The great outdoors: Fleece vests and bomber jackets

On February 23, 2025 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Travel Fabric, UncategorizedLeave a comment

I’ve never been one of those people who hate winter and cold weather. But this year…I hate winter and cold weather.

The last few months have been a kind of emotional roller coaster for me. This summer, I actually got a lottery invitational to the Tokyo marathon, only to struggle this fall with nerve pain that made it extremely difficult to run. I tried to help it with injections and other exercises, but it just got worse. My dream of running another world major marathon was squashed. After I made the decision to forgo the training, it seemed like a giant black cloud moved in over everything. And it hasn’t left for months. The last few years in New England, winter has been pretty tolerable, sometimes even downright pleasant. But this year, it’s been unrelenting.

The constant cold and ongoing snow and ice storms have definitely not helped the depression that set in after the holidays. I haven’t wanted to do much of anything, the outside just seems too unforgiving and my current mood has killed any ambition I had in the first place. But this weather has caused me to pull some pieces of my wardrobe that I haven’t worn in awhile. One is my winter vest made with fleece that I got in the Southwest a few years ago. I made it last year, but didn’t get a chance to write about it. And now is the perfect time to do so, with all my current projects laying around, unfinished.

*I call this one, perfection in design print matching*

I had been looking for a pattern that had the style of a vest I would actually want to buy. I settled for the 5 out of 4 pattern, the Aspen vest. It even had zippered pockets, which is rare to find in these sewing patterns. My last vest did not have these and it’s tough when I want to anything remotely active.

This vest did call for several types of fabric besides the fleece – there is a knit for the lining, woven fabric for the pocket flap and zipper stop and other fabric for binding the arm holes and bottom. Plus all the zippers. Getting all these things to match was a bit of a challenge, but after a few shopping trips and online orders, I got everything I needed to assemble it.

Double sided stay tape helped keep the zipper in place

The result is great, I have a very warm vest great for winter activities or just hanging around the house. It’s great for that extra warmth when the sun doesn’t shine through the windows (like today).

Luckily I had this extra snap for the top pocket flap, so one less thing to buy

The print style on the fleece is not one I wear too often, but it reminds me of my travels through New Mexico and Arizona. I love using fabric from my trips, because it’s like getting a whole new souvenir, months after the vacation.

*I do love the design on this fleece, especially the bright colors*

One thing I had been trying to do more of in the last year, is make clothes in line with actual fashion trends. I saw that bomber jackets were making a comeback, so I decided to try my hand at it. Especially since I already had a pattern in my inventory, the Seamwork Larkin jacket. It was great because there is a helpful sewalong video on the website, which helped me navigate making my first ever coat. What makes this jacket special was that I was able to attach a patch I received after running the Marine Corp Marathon in 2022.

I got a nice medium-weight woven fabric in green, so it would match the patch. I was able to use some yellow rib knit I already had in my stash for the cuffs, collar and bottom.

I think it all came together well, although I did have trouble finding a good zipper that matched the color. Speaking of the zipper, I also had an issue where the zipper was a bit too long for the jacket. I think partly it was the pattern, but also partly because I did shorten the length of the coat a bit. I’ve run into this issue before and with that garment, I just removed some of the teeth at the top of the zipper. Unfortunately since this was not a plastic zipper, no matter how hard I pulled with the pliers, I could not get any teeth off. And I really tried. I guess it’s good the zipper is strong and sturdy, but I basically had to just fold the zipper back into the seam, which looks a bit odd in that there is no real visible top to the zipper.

It’s still a functional coat however, and the patch on the arm looks really nice. It’s a nice way to commemorate a time where I could actually run a marathon, unlike now where I’m not even sure I can ever take part in a race again.

The most difficult part was trying to figure out how to sew the lining in via the sleeves. You need to pin it at this point and then figure out how to flip it around to sew the right sides together.

With my running future in limbo, the year feels a bit uncertain. However, I did decide to go ahead with my trip to Japan. Now that I have the added bonus of not having to worry about running a marathon, I am a bit more relaxed about the trip. I think it will be a good thing in the end – I’ve always wanted to go to Japan and I couldn’t just let that opportunity go by. And the fabric shopping should be fantastic.

