Clothing Engineer

Just finished these last night:

These were made out of a 2-way stretch rayon jersey (96% rayon, 4%
lycra).  I got it from fabric.com – just do a search for “stretch
rayon jersey”.

I made some different design changes this time.  I love
lace waistbands, so I used stretch lace instead of elastic on the
waist.  Nothing fancy this time, just serged together in the back
and topstitched to the body with the cover stitch machine, then trimmed
the excess fabric.  For the legs…I don’t have black plush lingerie
elastic on hand, only the plain kind.  I noticed on my Calida
bikinis that the elastic is cover stitched on the outside instead of
turned under (like the instructions recommend).  Of course I don’t
have the same quality elastic they do, but it is nice nonetheless so I
cover stitched it on the outside, then trimmed like I did for the
waistband. 

The only thing I might try different next time is drafting the
leg holes lower, and making the stretch lace in the front a V instead
of going straight across.  I’ve seen this on a ton of RTW panties.

I think they turned out really, really nice.  I’m glad I
bought that bolt of 10 yards of this rayon, because it is perfect for
this project – very thin and soft, with a silkier feel than plain
cotton/lycra jersey.

As with most projects, the two-way stretch worked out better for
me than the four-way.  They seem to stay in place better. 
I’m starting to wonder if four-way stretch jersey is all it is cracked
up to be.  It is much easier for me to make fashionable tops out
of the two-way stretch stuff.  It can be difficult judging knits
and how well they will work for a pattern since they vary so much with
thickness and degree of stretch.  I also noticed I’m getting
better results now that I sew with knits with a maximum of 6%
lycra.  Usually 4% or less works best for what I sew.

Maybe I’m not cultured enough to appreciate it…but to me, she
looks like she’s stuck in a hay bale.  Maybe this is why it is now
out of print?

I was admiring this very nice suit today on the Ralph Lauren website:

Ralph Lauren Black Label Shay Cotton Jacket

Right now this Ralph Lauren jacket is $500.  (Originally it was
$1200.) The interesting part is that I have a very similar cotton
twill, in champagne, that I bought for less than $2/yard.  And
lining to match.  I wonder how easy it is to fit a jacket with a
single dart in the front though.  Luckily I’m small busted…

The pants
are interesting as well.  I like how they are tailored but not
extremely skinny.  The perfect pant width for my fabric, which has
some body.

And the front…which is very plain with slash pockets.  Those are on sale for only $160.  Marked down from $400. 

Edward Hamilton Books

Tons
of general topic books, and about 100 sewing books listed. Most are
very heavily discounted (but some may be older editions). 
Shipping is reasonable as well; $3.50 flat fee with $0.40 per
item.  The titles seem to veer towards beginners, but there’s some
advanced level books in there as well.  I’ve been ordering from
them for a very long time and have been very happy with their service.

This is my second time making this top, though this time I did view A:

This time I used a two-way stretch rayon/lycra knit (50% stretch
across the grain). I also drafted the pattern a half size smaller than
recommended. This time it came out very form-fitting, but it looks
good. I would definitely need to go up a half size if I used something
less stretchy. The only thing I would change next time is to snug in
the armholes a bit. I ended up using 3/8″ lingerie elastic instead of
clear elastic on the arms/neckline because of the trouble I had with
the clear elastic sliding everywhere.

This top works well with more delicate knits.

Clothing Engineer is about 75% done.  I’ve moved most of my entries from my old website
to this one.  I ended up copying and pasting because it appears
that there’s just no easy way to import entries from WordPress to
Expression Engine. In the process I’ve lost most of my comments…but
at least the content is here.

Now I just have to make a new theme for it.  I’m really not feeling the love with this template.

Wool is usually thought of as a dry-clean only fiber, yet is used for diaper covers.  Can’t get any less dry-clean only than that!  Even though I am far from
being a baby person, I’m curious to know what these actually look/feel
like. There is a retail store located not too far away from me that
sells these; I’ll have to check it out sometime.

You know that neat metallic crinkle fabric that has been so popular in the Burda World of Fashion magazine the past six months or so?

Candlelight Valley Fabrics
has a few colors available in 100% silk. It is $15/yard. Just do a
search for “crinkle” and it will show up. They also give very good
descriptions for how to work with it and care for it.

Another thing I like about this place?  A flat fee of $9 for shipping.

The
only thing is that the description says it is rough on skin, and should
be lined. Perhaps a very lightweight jersey knit in nude would do the
trick? Silk knit would be the ultimate in luxury, but could easily turn
this into a $75 top…

Check out Vogue V8431:

Even
the fashion sketch models look awful in this jacket. But I do admit
that it is a unique style that I haven’t seen before. I just don’t see
how this is a flattering style, even for thin or hourglass shaped
women. To me it looks like a bag. It reminds me a bit of those dresses
in Vogue that were part of the Fall 2007 preview collection. The
emphasis was on the shape of the garment, which was of course very
strange and usually not figure-flattering. It is something only a woman
really into high fashion could understand. Everyone else thinks it is
just plain strange. It is like Carrie Bradshaw’s outfits on Sex and the
City.

Then I saw this one, Vogue V8331:

Now
that’s my idea of figure-flattering. Princess seams, defined waist, and
a trim fit. I think it would make a very fun first jacket. To make it
more mainstream the sleeves on View B could be slimmed down to regular
straight sleeves. Or full-length sleeves could be added to the short
sleeve one. Either would work.

There’s just something very timeless and feminine about the Chanel
style jacket. A single breasted blazer with notched collar is very
professional, but this jacket says “class”:

This one is definitely on my list.  View C looks particularly interesting.

Update: Added pattern link to Vogue’s website.