SuperEggplant

I’ve been fascinated with cotton lawn as of late. I was kind of into it, but then I think Melissa kind of pushed me over the edge with all her cotton lawn talk. I ended up buying a yard of cotton lawn by Liberty of London on ebay and am contemplating making a skirt or something:

In other news, Peter is working on a deck/stairs thing out the back door. It’ll come in handy, because right now the back door is only accessible to people on stilts:
August is shaping up to be a very busy month. We are expecting many visitors (which means very little sewing will be accomplished, since the sewing machine is in the guest room, and it’d be antisocial to go off and sew, anyway) and there’s just a lot going on, including maybe a BIG ANNOUNCEMENT later in the month.

AHHH HAHAHA! I made another skirt! I AM A MACHINE!! HAHA!! Actually, I can’t believe how much sewing I have recently accomplished. I’m not really the most efficient person. Well, all I can say is I have to get all my sewing in now, because August is looking mighty busy, and I probably won’t get much sewing accomplished. So here’s the skirt:

I bet you can’t guess where the pattern is from! Yes, yes, it’s another Machiko Kayaki pattern, but it’s from the Skirt a la Carte book. Can you tell that it’s kind of a jean skirt style? I used an upholstery fabric that Carolyn sent me. I wanted something stiff and heavy for this style of skirt, but it was a tad challenging when sewing the waistband.
Here’s the back:
For some reason, seeing Deedle’s little tail in the corner totally cracks me up. Her butt and my butt! Ha ha ha! Oh dear, I am losing it. Also, I apologize if my “athletic” (i.e., big, honkin’) calves are frightening you. They scare me, and they are attached to my body!
Oh, and a note about pattern tracing paper. I went to the fabric store today, and they had several different types. They were all in the notions section but not right near the interfacing. So, if you can’t find it, just ask, and hopefully you won’t get a cranky pants employee like I did when I asked for a tailor’s ham.

Aloha! I’m glad you are finding the sewing tips useful. Some of you asked about sizing in the Japanese sewing books. In the books I have, the patterns seem to come in 3 to 4 sizes. Each pattern comes with a little sizing chart that indicates the finished dimensions. The following is for a dress:

The measurements are in centimeters. I usually make the smallest size, and so far the sizing seems to be relatively accurate. I usually have to make things shorter than the pattern, since I am 5’2″ (on a good day). Hope that helps! Now get sewing, y’all!

How about some tips on sewing from a Japanese sewing book? First, the books do come with patterns, but the patterns are all squished onto a big piece of paper, which can be very confusing and disorienting.

Basically, you just have to find the pieces you need for your item. If you want to make, say, pattern B, then you look for B along the edges of the sheet. You’ll need to get some pattern paper so you can trace the pattern for cutting out. I get the white stuff that looks like interfacing and has little red dots on it.
So the first step is to trace all the pattern pieces. Now, before you cut them out, remember to add seam allowances! You won’t need to add them to every side, however, because some of the patterns will use bias tape edging or be cut on the fold. So, you need to study the diagram for the particular pattern:
See how the armholes and the neck don’t have the seam allowances drawn in? That’s because those will be finished with a bias tape edging and thus don’t need any seam allowance. So study the diagrams and then add in the necessary seam allowances to the pattern pieces before cutting them out. I add 3/8″ seam allowances, but for hems I add about 2″. Also, you CAN just add the seam allowances when you’re cutting out the fabric, but it’s much easier and more efficient to add them to the pattern pieces (I’ve done it both ways).
Your pattern piece will look something like this:

Some other things: many of the patterns use bias tape for edging. You can buy a bias tape maker, but I don’t seem to have one the right size, and I’ve been too lazy to hunt one down, so I just make my own. You can also just buy packaged bias tape. They even have bias tape with sticky tape on it so you don’t have to pin carefully. If you want to make your own, cut strips 1 3/4″ wide on the bias. Fold in half and press, then open the strip back up and fold in each side to the center and press. Also, you won’t find pattern pieces for the bias tape edging, so you’ll just have to study the pattern diagram and instructions to see if bias tape is used.
I guess that’s all I can think of for now. If you have any questions or your own tips, please feel free to leave them!

This hot weather has necessitated a new wardrobe! I definitely need more summery, sleeveless items, so last night I made this dress out of some vintage fabric:

Can you guess where the pattern is from? Yes, score another for Machiko Kayaki! This one is from the Sewing Lesson book, and the most time-consuming part of the dress is making all the bias tape. These Japanese patterns are really big on making your own bias tape to use as edging. Anyway, you can’t really tell from the photo, but there are a few little gathers on the front neckline. There are also two ties. You can see those better from the back:
Hmm, I look a little hunchbackey in that shot. Well, the beauty of the dress is you can make it as fitted or as loose as you want. I went for loosey goosey comfy womfy.

We’re going sleeveless around here! It was 104 degrees today, and we don’t have air conditioning. Hoo boy. Nothing one can do but sit very still and wear sleeveless clothing.

Yup, it’s yet another item out of a Machiko Kayaki sewing book! This one is out of Sewing Lesson. I used some old gingham I dug out of my mother’s pile of fabric (and I SWEAR I didn’t even think about it being green until I was nearly finished). I didn’t have quite enough to go totally on the bias, which is why it is more slanted than diagonal. Oh well. Also, the top is a little big in the armholes, but who cares! The more breeze running through, the better! It was a pretty quick and fun project.