Finished SAGA retreat outfit

Posted by Claire on Jun 23 2013

I’ve finished the Farmhouse smocked dress and embroidered jacket I began on retreat in Pennsylvania at the end of April.

The dress is very flattering and while the construction is very detailed in this version (everything is sewn with french seams and hand stitched bias binding), I can imagine many possible short cut variations for this dress, including long sleeves and a turned up hem.

Overall, this pattern is a great balance of smocking with casual comfort and I highly recommend it and expect to make it up regularly.

On to the details, shall we? Here is the CF smocking detail, with the cast on flowers.

The belt. (btw, I don’t tie pretty bows – just pretend it’s flawless and symmetrical, OK?) There were a lot of buttonholes involved in making the belt. In the interests of speed, I think I’ll skip that detail next time. Buttonholes don’t make my heart sing faster.

The back has a touch of smocking, too, just below the piped yoke.

The shape of these sleeves is really nice – a blend of a cap sleeve and a puff sleeve that suits little arms very well. The fabric has enough oomph that they hold their shape well without being overpowering. I’ll likely be ‘borrowing’ these sleeves for other dresses.

As for the coat, it’s also lovely, but I’m less sold. I do love the details and the pattern goes together beautifully again but I’m so-so on the practicality of a white coat like this. I can see it working well with a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve -shirt for a casual look or for a really over the top style when it’s worn in conjunction with the dress.

The styling is very flattering, especially the back details and the wrap-over front that ties with a gingham bow.

But it’s a bit…much for what is at its heart a very casual look. There’s just so much hand work and binding for a small body. And speaking of the binding! It’s on the neck, the sleeves, the hem, the coat!

As I stitched it down, and down, and down, I felt like Sisyphus. You know, the ancient Greek guy who ticked off the gods and was condemned to push a rock up a hill for the rest of eternity? I didn’t get a sense that birds were gnawing my innards or anything but maybe I should send Gail an email?

Dear Gail, you design beautiful, fabulous clothes. Your workmanship is exquisite and you are a funny, gracious, knowledgeable person. I enjoyed every minute of our class together and learned a ton. But please, for the sake of my sanity and my fingertips, ease up on the bias binding.

Sincerely,

Claire of the very tender fingertips

Err, maybe not.

Regardless, it is done and I learned a lot from it, including several valuable techniques that I have already incorporated into my sewing repetoire. And wait until I show you the knock-off I’m making, using the same fabrics. It’s still coming together and I don’t want to ruin the surprise but I’ll give you a clue. Think little. As in newborn little… (But not my newborn!!! A niece newborn, OK? :))

If you’re inspired by my version (or frankly, Gail’s much prettier versions), you can even buy the 4 piece set in kit form for yourself from Gail’s Etsy shop. Gail’s instructions are so detailed, with every step outlined with point by point instructions and excellent illustrations, that I defy anyone not to find success with this project.

I leave you with some flowers from my garden. It’s an old-fashioned rose that grows just outside our kitchen. It smells divine and right now it’s in full bloom. Isn’t it pretty?

Raising the Roof Quilt Top Complete

Posted by Claire on Jun 13 2013

Just a quick post to show you the completed quilt top for Raising the Roof.

Hard to believe but in just over 4 weeks, I was able to complete the whole thing, from cutting to dropping it off with Allison.

We’ve decided on a classic feather motif to emphasis the tromple-l’oeil effect of the dark and light stars. These photos are a bit blah – the quilt in person has a lot of depth and feels suitably scrappy.

The dark and light diagonal squares are really startling, too. They seem to jump out at you.

I made the pattern almost exactly as Carrie specified. The only changes I made were to the corner blocks (I went with pieced quarter square triangles) and the inner border, where I went with a dark red stripe rather than pieced strips of light fabrics. I think the dark anchors it more; the red stripe will also be used as the binding when I get it back from the long arm quilters.

I really like the vintage feel of this quilt and think that I’m going to be displaying it in our master bedroom, where the colours should go very well with the new look we’re (slowly) introducing.

Exotic Smocking Project Mailed Away

Posted by Claire on Jun 09 2013

I’ve been working on my SAGA Exotic Smocking correspondence course samples for ages.

I’m embarrassed how long it’s taken me to get my final lesson sample done up. I’m months overdue. But finally, on Friday, I was able to mail it off to Darcy. You could hear my sigh of relief clear to Quebec. Parts of the Northeastern States probably heard it too.

You’d think I hadn’t enjoyed myself, given how slowly I got this dress finished up but in fact, nothing could be further from the truth. The course was really worthwhile. I just got…uninspired. I was hmming and hawing, second guessing my choices of finished, frustrated when I had to rip out a couple of mistakes and the pieces just sat there all winter.

And all spring.

And suddenly, it was almost summer time and, I couldn’t put it off any longer. I buckled down and said, the goal is to finish and learn, not make a perfectly perfect garment so fix your mistakes, finish it up and get it done! And of course, all the glaring errors that had bugged me so much that I couldn’t contemplate finishing it, now seemed, on sober second reflection (not that I ever smock *unsober* ;)) not quite so fatal and not so hard to overcome. Sigh, isn’t that always the way?

I’m really glad I stuck with it though, because I think it’s pretty adorable, if you can say that about your own stuff without sounding conceited.

It’s a corduroy a-line with smocked shoulder ruffles and pockets and a fine ivory crochet trim. I really wanted to make a complete garment (because I’m a compulsive overachiever who wants to do everything to the best of her abilities!), so I drafted my own pattern. This allowed me to play with where I placed the smocking. Rather than going for something traditional, like across the chest, I turned the smocking sideways and used the natural fullness of corduroy to give me really ruffly shoulder straps.

