and belt layouts! That saves me almost $14. 

Adding up my total yardages, I get 2 3/4 for the coat and 1 1/4 for the belt/sleeves--4 yards total. I decided to throw in an extra 1/4 yard just for breathing room. 

The other thing I need to order is lining fabric. I've never been really happy with the lining I have bought from JoAnn's, so I'm going to risk ordering some from the same website where I'm getting my boucle. The lining calls for 1 7/8 yard for the short coat plus 7/8 yard for the sleeve. I don't need lining for the belt. My total yardage there is 2 3/4 yards of lining. 

I also need 3 1/8 yard of interfacing, but I'm going to wait and buy that at JoAnn's so I can feel the weight of it.

My total fabric cost (before interfacing) was $80.94. Not super cheap, but still less expensive than buying a brand-new coat at the store; and I saved about half off, getting my boucle at $14/yd instead of $30, and my lining at $3.95/yd instead of $8.  Interfacing will probably be $15-20, and my pattern was $12; so my cost so far is around $108. I need to get buttons and thread, too, but so far I think this is shaping up to be a little cheaper than the melton coat I made last year. 

I doubt I'll get this finished before I take off for my Hawaii trip in November, but if I can at least get the fabric in and start cutting pieces out, I'll be happy!

I got 99 problems but a stitch ain't one

I had to order a pattern for THE COAT (capitalized to show inherent awesomeness). I was going to pick it up at Joann's, aka my Primary Weakness, but they were out of the size that I needed. Rats. But it came in the mail today, which means progress will begin soon, and maybe I can roll this thing out (at least some of it) before we start getting the really cold weather.

While I was waiting for all that to get here--and I haven't even ordered my fabric yet--I've been casting about for interim projects to keep me busy. I love little things that I can get out of the way in a day or so: pajama pants, bags, purses, etc. It's almost instant gratification.

First on the list is a cushion for my brother's milkstand. Here's my brother:

The goat's name is Tara.

He's raised miniature dairy goats for 4-H for the last couple of years. When he milks them, he likes to sit directly behind them rather than the somewhat-more-orthodox off to one side method. He doesn't seem to mind it, but the metal is cold and it tends to get his pants dirty. He doesn't care much about that, either, but I don't want him to look like a dirty ragamuffin when we're out and about.

THEREFORE.

I made up a simple pattern for a cushion to go on the back of the stand. It's a 12" by 20" by 2" foam-filled pad. The foam, which we had on hand, is covered in cotton fabric (also on hand) and then has an outdoor canvas slipcover that has a few snaps to hold it shut. My brother picked out the slipcover fabric, a nice autumnal striped print.

The interior pad. I was fortunate enough to find some coordinating cotton fabric from a dress my mom made me when I was really little.

The slipcover uses the exact same pattern as the interior cotton pad, with the addition of four 1" wide ties on the corners, so it can be tied on to the milkstand. Figuring out how to put on the ties gave me the most trouble of the whole project.

The ties.

I'm not very good at visualizing technical stuff like this, so when I'm working with patterns of my own design, it usually takes some trial and error before I figure out the best way to put things together. The end result that I was shooting for was to have the ties coming out between the side panel and the bottom panel on each corner. Each one is folded in half at a right angle so that it would stick out flush with each side seam, at least in theory.

After wrestling with it for a while, I decided it would be best to baste them on the wrong side (the "inside" of the fabric, for non-sewers) of each corner, like this:

Makes sense, right? That's more or less what it will look like when it's all sewn together.

I did two like that and then decided to double-check my concept by pinning on the side panel to see how everything would turn out. Oops.

Turns out that once I sewed on the side panel, because it goes on right sides together, the ties would turn to the inside of the slipcover, rendering them useless. D'oh! Good thing I only used large, easy-to-rip-out stitches.

New theory: Pinning on the side panel, which I should have just done in the first place, helped me solve the problem better. Now I could see that I needed to sew the ties to the right side of the bottom panel after all, facing towards the center rather than the outside. The trick was just getting them to line up the way I wanted them to.

I used chalk lines to mark the seam line on each corner. Once I did that, I also realized that I had folded the ties the wrong way. Fortunately, those were just basted too. Ties unfolded, I worked with it for about 10 more minutes before realizing that, hey, this folding thing? Not really working. The better solution was to cut them in half and baste them where I wanted them... which would have saved me a whole lot of time if I'd just done that to start with. Oh, well.

