How I construct a collar with a collar stand

Yeah, I know I've been MIA for a long time.  I should show you the hobbit costume I made, it turned out awesome and I won best of show at the state fair for it (I did really well at the state fair in general this year).  Anyway, I've been making some shirts, and I thought I would show you how I construct a collar with a collar stand:

First, interface BOTH sides of the collar stand, and the top collar. I'm using Fashion Sewing Supply's Pro Woven Fusible Light Crisp interfacing. 

Next, you are going to stitch the collar stand to the shirt, right sides together, with the shirt sandwiched in between. 

When you get to the shirt fronts, you want to have your needle right next to the plackets. This is where you will pivot to stitch the curve.

Roll the shirt out of the way and stitch the curve up to where the collar will attach.

Trim, clip, turn, and press. Your stand should look like this.

Construct your collar.  If you trim a scant 1/8" from the collar edges (not the neck edge), you'll get a nice roll on the collar when it's worn.

Stitch the collar to the stand, putting the undercollar next to the outside stand.

Trim your seam allowance on the collar stand, turn it under, and cover the stitching from attaching the collar.

Edgestitch all the way around the collar stand. I usually start and stop at a shoulder seam.

The finished collar!

Inside.

Outside.

 

New Look 6136

I made a birthday dress for my niece. She'll be 2 in August, but I wanted to get this entered into the fair (drop off is tomorrow). This was so fun to make!

I fell in love with New Look 6136 when looking through the pattern books. I used an old Amy Butler print from the Ginger Bliss line, and found this great orange print at Joann Fabrics. The bow is removable for washing.

I constructed it a bit differently than the directions. The bodice is lined, per the pattern, but I completely enclosed all the seams, instead of having a raw edge at the waist. I also trimmed the back lining so that I could sew it to the back piece and then have the back flat (I don't think I'm making sense). Per the pattern, they wanted you to cut the fabric and lining using the exact same pattern pieces, stitch them RST at the neckline and back, then fold over the back section for the buttonholes. I didn't like that, so I did it differently.

The pattern calls for the bottom band to be interfaced, but I felt that would be too stiff, so I omitted it. To put the band on, I first did half the miters, like this. Then, once I knew those were stitched well, I did the rest of the band, with the other miters. If I tried to do the band all at once, I'm sure I would have messed up the miters that I would not be able to see.

(I don't know why this picture keeps uploading sideways.) Since the side seams are the only exposed seams, I just did a clean finish, instead of using my serger.

Three little buttons close up the back, and the cuteness just kills me!

Judging is on Thursday, so we'll see how I do. For children 4 and under there are 2 categories: Play Outfit, and Any Other Garment not Listed. This particular dress is going in the latter, or what I call the "everything but the kitchen sink" category.

Vogue 1027

I made another dress:

This is Vogue 1027, and it was very quick to make, cutting it out Wednesday night, and stitching it up Thursday afternoon. I made a size 12, with a 1" FBA and I lengthened the bodice 1" (to have the sash closer to my actual waist).

I'm really happy with how this turned out. There are pockets in the skirt too.

I rotated the resulting dart from the FBA into the two existing pleats. Now the armhole area lies nice and smooth. I used my coverstitch machine for the neckline, armholes, and hem. I am seriously in love with that machine!

I wore it last night to Calvin's gymnastics banquet.

Vogue 1282

I made a top and skirt last week:

Calvin and I had to go to a bar mitzvah on Saturday, and of course I needed something nice to wear. I decided on Vogue 1282, out of a grey knit I've had in my stash for, oh, 8ish years. It's some sort of synthetic, and is spongy. I made a size 12 (for reference, my measurements: chest 33.5", bust 39", waist 31", hips 40.5", I'm 5'2"ish and wear a 34E). Both pieces went together really quickly.

The top is only one pattern piece. I added about 1.75" to each side of the CB seam at the hip. I didn't need to add that much -- it fits fine but I think I'd like it a bit snugger so that it bunches up more. The pattern calls for the top to be cut on the bias, which is stupid, because it's out of a knit. I ended up cutting it cross grain, as my fabric was only 45" wide. Since it's a 4 way stretch, cross grain isn't a problem.

After stitching up the CB seam, I tried it on, and needed to take the neckline in. I took it in about .75".

See how nice it lays with that adjustment?

The armholes are finished off with a straight grain strip of fabric. I used a .25" seam allowance, as they would have been a bit low with the standard 5/8" one. I'd heard the neckline was low, so after trying it on I stitched it up another inch. It's still low, but hey, when life gives you curves, flaunt them.

I put lingerie guards to keep the top sitting correctly all the time.

The skirt went together very quickly as well. It's only 2 pieces, 3 if you count the straight grain strip for the elastic waist casing. I shortened it 3" above the split, and I'm thinking I might take it up an inch or so more. There are 4 tucks in the front of the skirt along with multiple tucks in the side back seams.

One more picture of Calvin photobombing me:

My Sewing Room: After

We worked solid for those four hours and check out my sewing room now!!!

