UFO Escapes

Stud Muffin's New Shirt

Today, two garments managed to escape from my UFO (UnFinished Objects) sewing pile. A-ma-zing! Two completed garments in a single day! The fact that both were nearly finished in no way negates this miraculous occurrence. They've been "resting" in that UFO pile so long, it's a wonder they didn't disintegrate.

First to escape was the black and white striped shirt I made for Stud Muffin. The project stalled when I couldn't get my buttonholer to work reliably. (I think the problem was the lump in the chair.) After all the work I'd put in to the shirt, I wasn't going to finish it with shoddy buttonholes. No sirree!  Better to submerge the dang shirt in the UFO pile where it could be forgotten/ignored. (Punishment for being difficult?)

Under collar with its collar stay pocket

I hauled both the shirt and the buttonholer out and tried again. Success! The project almost stalled at sewing on the buttons but guilt kept me going and voila - finished shirt! 

I like the pattern play of sleeve, placket
and cuff

Stud Muffin is rather conservative and the stripe of the fabric is quite bold. I knew I had to limit the shirt's design elements or else it would not be worn. Alas, I think I restricted myself a little too much. For a striped shirt, it's rather plain. I love the sleeve placket and cuff play of patterns and wish I'd added one tiny detail on the front. Next time....

Finishing the first project felt so good, I moved on to another - pj pants that were Stud Muffin's Christmas present. Everything was done but the elastic. Can you imagine - that's where I stopped! My excuse was I wanted to cut the elastic to size, as the last pair I sewed for him are in danger of sliding off whenever he sneezes. Oops! I corralled the man, the elastic and the pj bottoms and came away with another success.

Bay City Roller pants? (I'm dating myself
with that reference.)

If all that excitement isn't enough, I started pattern drafting today. I finished the front upper torso block. I'll tackle it again tomorrow.

            - Lady T

Two

One of the problems when dealing with UFOs is the person who finishes the garment has no idea what the person who started it was thinking - even if it's the same person!

While working on a discarded project, it becomes increasing clear that the person who started the stupid thing was right Out to Lunch. What on earth were they doing??? No wonder the thing ended up in the UFO pile. 

Other questions arise such as: Which pattern was used? Were there any construction instructions? Where is the rest of the fabric? What happened to the notions? And, worst of all, why isn't this working?!?

It's like trying to construct a jigsaw puzzle with your teeth - because you're hands are tied behind your back. The pieces may end up chewed and soggy, but the good bit is they flatten back out real nice when you beat them with your forehead.

I decided to start with something easy (ha!) and finish two black-and-white t-shirts I'd cut out and partially sewn at a guild sew-in a couple of years ago. At the time, I figured I could finish them both in that session (double ha!).

The flowered one was almost complete - only the hems were left. I'd planned to coverstitch both shirts when I finished the striped one.

As I worked on the striped shirt, the vague recollection of struggling with the sleeves on the flowered shirt popped to mind. Once again, I realized the sleeve cap was a good 1cm smaller in circumference than the armscye. As with the first shirt, I used the stretchiness of the fabric to compensate, but the stripes ended up a little wonky.

Flower Power and Jailbird have left the UFO pile

Then I noticed the hemline. The stripes were slightly off on it, too. Obviously I'd cut on the fold - both sides at once - instead of as a single layer, which is the way striped fabric should be cut. I was close to finishing, so I continued.

Now that they're done, I can't say that I'm thrilled with either one. While I like the fabrics - especially the flowers - the fit is off. And here's the really weird part - the fit of the striped shirt is worse than the flowered one, even though they were cut at the same time from the same pattern. The shoulders on the striped shirt slide towards the back more.

Is it because the striped fabric was slightly off grain? Or is it the difference between the two knit fabrics (flower - poly/lycra, stripe - cotton/lycra)? 

At any rate, time to celebrate this (flawed) victory. Two t-shirts have officially exited the UFO pile. Alas, many still to follow.

What about you? Any UFO sightings around your sewing area?

UFO Sightings

Pile of UFOs on and beside the Singer table.
See the basket below? It may get filled....

This is the pile of UFOs (unfinished objects) I found yesterday while shovelling out my sewing room. <sigh> So many. So many!

How I loathe UFOs. There's usually a very good reason for abandoning a project. The Big 3 are: 1) fitting problem, 2) construction problem or 3) something more urgent/enticing came along. Often it's 1 or 2, and then 3 appears, so I tuck the offending garment away.

I'm determined to work my way through the stack. Either the garment will be finished or it will be tossed. None will be left half-done. The trick is to figure out how to clear the pile without  tossing them all out (bad) or losing my mind (worse).

Cleaning up my sewing sanctuary took all day yesterday. I went overboard and tackled the pattern storage problem too, culling a few.

Cutting table (as uncluttered as it gets)

Here's the end result.