With my running future in limbo, the year feels a bit uncertain. However, I did decide to go ahead with my trip to Japan. Now that I have the added bonus of not having to worry about running a marathon, I am a bit more relaxed about it. I think it will be a good trip – I’ve always wanted to go to Japan and I couldn’t just let that opportunity go by. And the fabric shopping should be fantastic.

Summer Sewing Projects: Halter Top, Sailor-Style Shorts, and Vintage Romper

On August 11, 2024August 10, 2024 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Travel Fabric, Uncategorized1 Comment

Summertime sewing is always difficult as the weather is more geared to outdoor activities. However, I have had some luck in completing some anticipated summer projects. This year I’ve been trying to make a conscious effort to use up my stack of fabrics acquired during my past travels.

Going through my stash, I happened to find a stretchy knit with pretty flowers that would be perfect for a summer top. I had picked up this fabric as a last minute addition when I was in Montreal last summer. It caught my eye as I was about the leave the store. I’ve been seeing a lot more flowers in fashion lately so I thought it was time I made something with it. I felt the perfect top to try was the Seamwork Jovi halter top, which has a built-in shelf bra and back ties.

I really enjoyed sewing this one and the shelf bra was a nice extra challenge. I like that is has a built-in bra, although I’m not sure it looked very flattering on me without an additional bra. For this one I had to acquire plush-back elastic for the shelf bra, which was not the easiest notion to find. I think I have enough left over to make another one of these tops, which is something I definitely want to do. For the next one, I think a fabric with more stretch will work better.

The only really tricky part was attaching clear elastic to the front and back. You had to cut a notch in the elastic so that it can fit around the v-shape in the front. For my first attempt at this, I think I did pretty well. It’s not a perfect V, but the front looks pretty smooth and did not bunch up.

For my other summer makes, I finished up some nice sailor-style shorts. I had bought these cool anchor buttons on a trip to NYC a few years back. Looking for an excuse to use them, I realized they would go well with this chambray anchor fabric I had on hand. I’m not really sure where I got the fabric since I’ve had it forever, but I’ve been waiting for the perfect project to use it on.

I had tried the Kwik Sew pattern on some scrap fabric and struggled to get the front to lay flat and not puff out when I wore the shorts. I took my time with this second attempt, laying it out and basting it to make sure I saw how it would fall on me. Even with all the extra work I did in fitting it, it still doesn’t lay perfect and sometimes I need to adjust it on my hips to get it to look right. I think I did the best I could with this one and I like the overall result. The pattern is a bit challenging though.

I may have gotten lazy with the bottom hem, which I just stitched a blind hem on the machine. Hand sewing a hem is not for me. I think it still works, even though the thread wasn’t the perfect color to match the fabric. I showed this one off at a classic car show in Andover, MA. A boat show may have been better to stay on theme for these shorts, but they proved to hold up in the sweltering summer sun.

My final project is probably my favorite. A few years ago on a trip in Maine, I found a 1970s vintage pattern for a cute summer romper. I wanted to make it with retro-looking fabric and through an exhaustive search I found this rainbow terry online. The pattern called for fold-over braid and I had no idea what that even was or how to find it. I did search online and I was able to get a fold-over knit binding on Etsy that worked really well.

I love the results of this, which is an extremely comfortable summer casual outfit, perfect for lounging. There is elastic in the back and ties in the front for some slight adjustment in the waist. I went for it without making a test outfit. I figured I could just cut another one if it didn’t work out, since it didn’t use up too much fabric. I ended up nailing this one on the first try and I am especially impressed with how good the neck and arm holes look with the fold-over trim. It was stretchy and very easy to work with, which was great since I usually struggle with binding edges in general.

Matching all the stripes was slightly challenging, but not too bad since you are only cutting out 4 pieces. I did pretty well on the front and sides, the back was more of a challenge because I was sewing in a zipper.

The garment has a cute and comfortable look, but the main issue with rompers is they are a pain when you need to use the bathroom. Oh well, I still love it and may even think about making this again if ever find another fabric that will fit the project.