Finally, the right way, I hope.

With that sorted out, I attached the rest of the ties and got to work on the "easy" part of the pattern.

It did work!

The complete cushion and slipcover, tied on the milkstand.

Total cost: $10. The only thing I had to purchase for this project was 1 yard of outdoor canvas fabric since we didn't have any on hand, and we got it on sale. Score!

The other thing I decided to make was a pair of flannel pajama pants for my brother (I really spoil him too much). He's been really into flannel lately, but didn't have any warm pajama pants for the chillier fall and winter weather. So when we went to Joann's for the cushion canvas, we also picked up a PJ pattern and the fabric for it--$10 total. He opted for a blue and purple striped flannel that's so soft and comfy, I'm tempted to make myself a pair, too.

Pajama pants are one of the easiest things you can make, aside from maybe a pillowcase or a simple skirt (even fewer curved lines). I have about six pairs because there is no such thing as too many pajamas.

I wanted to make PJs for my brother because when my sister and I were little, my mom made us a lot of cozy flannel pajamas and nightgowns. We had ones with lace, teddy bears, cakes, kittens, M&Ms... you couldn't beat flannel pajamas for cold winter nights. Before she got sick, she made my brother some cotton pajamas when he was really little. Obviously he's outgrown them by now, so since he's been resorting to hand-me-down long johns, I wanted to pass down some of that flannel comfort.

I haven't finished them yet, but I'll most likely get them sewn up tomorrow and then commence with preliminary fitting and measuring of my long-awaited coat pattern. Then, FABRIC BUYING AHOY!

Moving Forward

It's been two years since my last post here. A lot's happened. I haven't updated because I'm not much of a journaler, but I have a new purpose for the blog (which will be laid out shortly), and I'll bring any interested readers up to date:

On October 19th, 2009, my mother passed away from her breast cancer. We're coming up on that anniversary soon, and missing her never gets easier, but as the months and years have passed we've all learned how to cope with it in our own ways.

In August 2011, I graduated from college with high honors and two degrees: a bachelor of arts in English, Creative Writing emphasis; and a bachelor of music in Piano Performance.

I'm currently living back at home with my dad and my 13-year-old brother. My sister (20) is now attending the college I just graduated from. She's studying biology.

My plans for the future? Well. I'm still single, so although "settling down and getting married" are in my hypothetical future plans, I can't exactly say with any certainty they're going to happen. I'm trying to keep an open mind about that.

My dad works full-time and my brother is homeschooled, so for the time being I'm helping him with his schooling and finding ways to occupy myself. I'm doing some accompanying for a friend back at school, which keeps me practicing piano, and I'm trying to get back into writing again. I went through a dry spell until I took some writing classes this last summer, which re-inspired me, so I'm hoping I can continue to tap into that particular talent.

But mostly, I've been trying to leave my mark on the family home that I've spent little time in for the last 4 years. I repainted the bathroom I share with my siblings. I've been slowly reorganizing and cleaning places out that have long lain disheveled. I've taken up knitting. I'm almost done with the latchhook rug that my mom started when she was younger than me (and never finished because it's a huge rug, and latchhooking is admittedly pretty tedious).

Sewing, though, is one of my favorite hobbies, and I haven't touched a sewing machine since last spring, when I made a purse. I love sewing in much the same way I enjoy cooking: you follow directions, maybe spice things up with some of your own additions, and in the end you're left with a product you or others can enjoy and utilize. It's expensive (the sewing, I mean), but well worth it, and I try to only make things that I know I will get a lot of use out of. It's a big change from when I was a teenager and obsessed with making period costumes.

At the end of last summer I made a long wool peacoat and recorded my progress in notes on Facebook. I found that it was surprisingly helpful and fun to go over each step of the process, illustrated with photos of my work; I found myself narrating things in my head ("And now we're ripping everything out. Again.") and trying to think of how I would explain each step. It kept me really involved. But the problem with Facebook is that you can't always see the notes you want in a linear fashion, and it's restricted to a small audience (the few members of my circle of friends who share an interest in sewing). I'm not massively popular on Blogger either, but I figure I might as well move my next sewing saga to here, where both my Facebook friends and the general public might peruse it at will.

So! in summary (and congratulations if you've made it this far), this blog will henceforth (for the time being, anyway) be a place to record my next sewing project. Hint: it's a coat. A fabulous coat.

Stay tuned!