Other sewing area. This Singer is the treadle
twin to the one with the stack of UFOs

Making a Splash

Kwik Sew 3153, which was almost a UFO

Summer officially ended a month ago, and I just finished my swimsuit. <sigh> Let's pretend I'm really, really early for next year's beach weather. Besides, it's so gorgeous, I have to forgive myself for being pokey. The end result was worth the wait!

I used Kwik Sew 3153. It's a tank-style suit, with a shelf bra and a back band with a hook closure. I traced the medium, my standard Kwik Sew size, and lengthened the bodice by an inch below the waist. Next time, I'm going to flatten the front leg curve a little so it follows the curve of my leg crease instead of curving up in the torso. Small detail.

I'm also going to widen the back band a tad. It's a bit skimpy and, I feel, out of proportion with my broad linebacker's back. I know most people like skimpy backs for tanning, but as I usually just burn, the tanning appeal is lost on me.

The fabric is a nylon-lycra knit bought at Ann's Fabric Shop in Hamilton, Ontario. (If you're in the Niagara region, check out this store! I never leave there without a bulging bag of material.)

As you can see from the photos, the print is a bold mix of blue and green swirling lines. My chief concern, when cutting it out, was that none of those lines swirl into my crotch.

I cut the front on the fold and - you guessed it! - the underside had a misplaced swirl. Disappointing but no big deal as I had more fabric. So I cut out the front again, using the first one as the pattern (after double-checking the swirl positions). Success! The first cut piece then became the full-front lining.

Powernet shelf bra continues into back band.
Foam cup inserts

For the shelf bra, I used flesh-colored powernet, the fabric used in bras. It's not as stretchy as the swimsuit fabric, which is the reason I used it. I don't need "the girls" bouncing all over the place, or worse, sagging. Powernet lets me keep my bosom where I want it. The back band is also lined with powernet.

Some people use powernet for front and back linings. The power in powernet smooths bumps and slims bulges. It acts, in essence, like built-in Spanx. However, that figure control comes with a cost - the swimsuit is much warmer (as in hot!) and the feeling of all-torso compression gets to most people within an hour or two. So I voted no to the powernet lining, even though my figure could use the help.

In the shelf bra, I inserted foam cups. They add shape (remember the compressing power of powernet) and offer protection from cold-water show through of the twin peaks.

I used 3/8"/1cm chlorine-friendly swimsuit elastic along the outer edges as the 1/4" didn't feel substantial enough. This lyrca print has a lot of built-in oomph, and I felt the narrower elastic would lose the battle of who's in control.

The straps are also lined in powernet to control their stretchiness, and each outside edge is finished with elastic. (The pattern has one strip of elastic going up the middle, with both edges turned over it.) My straps still stretch but they don't sag, even after swimming. Plus they're a tad wider which is more in proportion with my broad shoulders.

Blurry photo of 3-thread coverstitch finishing

All elasticised edges were stitched with a 3-thread coverstitch. This looked fabulous - especially on the straps - and was easy-peasy until I had to attach the straps to the back band and add the back fastening. Then it all went south.... To be fair, it was finished garment piece being sewn to finished garment piece, so there were a lot of layers of print fabric, powernet, and elastic. More than one needle broke, and more than one curse was uttered. These final stitches were sewn with my regular sewing machine, slowly and carefully, but still a needle broke.

It's a cute pattern, easy to sew. It's comfy, has great coverage. Next time I'll use a 2-thread coverstitch for finishing as there are fewer needles to break. I'm thrilled it's done; this poor swimsuit had been buried in my UFO (unfinished objects) pile for several months.

Alien Abductions and UFOs

Imagine the following spoken by Maxwell Smart. "Would you believe I was abducted by a fleet of aliens? ... No? ... How about 2 aliens? ... What about a man in a spacesuit?"

Aliens. That has be it. How else could I explain a 3-month absence?

As proof that I'm not making this up, I'm going to show you an honest-to-goodness UFO. A sewing UnFinished Object.

Several months ago, I started this self-drafted skirt with SC. She finished hers, but unfortunately I stalled half-way through my waistband. (Can you imagine, it was already hemmed!) The abandoned skirt lay like a limp rag in my to-do pile.

Dear readers, I don't know if you've noticed this yet, but I seem to have a teeny problem finishing things. I'm sure this character flaw has something to do with the previously mentioned alien abductions. The Extraterrestrials must've started when I was very young and impressionable.


The rewards of finishing a project!

Annoyed with myself, I unearthed it from the pile (I'm sad to say there were several new pieces on top of it). After contemplating my options (the reason I had stalled previously - indecisiveness), I decided to insert a piece of thick, non-twist waistband elastic to help compensate for my expanding/shrinking waistline. I closed the seam and presto the job was done!

Here I am wearing it. As you can see, I'm enjoying a celebratory glass. It's not every day you overcome to-do pile gravity!

              - Lady T