Author Archives: lorene

A few years ago I picked up this adorable stationery set. Little did I know that I would move across the country from my family and get really into sewing! It’s called Hemlines and its made by Chronicle Books.

The writing paper is printed on one side with a vintage pattern, and the other side is blank. I use the blank side to write on because the print side would be hard to read. It also has coordinating envelopes and stickers!

Here are all of the designs. They are actually quite cute. If I had the patterns I would make them.It seems like it might be out of print, but you may be able to locate it somewhere!

Cat Dream Archer

posted by lorene

on 11.10.2014

I’ve been wanting to make an Archer for awhile, but I’ve realized that I really hate pdf patterns. They are a pain to put together and store. I was recently on Grainline Studio’s site and I noticed she had a preorder for a paper Archer pattern. Woohoo!

Around the same time MissCrayolaCreepy posted about the Cat Lady Sewing Challenge. So it seemed like a good time to sew a cat-shirt! There are a lot of cute/kitschy cat prints out there, but I’ve realized I rarely actually wear clothing I make with that sort of print. Then I came across the Cat Dream fabric from Lizzy House, which is still pretty cute but in my eyes a little more sophisticated and wearable.

So one of the big reasons I wanted to make a shirt is that I’ve never owned a button down shirt that didn’t gap around the bust. Now that I’m an FBA-pro I wanted to try my hand at getting a really well fitting shirt. I did all my pattern adjustments using the Palmer Pletsch method, which lead to a 1″ FBA. With the print on this fabric you can barely see the darts. But look…I can raise my arms and no button gap! Hallelujah!!

The rear view is pretty good too! I made no modifications. On big 4 sometime I do 3/4″ broad back adjustment.

The one thing I’m not too sure about is the shoulder width. Where is a shirt like this supposed to hit you? I have a feeling it might be a smidge to wide in the shoulders.

My only outstanding fitting issue is the sleeves. The upper arm fits fine, but the lower cuff is ridiculously wide. I didn’t check this until after I sewed the cuff on and at the point I wasn’t changing it. So I ended up sewing my cuff buttons almost 2″ over from the button marking! The sleeves are also about 2″ too long so I will make both the length and width adjustments on my next version.

None of my cat shirt + cat photos came out great, but I had to include at least one with a kitty! Here’s my little monkey named Magi. I also have a black cat names Cleo. I couldn’t find my camera remote, so I had 10 seconds to hit the shutter, grab a cat, and get in the shot. So apologies that we both look a little weird!

A Un-Done Dahlia

posted by lorene

on 10.30.2014

I don’t often post about unfinished garments but I don’t think this one will ever be finished. I ordered Colette Patterns new dress Dahlia during the prelaunch sale, because I loved the plaid version. But I wasn’t quite sure it would look that good on me.

I normally do an FBA on everything, but looking at the sizing and the gathers in the bodice I decided to cut a straight size and see how it went. I had 3 yards of a poly suiting in my stash and I picked up the zipper and bias tape at Joann. I also got some piping because I thought it might look cool in the raglan seams.

My hope here was to make a wearable muslin that was more wearable than muslin. That’t didn’t happen, mainly because that fabric frays like crazy! In the end I didn’t feel it was worth redoing seams that will probably just unravel again. I do think the style actually looks pretty good so it wasn’t a wasted effort.

Here’s what I learned for when I make a real version.

Shorten the waistband by 1/2
Hand stitch the waistband lining
Lengthen the skirt by about 2″
Convert back skirt gathers to darts
Check the back bodice length. (It looks wonky in the photos but I may not have had the front pulled down enough)

I don’t really love the piping in the raglan seams, but I did learn something from that too. Next time I’ll use wash away Wonder Tape. The first seam I pinned and it came out wonky and then I had the brilliant idea to use Wonder Tape! So the second (and third and fourth) piped seams came out great.

So now I am on the hunt to find a nice weight wool plaid. I think a red/black buffalo check would be perfect. If anyone spots that in Portland – let me know!

Cat Lady Sewing Challenge – Katmono!

posted by lorene

on 10.02.2014

Miss Crayola Creepy is hosting the Cat Lady Sewing Challenge for the month of October. Yay..I get to embrace my catladyness!

Recently one of my good friends celebrated her 30th birthday and I thought she needed to up her loungewear game. So when I came across all these tutorials for kimono jackets, I knew it was perfect! She is also a cat lover so I wanted some kitty fabric. I was thinking more cute kitty fabric but this is the best I could do on short notice.

Forgive the terrible photos as I only finished sewing 30 minutes before I had to leave for the party! It looks rather Rrrrawrrrr! with the slip Bertha wears, right? It’s a Kat-mono…haha!

I based my pattern on the tutorial by Elle Apparel, but I constructed it differently as I wanted some nicer finishes on the inside of the garment. I plan to make one for myself too, and for that one I plan to draft facings as well.

I purchased 1.5 yards of fabric and I could possibly have done with a little less, but I wanted to make sure the sleeve print went the right way.

Cut Chenille Baby Blanket

posted by lorene

on 09.29.2014

I’ve had Aesthetic Net’s Cut Chenille Baby Blanket tutorial pinned on Pinterest for AGES! I’ve made some other baby quilts in the meantime, biding my time for the right little munchkin to sew one up. Then I find out my British bestie Alex is expecting a little girl.

The first thing I had to was find the perfect print fabric. Alexi is a graphic designer and has a love for cute animal prints. I was at Fabric Depot during a 40% off sale and spotted this adorable animal forest print from Kokka. Next up was finding 3 colors of flannel to use for the chenille. This was a bit harder since Fabric Depot didn’t have a wide color choice in flannel. I should have waited and gone to Joann’s, which I later noticed, stocks tons!

I followed the tutorial except for not rounding my corners and making my own bias tape. One thing to note is that you should have max of 1/2″ between your lines. Even using my walking foot it was hard to get perfectly straight lines and after washing the places where I was over 1/2″ didn’t look so great.

I would also change one more thing…in the places where the chenille is spaced further apart you can see the back of the print fabric. Just in case this happens again I think I would layer a piece of coordinating solid cotton wrong sides together with the print fabric and then do the flannel.

This is not a hard blanket to make but it takes time to do all the sewing an the cutting, so be sure to give your self a few sessions to get it done.

Good news is that Alex & Baby Evie love it!