As mentioned, I’ve had some challenges getting the time to sew this summer. I started my quest of making cross-body bags and my first attempt was not too bad. I did struggle with binding the inside seams, especially around the zippers. I think the main issue was using bias binding that I already had, which was maybe not quite wide enough to work with. For my next attempt, I think I will make the bias binding recommended, which has an initial width of 2.5 inches. This section of the pattern instructions was very confusing to me and the instructions were not very complete, but I will review it again and try to figure out what works.

My quest to use up my travel fabric stash continues as I have my eye on a summer dress using fabric I bought in Hawaii. It’s not likely I will finish for the summer, but I may have something coming up it will work for. Yes, another trip! Maybe I’ll skip the fabric shopping on that one.

Key West dress: My return to the machine

On June 29, 2024 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Travel, UncategorizedLeave a comment

This spring, my sewing took a back seat to other, non-fiber related projects. That Larkin bomber jacket was really hanging over my head as the weather got warmer and warmer. The need for outerwear was gone, but I was determined to finish it this year and not put it off for the fall. I did eventually finish the coat. I like the result, but there was a slight issue with the zipper. I will go into that another time, as I don’t have any photos of this jacket as of yet.

This month, I was also able to quickly complete a dress for the summer, just in time for my future father-in-law’s birthday party. I had bought some colorful fabric when I was down in Key West in 2019 and I knew I wanted to make some sort of vacation dress with it. The store was called The Seam Shoppe and it was a cute little fabric store that had some great tropical themed prints. I failed to remember that this fabric wasn’t just colorful, but there was a big “fish” theme in the print. Oh well, it’s still very pretty and I love the feel of it. I decided on the Veronica Dress from Seamwork as I liked the simplicity of the style. The skirt ended up being perfect on it, but the top may be a bit too big. The fabric is probably rayon, so the dress will still feel nice and cool in tropical weather, but I’m wondering if I should have gone for a more strappy top. I still think this dress is a success and it fits pretty nice.

There is some elastic in the back, that gives it a nice shape. Matching some of the panels on this was pretty challenging, so it mostly matches in the front and sides, but the back is pretty mismatched. There wasn’t anything too crazy about this pattern, although I did find a video on YouTube that gave step by step instructions which I found helpful. The pattern directions didn’t have the best explanation for finishing the seams or installing the zipper, so the video was a great resource to follow along with to make sure I was doing everything correctly. The most confusing part was actually sewing in the neck facing, as these instructions were very confusing and the drawings didn’t really help too much. You have to sew the facing to the zipper tape at the top and then fold the sew allowances in when you sew the facing on at the top so that when everything is flipped out, it will be a clean seam.

I was terrified I was interpreting this wrong, and it took a few extra minutes of trying to figure out how it would work before I was able to sit down and sew this. Luckily I didn’t end up having to unpick anything and I got this stitching correct, but I was pretty anxious at this part. This sew-along was a life-saver, especially since Seamwork didn’t seem to have one on their website.

I finished the dress just in time for the birthday party and was able to show it off and try it out before I took it on a real vacation. I think this one will be coming with me to French Polynesia this fall.

Summer sewing is in full effect right now, as I just finished nice floral tank top for the season and I’m currently working on a retro-style romper! No real summer travel for me this year as I’m saving up for my destination wedding/honeymoon. I’m thinking maybe this summer I should focus on sewing up fabrics I’ve gotten on past travels, like this Key West fabric. It’s a good goal anyway!

The Cure for the Summertime Blues…or When Life Gives You Lemons

On August 7, 2023August 6, 2023 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized1 Comment

Summer in New England does seem to go by too quickly and this year is no exception. It’s been kind of a strange season weather-wise, but I’ve been able to make the most of it with a beach day here and a hike there. I got caught in a few epic rain storms as well, ones where rain coats and umbrellas don’t seem to do much. I’m not going to get to do all the things I wanted to this summer, but I was able to finish my second Riley top. I am calling this one a success since I was able to lengthen it enough so it works with midrise pants and it looks good despite using the wrong type of fabric. The ties on these are a little wonky, but when its all tied up, I don’t think it will make much of a difference.

I even was able to make bias tape for this one with the fabric, although it didn’t quite press as well as plain cotton, which made for a very frustrating project.

