Colette Juniper Trousers!

I'm back.  I've been sewing some and crafting some, but just not blogging.  Sorry :-/

I busted my butt this morning and into the afternoon to finish this pair of pants to enter into the Pattern Review Pants Contest.  I started them because of the contest and of course waited until the last possible moment to finish them.  

 Here's my official Pattern Review:

Pattern Description:  Classic wide-leg trousers, perfectly fitted through the hips and falling gently to a moderately wide hem. Has front slash pockets and fly front. Pattern Sizing: 0-18. I made a 4 with lots of fit modifications. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes! It did! Were the instructions easy to follow? I thought they were pretty easy to follow. I sewed the pocket in a different order than the instructions called out, which made more sense to me. I thought the instructions were a little too wordy. They are too conversational and could be easily simplified and still make sense. What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I really like the style of these pants. Something I always want to buy, but have a hard time finding in stores. The fit was not great for my body type. I do not have hips so I had to make some modifications. That was a little annoying because being an indie pattern (not a Big 4) I was hoping the body measurements listed on the back of the pattern would be more accurate. I measure 27.5" at natural waist, and 36.75" at hip and I had to take in this pattern a lot! See below. I also did not like that there wasn't a top pocket facing. I ended up adding one. Fabric Used: A vintage med. weight denim I bought at a church sale for a few dollars years ago and a vintage floral sheet for the pocketing I got for free when I first started to sew. Yay for stashbusting! Pattern alterations or any design changes you made: Okay...here we go... Like I said above I made a size 4. I was a big-ol-idiot and thought that I would make the pants straight from the envelope and not have to make fit adjustments. I even overlocked and topstitched the sides and back rise before checking fit. Derrrr. So I had to unpick a lot and make as many adjustments as I could without recutting and redoing the entire pant. I ended up taking in the side seams from about low hip to waistseam 1/4" (1" total circumference). i also took in the CB seam 1/4" (1/2" total). Of course then my facings were the wrong size! My seam allowances for the CB facing pieces ended up being about 1 3/8" and I left my front facing pieces seam allowance 5/8." This was my quick and dirty fix. I hate recutting pieces. Also, I drafted a little top pocket facing because it is one if my pet peeves to see pocketing fabric exposed inside the pocket. I still need to address a little bit of "hungry butt" but overall, the fit is pretty good for my first real pair of pants. Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I might make this again, but I would have to transfer all my fit changes to the pattern and I'm not up for that right now. Plus there are so many other patterns I want to try. Conclusion:  Overall, its a pretty good pattern, just not great for the hipless.

 Here are a few detail shots of the pocket and the trouser closure.

 If you made it down this far, VOTE FOR ME :)

Flea Market Tote

One of the other projects I started a long time ago from the Heather Ross book was the "Everything Tote." I used Echino fabric I purchased on sale at the Purl Soho warehouse in Tustin.  It has owls and deer on it!!!!  I was so excited to make this new bag, but it was nothing but trouble!  The instructions were atrocious and if you follow them, the handles turn out to be tiny and nothing like the picture.  The amount of fabric needed is incorrect as well.  The pattern calls for 1/2yd of the self and lining fabrics, but I think you need 1.25yd each.

What I did differently:

* Pleated instead of gathered the bag front and back
* Used a completely different handle treatment.  The instructions did not make sense and there are many other ways to get the same look.
* I added buttons on either side and used a hair-tie as a quick closure.

* While cutting out the lining pieces, I accidentally cut into my fabric TWICE.  This allowed me to practice my corner seam technique.  They came out beautifully. :-P

One the plus side, this bag holds a whole lot and because I used an off-white lining, it is very easy to see and access all my "stuff."  It's a great flea market bag!

Also, it can carry an assortment of dogs.

It turned out cute, but I would not recommend this pattern.

Just Because...

I've been wanting to make SOMETHING from Heather Ross' "Weekend Sewing," the first sewing book I purchased.  I fell in love with the design and the projects were very cute.  I'm really glad I waited a long while to use the book because honestly the patterns are pretty poorly drafted and the instructions are awful.  So many errors!  Trying to make something from this book when I was a beginner would have been disastrous.  Luckily, I found the help I needed on the good-ole internet.

I used this awesome Echino fabric I got on sale at Purl Soho to make the Weekend Away Travel Bag.  I've been waiting for it to go on sale because it reminded of the car my best friend had in college.  It was a bright green Datsun (Al, is this right?).  For the inside I used scraps from another Echino fabric with owls and deer on it.  I'm on a deer kick right now.   Luckily I know how to restrain myself from purchasing too much random crap.

Anyways, the bag went together fairly slowly.  Unfortunately, the instructions failed to mention that one way prints don't really work for this pattern.  Also, the inner pocket dimensions are incorrect.  I omitted the pocket anyway.  The bag is nicely finished on the inside, but the final sewing step was a PITA and I had to redo it twice.  If you make this bag, measure the lengths of the two pieces you are sewing together and adjust the zipper panel piece accordingly.  

