April 2017 in Review

The last few months have been pretty hectic. While I still managed to make several things, photographing them and blogging about them quickly fell to the wayside. Here is my first post as I attempt to catch up. 

Space Thistle Akita Blouse and Striped Akita Blouse 

April was an incredibly busy month at work, but I really wanted to make a couple new garments before Me-Made-May started. I pulled out my trusty Seamwork Akita blouse pattern, as well as all the double gauze I had in my stash, some Space Thistle by Cotton + Steel, and a subtle blue and white stripe by Lecien. I'm so glad I made the time to whip these two shirts up. The double gauze is so nice for the warmer months, and I've worn these Akita blouses constantly. 

Adjusted Akita Blouses

I was pretty disappointed when my first two Akita Blouses ripped in the same spot in a matter of weeks. Even though I like to keep things positive, I also value honesty, so I mentioned my frustrations with the finishing technique in my blog post and on Instagram. The folks at Seamwork reached out to me and said they would give my feedback to the pattern designer, which I appreciated. A few weeks later, they direct messaged me on Instagram and suggested finishing the sleeve with bias tape. In fact, they recently updated their pattern to completely avoid the “snip the seam” step that so bothered me. While I haven't tried their new solution yet myself, their openness to feedback and willingness to improve inspired me to take another shot at the pattern. 

Using my Staple dress pattern as a guide, I redrafted the side seam. Whenever possible, I like to use French seams on wovens, so that's what I did. Then, I used bias tape to finish the sleeves. It's not perfect, but I am super happy with it. In fact, I was so pleased with my newly tweaked pattern that I made it twice!

For the first adjusted Akita, I used some Gleeful voile, underlined with white lawn. I bought the fabric ages ago from Intrepid Thread when I was vacationing in California. The blue really speaks to me. I have washed this shirt several times without incident and have worn it weekly. I’ve received several compliments on it a work, which is always nice.

As soon as I finished my Gleeful Akita Blouse, I started another. This time, I chose Cotton + Steel's Mightnight Gust rayon, which I purchased from Island Quilter's pop-up shop at the last Pacific Northwest Modern Quilt Guild Meet-Up. Now, I learned an important lesson about this fabric that I want to share with you: follow the care instructions! When Cotton + Steel released their first rayon fabrics, I read blog post after blog post stating that the care instructions were dry clean only, but various bloggers washed the fabric in the washer and dryer and it was fine. As a result, I washed my Gemstone Staple Dress normally. Over time, I noticed that the white diamonds weren't so white any more. I decided that for my Midnight Gust Akita, I would wash the fabric normally once, and then hang it to dry going forward. (I'm not the only one who does laundry in our house, so I wanted to pre-shrink the fabric in case it ever ended up in the dryer by mistake.) After I washed and dried my yardage, I noticed a few light spots on one end. I was puzzled, since Cotton + Steel's fabric is generally high quality, but I figured these things happen. Since I had about half a yard extra, I just cut out the pattern piece from the unblemished section. I stitched it up without any issues, and finished it just in time to wear it on my birthday. It was my new favorite shirt. Then I washed it and hung it up to dry. Can you guess what I discovered when I went to iron it? The spots were back! My previously pristine shirt now sported several splotches. They weren't imperfections in the fabric, they were the result of washing it in the washing machine. Needless to say, I was crushed. I had ruined my new favorite shirt by disregarding the fabric care instructions. Never again!

It's a shame that I more or less ruined this shirt, as it has an additional detail that I really like. I didn't want to fiddle with rayon bias strips for finishing the sleeves and neck, so I used a coordinating Cotton + Steel quilting cotton. Nobody sees it except me, but it makes me smile. I'll probably still wear this shirt under cardigans that covers the spots, or around the house. I like it too much to throw it away.

So far I have made four Akita blouses, and only one turned out well. Despite bad luck with this pattern, I still really like it and plan to make it again. I'll just pay closer attention to the fabric care instructions next time.

Akita Blouse Ambivalence

It’s fairly obvious that I’m a big fan of the monthly Seamwork patterns. Their Aberdeen Tunic is one of my all-time favorite patterns. I have limited time to sew, so I really value quick, fun patterns when it comes to garment sewing. Back in January, I caught the garment sewing bug again and decided that the Akita Blouse would be just the thing for stash busting. I was really intrigued by the fact that it only had one pattern piece. I grabbed a black lawn from my stash and set to work.

I’ve been known to sew what I think my size is, rather than what my actual size is, so this time I carefully measured myself and compared my measurements with the size chart. Based on my measurements, I graded the pattern from a 10 at the bust to a 14 at the waist, and then a 16 at the hem so that I could omit the split hem detail. That’s a significant amount of grading, so I was worried that it wouldn’t come out right. However, when I tried it on after sewing the side seams (using French seams, of course), I was pleasantly surprised. It fit, and it looked cute! The bust dart was a little low, but on such a loose top, that didn’t really matter. It was one of those joyful, confidence boosting moments that makes sewing your own clothes so rewarding. I happily finished the black Akita Blouse and whipped up another one out of flannel right away. Then I proceeded to wear the heck out of both of my new shirts.

Several weeks later, I noticed something troubling. Under the armholes, my black lawn Akita Blouse was fraying and my flannel Akita Blouse was ripped! The way the sleeves are constructed, you clip the seam allowance in order to hem the sleeves and then go back and stitch the side seam allowance in place across the bottom of the armhole. Therefore, where the armhole meets the side seem is essentially unfinished. I used my amateur mending skills to “fix” the flannel Akita, and decided the fraying on the black Akita wasn’t that bad. Still, I was disappointed. When I make a garment by hand, I expect to get a lot of wear out of it. I had planned on making a bunch more Akita Blouses, but now I’m not so sure. I may go back and try to draft a better sleeve/side seam intersection, or I may not. Time will tell.

January 2016 in Review

At the end of last year, my sewing had more or less stalled out. Luckily, my sewjo returned in January! I finished one Aberdeen Tunic, two Akita blouses and two crocheted scarves. More detailed blog posts will be forthcoming as soon as I carve some writing time out of my sewing time. For the last few weeks, I have been plugging away at my #seamqgbom medallion quilt and have prioritized sewing over writing blog posts. I only have one more border until the top is finished! Looking forward to making more things in February.