*There has to be a better way…I think I need a better tool to make bias tape if I’m going to be doing this more often…*

Despite this, it worked ok for the facings. I extended the length of the top by 1.5 inches, so it still has a slight cropped look.

So glad to finally be able to use this fabric for something! And I have more leftover, so I may use it for some lounge pants or I may also make a pair of these great knit pajama shorts that I had self drafted a pattern for.

I was able to test out the shorts pattern on some leftover knit I had from a 1970’s style dress I made. All the pajama shorts I purchase seem to have ridiculously wide legs that tend to ride up in my sleep. I wanted something a bit more comfortable and these worked great. It could be a great way to use up leftover knit as well, which will help with my overall stash-busting project.

*A very fast extra project for the month. I think this could be a great way to bust some stash and also give me more comfortable pajama shorts!*

Up next for the month is making this cute sleeveless tie-top using McCalls 8620 (view C).

I’m trying out the fit on some lemon-print cotton I bought in Montreal. I had a feeling this pattern would need some adjusting and so far I’ve been proven right. The collar on it just doesn’t seem to match up to how it’s supposed to fit on the shirt. I think if I make it smaller it could work better. I may also have to extend the front facing a bit too so it can reach where it needs to go. It’s odd that the facings are cut along with the main shirt front. Folding it in the way the pattern described was extremely confusing. It took a few tries and 3 times unpicking the stitches before I figured out what they were trying to do. I was able to figure it out by actually pressing the facing in place first to see how it needed to land. Anyways, this one will never be perfect, but I’m confident my next one could be great if I take my time and figure it out right. I did shorten it a bit, but so far it doesn’t seem to need too much size adjusting, which is lucky.

I also started the bodice on my summer sundress, but I quit to cut out some button-up shorts out of some scrap denim. This is another test garment as I’m not sure I can get the fit right on the first try. I have some anchor print (I think it’s Chambray?) that I’ve really wanted to do something with. I think this may be the perfect pattern for it, but I need to make sure. I’ll get to the dress eventually, but it’s a high possibility it won’t be ready for this summer. But you never know.

Summertime Tanks: The Life of Riley

On July 18, 2023 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized2 Comments

Oh this summer! The other day I went to put on my favorite bathing suit. As I was pulling the bottoms over my legs I hear “bbbrrrrrrruuuuuupt” – that all knowing sound of old elastic stretching out. The legs holes were totally useless as the back just hung off my butt like an untucked sheet. Very depressing – and they weren’t even that old! I had the idea that I could probably just replace the elastic in the legs, so I didn’t throw them out. They now sit on a pile of well intentioned projects I say I’ll get to – running belts that I haven’t sewn up yet or tee shirts that I want to repurpose into tank tops. It’s so hard when there are so many other cool things to sew. I really do want to fix these bathing suit bottoms though…

*These bottoms fit so well! And lately the suits I’ve tried on don’t seem to cover much of my bottom…it would be nice to salvage these.*

Right now, I’m busy with summer tank tops. I saw this Seamwork pattern in my collection, the Riley top, and I thought it looked really cute. I had also been trying to figure out what to do with this fun cotton fabric I bought. I thought this might be the perfect top for it, but wanted to figure out the fit and the length first. I knew it was a cropped style and it seems like when Seamwork says its cropped, its REALLY cropped.

I thought there was a possibility I’d want to lengthen it just a tad. I didn’t want it too long either, which is usually my complaint of other patterns. I found this Paris-themed cotton in my stash. It was one of those times I just bought something because I thought it looked cool even though I had no idea what I would sew up with it. It’s just plain cotton, a little on the thick side so probably not ideal for this project, which I think prefers a lighter weight fabric. I decided to go for it and it mainly works. It’s a little bulky in places and the ties and bottom casing a little stiff, but the print is really cute for this. For a test garment, it’s extremely wearable. I tried to really take my time on the hem and the facing, so it didn’t look too sloppy. I think the result is great.