I included a lavender eye pillow, Andes Mints, and a home-made stitched card.

 I might make another bag again as a gift, but not for a while.

:)

Job Hunt Update:  I've had 2 interviews for an Assistant Technical Designer position and am scheduled for a third.  I really like the company and my potential boss.  I think this job will be challenging and am excited to both learn a lot and work hard.  I really hope I get it!  Thanks Gwen for the encouragement on my last post.

Review: Sewing Kit iPhone App

App Store

When I got my iPhone in December, I downloaded an App to help catalog and organize my sewing patterns.  It is called Sewing Kit by Vesta Software.  I haven't heard of any other sewing bloggers using it so I thought I would do a review.  Lately, I've been spending ALOT of time taking photos of my patterns and putting them on my phone.  Already over 125 patterns!  Below is the description from the iTunes App store and  I'll tell you a bit more about my experience with the program.  

Description (taken directly from the App Store site)

Sewing Kit is your new home for all of your sewing needs!

If you have ever been in a sewing store looking at patterns, but couldn’t remember if you already bought the one you like, or if the fabric you like will work with the project you are working on, then you will love Sewing Kit!

Now scan the pattern envelope while in the store to look it up, and add it if you don't have it!

Sewing Kit lets you search through all of your patterns, fabrics, projects, and people to make sure you are not buying something twice, or getting home and finding out you forgot to get something you really needed!

With Sewing Kit you can store and search on all of your:
- patterns
- fabrics
- projects
- measurements for people

All of these things, all in one place.

Features:

For Patterns, each entry has: company name, pattern number, size, brand, your own rating of it, where you are storing it, “unlimited” photos, “unlimited” notions, “unlimited” types of fabrics, and much more!!!

Also - for each pattern from Butterick, Kwik Sew, McCall’s, Neue Mode, Simplicity or Vogue, Sewing Kit will _try_ to download the envelope images (including the back panel) if they are available on the company’s public web site (Butterick usually requires a "B" as the first digit in the pattern number for this to work, "M" for McCalls, and "V" for Vogue). Not all images are available. Not all sites have the back panel image available. All images remain copyright of their respective web sites.

For Fabrics, each entry has: name, color, material, amount, been ironed?, been washed?, where you bought it, where it’s stored, “unlimited” photos, and more!

For Projects, each entry has: name, who its for, notes, “unlimited” photos, pattern being used, status, type, and more!

For People, each entry has: person’s name, “unlimited” photos, and “unlimited” measurements!

Sewing Kit is also highly customizable! You can manage your own list of Pattern Companies, Fabric Types, Notion Types, Ratings, Measurements, and more!

Sewing Kit has been localized into English, Spanish, and French! Let us know if there are other languages you would like to see Sewing Kit in.

SewingKitLT (our Lite version) is also available (for free!) to try out all of the features, before buying the full version.

Questions? Comments? Concerns? Ideas for more features?
Come by our site at http://www.vestasoftware.net or drop us a note at ideas@vestasoftware.net, or if you find bugs, bugs@vestasoftware.net

Please let us know what more we could be adding to make Sewing Kit even better!


These “unlimited” items are limited by the amount of free storage space on your device, not by Sewing Kit.

 Examples from the site (these photos are very accurate.  looks the same on my phone):

App Store

App Store

App Store

I like the app a lot, but it has a few bugs. Firstly, it crashes from time to time in the middle of uploading a pattern.  It used to do this more often, but now it is less frequent.  Also, it rarely has older OOP patterns or very new patterns in their database.  It almost never has the back of the envelope with the size and yardage information.  Usually only the tech drawings are included.  This means I have to take photos of every pattern front and back first.  I use a different app from the Camera App included on the phone, transfer the files to the Camera Roll, then insert them in the Sewing Kit App.  By taking the photos in the Sewing Kit App, the pictures tend to come out blurry.  The process is time consuming, but it works for me.  Oh, one more negative thing.  The customer service is pretty bad.  I emailed months ago about the freezing that occurs.  It was driving my crazy.  (It is much better now).  I got no response and there wasn't an update for months.  It worried me, but the program is working better now.

What I love about the App is that it is truly customizable.  I have added tons of vintage patterns to the App and have added the Pattern Company names (Hollywood, Advance, Marian Martin, etc) to the Pattern Company List.  Under Categories, I have included tons more (children, men's, accessories, etc) so when I search for something, I can find it by category.

I also like how I can put people measurements in the phone.  I have only done it for my mom, which has been very useful because she can never remember her measurements.  When we go pattern shopping, this comes in handy.

It has been very helpful when I shop for fabric too. I don't have to bring patterns with me.  This is great for the delicate vintage patterns and saves room in my purse.

Right now the price is $4.99.  I think I paid almost $10, and that is really disappointing.  It is worth the 5 bucks, if you are willing to spend HOURS cataloging your patterns.  I don't know if I will do the same with my fabric.


Even with the bugs, I think I would recommend it.

Does anyone else use this App or another one like it?  How is it?  Do you like it?