Not a traditional use of smocking but then, the course is all about using non-traditional overdyed flosses and materials: linen, wool, silk and corduroy and stitching with a range of specialty flosses. I found some new favourites, especially with the wool, and really appreciated getting a chance to tackle pleating some of the trickier fabrics, since I’ll be seeing them again when I submit my artisan samples next year.

This dress used an over-dyed #5 pearl cotton and was smocked with a very simple geometric design of cables, trellis and waves.

I hand pleated the corduroy, marking the lines with an air soluble pen 3/8″ (1cm) apart. The pleating ration was just a smidge under 3:1.

I tried machine stitching the lace to the narrow seam allowances of the pockets, ruffles and hem but the constrast between the deep wine fabric and the trim was too much and the zig-zag was crazy visible. I ended up whipping it all on by hand (see above for crazy overachiever).

I’d hate for Jeannie Baumeister to examine it but the nap of the fabric was very forgiving of my hand stitching so it wasn’t too onerous a task. But best of all, it’s finished! That’s a great feeling, indeed!

Dots and Spots and Polka Dots

Posted by Claire on May 28 2013

I mentioned in my last update on “Raise the Roof” that I was planning to tackle a second quilt this summer. I think I’m so determined to get all my UFOs and wanna-sews done while I can because I know the fall is coming and the fact that I’ll be heading back to school to pursue my doctorate means that my spare time will be utterly non-existent.

This new quilt is a fun quilt (not that they’re not all fun but this one has a vibe that just says ‘let’s play!’). The colours are cheerful and vibrant and definitely outside of my normal palette of maroon and deep browns and and tans. I have an urge to put my hair up in a pony tail and skip whenever I look at them.

It’s all based around a discontinued fabric that I picked up from Connecting Threads, called Peppermint Forest.

I picked up 5yds, not quite sure what I wanted to do with it, but thinking it would make a good starting point for a quilt. The problem was, I couldn’t find the right pattern. Nothing seemed to work. They all left me kind of blah.

Then while I was visiting Carrie Nelson’s site (the same Carrie Nelson who designed Raising the Roof), I clicked on her freebie page (or as she calls it the ‘Stuffus Gratis’ page :)) and found exactly what I was looking for.

Shiny Brite quilt

Shiny Brite lives up to its name. And it will work perfectly for the fabrics I’ve got chosen, which are all a bright mix of turquoise, lime, hot pink and brown dots, spots and polka-dot fabrics. And the kaleidoscope pattern looks like peppermints. When it’s right, it’s right.

I’m going to make a twin size version, so it will involve a lot more blocks (120 or so). I’ve been collecting fabrics as I go the past several months. Everything has been washed and pressed and is ready to be cut. It’s funny how fabric colours and print styles are so trend-driven. I could find grey and mustard and cheddar and pale, pale pinks galore but teal blue and bright pink are definitely off the radar this season.

I don’t plan on piecing the border – I have enough of the main cream print with the children and the gingerbread to fussy cut the border to feature the little houses.

I’m also toying with adding some rick-rack along or on top of the border but I won’t worry about making a final decision until I’ve actually got the quilt pieced and I can play with some options. The only thing I’m still looking for is the perfect binding fabric. I want a medium scale hot pink and white candy cane stripe but despite all my searches, I can’t seem to find it. If you happen to spot any in your travels, let me know!

Raising the Roof a little higher

Posted by Claire on May 15 2013

I’m so glad I’m able to sew regularly again. My sanity suffers if I don’t!

My winter term at college was a heavy one, teaching wise, and by the end of April, it seemed that marking and lectures and exam prep were a 24/7 job. I was lucky if I got to lather, rinse and repeat; sewing was a distant dream. But the summer term is here and it’s been so enjoyable to get back to my machine and my handwork.

One of those sewing projects is the new Carrie Nelson quilt I mentioned a couple of weeks ago, Raising the Roof. Yes, I’ve been working on ‘pretties’ too but I am liking how quilting requires different sewing skills, keeping both garment and quilting sewing feeling fresh.

Carrie’s directions have been fantastic. Really, top notch step-by-steps. I especially like her technique for 4 flying geese at a time. I’d also forgotten how quick a simple pieced quilt can go together. I was still on applique time 🙂

I’ve been working at it diligently over the past three weeks, between other tasks and it’s amazing how far I’ve gotten, just using the carrot approach, as Mary Corbet calls it, of 15 minutes here, 20 minutes there.

Believe it or not, I’ve finished all 64 of the main 8 1/2″ x 8 1/2″ blocks (32 stars, 32 log cabins) and I’ve begun sewing the rows together. They’re all packaged up in ziplocs, the top corners marked, and when I get a moment, I sew a row together and it’s one step closer to done.

In fact, the only reason the main body of the quilt isn’t together yet is I ran out of brown thread and needed to get more before I could continue putting them together.

I still have the outer border to finish strip piecing. I’ve done two of them. They’re a bit much as a solid block but cut up, they’ll be a nice finish to this scrappy quilt.

I’ve also decided against the cream inner sashing in favour of a red and maroon stripe, I’ll need to head back to the store to pick up more of that fabric, so that I have enough for the binding and the inner sashing. But still, I’m guessing that by the end of May, I should have the entire quilt ready to go to Allison’s for quilting.

That said, my summer to-sew list is still shamefully long. 🙁 I do have another quilt in the works (it too is an easy pieced quilt like this) but we can’t do it all. We can just do our best!