*The Seamwork Riley top, in some nice cotton*

*A very rainy day in Cambridge, MA. But it’s still muggy enough to wear a summer top.*

Now to try it with the real fabric. This is lighter weight so I think it will sew up nicely. However, I had thought it had just a slight stretch to it, but when I started cutting into it, I realized it’s pretty much a two-way stretch jersey. I’m still going to try it – the pattern doesn’t use too much fabric, so I will still have some fabric left for another top if this doesn’t work out the way I want it to. After seeing where the Paris tank landed, I decided to extend the pattern by 1.5 inches. That way I could wear it to work if I wanted or at least not feel self conscious wearing it when I’m not at my fittest.

I made too much bias tape for the first tank, but I’m hoping what I cut out will make enough for this one. I’ve been dreading it and putting it off because there was just so much ironing with the last one, and I struggled with my bias tape tool for some reason – the fabric just kept moving and shifting to one side. I may need another tool that’s easier to use.

With all these tops, I think I may need to switch it up. I’m really wanting to make some shorts before the weather gets cooler, but it’s hard adding stuff to my growing list of potential projects. I think I need to at least attempt the dress I cut out first. We’ll see if I get distracted…again.

Austin 2020: Tanks for the Memories

On March 7, 2020July 11, 2021 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Travel, Uncategorized1 Comment

Pattern: Aurora Tank by Seamwork

I love to travel. Over the last few years, I’ve really made it priority and planning trips has become almost a major hobby. My latest trip was a girl’s trip in Austin, TX with a couple of my closest friends. We planned the trip under the guise of running a race down there, but in reality we were more interested in exploring a new place rather than being competitive. I wanted to have a new piece for my trip so despite it being cold and wintery outside, I decided to sew up a knit tank top inside.

I knew I wanted to make another Aurora Tank, since it’s such a simple pattern and I enjoyed the one I made before. However, I knew my previous tank was not perfect so I decided to do a little reading about twin needle stitching on knits before I attempted another one. I saw some familiar issues with “tunneling” between the stitches and also tension Continue reading “Austin 2020: Tanks for the Memories” →

Time for the warm & fuzzies: The Oslo cardigan

On January 16, 2018February 4, 2018 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized1 Comment

Pattern: Oslo Cardigan by Seamwork

It’s been a pretty strange winter, weather-wise. An overly warm fall turned into a very mild November. And then all of a sudden, the snow rolled in by mid-December, after what seemed to be spring-like temperatures. By the time Christmas and New Years hit, we were plummeting into single digit and negative temperatures. January in New England began to feel like Minnesota. Lucky for me that I had already completed this project – a new cardigan that I can wrap myself in on those bitter cold days.

This was my second Seamwork pattern and again I was amazed by how fast I was able to sew this project up. I used a fairly thin sweater knit fabric that I had envisioned would be perfect for a large cardigan just like this one. The pattern lived up to most of my expectations, however I was surprised at how huge it ended up being, even making the XS size. I even tried to take the shoulders in a bit so they didn’t droop down so much, but it still ended up a bit too large in that area.

Elastic installed on shoulders — The only extra notion you need is this clear elastic, which I was lucky to have bought for another project (that I haven’t started yet). It stabilizes the shoulders nicely, especially since this fabric was not too thick.

I did really like the cuff-finish on the sleeves. Since I don’t have a top-stitch machine, Continue reading “Time for the warm & fuzzies: The Oslo cardigan” →

Tanks for everything: the Aurora top

On December 6, 2017January 18, 2018 By qplourdeIn Sewing Projects, Uncategorized2 Comments

Pattern: Aurora tank by Seamwork

Skills acquired:

Double needle for knit
Installing a walking foot

Hello sew blog my old friend.

This past summer, running was my life as I was training for my first marathon (as seen in my other blog). It was almost impossible to find time to sew. The good news is that I’ve been sewing quite a lot in the last month, so I’m hoping to be able to carve out some time to write about my projects.

Amidst all the training, I was actually able to complete one project over the summer – the Aurora tank top by Seamwork patterns. On top of everything else, I also got a new job this September, so I never got around to writing about this project. I had picked this particular pattern due to it’s simplicity – only 3 pieces to cut out and Seamwork patterns are known for their quickness to assemble. All are supposed to take under 2 hours. I worked on this in pieces of time that I could find here and there, but I’m pretty sure the 2 hours is accurate.