We started in this corner, with the bookshelf. Right away, she made some boxes for me to put stuff in. We had Donate, Office/School supplies, To Go Through Later, Toys, and Half-Price books. At first it was hard to start, but once I got going, it was pretty easy. I decided that this room is a good place for the school/office supplies, so as I got areas cleared, she got that stuff put away. You can see, in the very corner, about 3 boxes that I need to go through. They have things like picture frames, music cds, and important papers I need to file. The grocery bags are either books that have already gone to Connor's classroom, or outgrown clothes that have been passed on to a friend's 4 year old son. The white box has school supplies, and is now next to the computer (which you will see below). The white basket tower thing now has 2 sections for projects, a section where I put things to put away later (and I'm not allowed to let it get full!), and some empty binders that I'll use when I file my patterns. I also plan to take another pass through the bookshelf and maybe weed out some more books. The drawers are completely clean and organized with office and school supplies.

Check out my clean floor under my ironing board! You can now also use that door. She gave me the idea of getting some bookshelves to put on either side of the bay window, and then using canvas totes (I'm thinking like Debbie's) or some sort of uniform containers to corral stuff. I see a trip to IKEA in the near future. I also have lots of ideas on my sewing room Pinterest board.

She also suggested painting the paneling a pale color. Other friends have suggested that also, as this room is pretty dark at night even with lights. Right now I'm leaning towards a warm grey or cool beige. I'll also be taking down that ugly curtain rod. I'm still not sure as to what type of window treatment to do. I want the window to stay open, because that looks right out onto Lake Michigan, and is beautiful. In the cabinets underneath is where all my fabric is stored.

My sewing table is clean! It's clean underneath too! That large mirror is going to go, either to a friend or a consignment shop. It's large (about 3x5 feet), and I have another mirror in the basement that I'd rather use, which is maybe 2x6 feet. More appropriate for fittings, as I'll hang it vertically, probably over by the built in bookcase. Then I'll figure a better location to hang the thread racks and my drawer thingy that's sitting on the table right now. This is as far as the organizer and I got, before we ran out of time.

So, my homework was to finish up my computer area....

....which I did on Monday night. I boxed up the old desktop, which wasn't functional, and put it in the basement. I'll get the data and pictures off of it after the holidays. I still need to clean off the clothes rack, though half of it will be gone tomorrow when some alterations get picked up.

I've been sewing in here every day since! It is so nice. I've also been a good girl, and cleaned up my mess each time I finish, so that I can keep the room looking good. Next I plan to have a friend come over and help me go through my fabric stash. I'm pretty sure I like and want everything that I have, but I would like another set of eyes, and I don't want to keep anything I don't have a plan for. Right now I have a few things in a Facebook album that I'm offering for sale or trade.

edited to add:  Gwen asked if I learned anything new.  No, I didn't.  Basically, she said everything needs to have a place (and first I need to ask myself does whatever I have even belong in this room or would it be better suited somewhere else), and everything needs to be put in its place.  If the boys want to bring some legos down here to play with, that's fine, but they need to bring them back up to their room when they are done.  I asked her why was this so hard for me to do alone, but easy when she was there, and she said it was because I didn't know her very well, and so we didn't sit and reminisce about stuff that I found, and I didn't stop and play with things I found, and she kept me focused.  She wouldn't let me delay a decision, and if I wasn't sure about something (do I donate it?  do I keep it?), she'd ask me to justify keeping stuff.  If I had good reasons, that was fine.  I hope to paint over the school winter break, so hopefully I can show you some more pictures in the new year.  

My Sewing Room: Before

Back in May, I won a 4 hour session with an organizer at an auction. I knew I wanted her to help me get my sewing room in order, and last Saturday, we finally got together. I took some pictures of the disaster before we tackled it. It actually didn't look this bad when she got here, as I tried to do some stuff ahead of time. However, this room had become the "we don't know where to put it so we'll put it in here" room, and was really really out of control. Be warned, these pictures aren't pretty...

I know, right? Somehow, I still managed to work in here, though not very well, and the disaster here is probably why I haven't been sewing much. Next up, the after pictures!

My friend Rowena has a post up that I think my sewing/knitting/crafty friends might like. You might recognize one of the rooms (or at least recognize the alias).

Remember that 4 hour session I won with an organizer? She's coming November 12. Hopefully I'll have some great pictures to share.

It's A Girl!

As of Friday, we finally have another girl in the family.

This is Esperanza. Sometimes I call her Chica for short. Maybe she'll be a bilingual dog, since I talk to her in Spanish half the time. She's almost 4 months old, and weighs 4 pounds. I think she'll eventually be about 6 or 7 pounds, like her mama. Best of all, she's already house-trained.

My mom saw a flyer at the VA (where she works) stating "Pom Puppies for Sale, 10 weeks old, to a good home". She knew we've been looking for another dog (and having no luck with the WI Humane Society or the rescue groups), and took the number down. I phoned, drove out, and got a dog! :)

She is so much fun! She stays near me most of the time, but on the beach she went exploring a bit. She isn't too sure about big dogs, and hides between my legs when they come by, but I am going to do my best to get her used to them. She also gets carsick, so I am hoping she outgrows that.

Right now, Randall tolerates her, but he's slowly warming up. She gets a bit rambunctious and tries to jump on him sometimes, and he's having none of that. Today, though, they ran around together on the beach, so I hope they'll eventually be good friends.