Stitch Details

Late this summer, I'd planned out a little wardrobe to participate in Pattern Review's wardrobe contest in October. Well, I started sewing the last few days of the month. I could probably sew a full pajama wardrobe in a week, but not a wardrobe meant for public viewing.

Now I have sewn most of the pieces and will get to wear them even if they didn't get to debut in a contest.

I liked quite a few items from the newest Ottobre Woman magazine (issue 5-2012). In fact, I think it's their best issue yet, with this summer's issue a close second.

The details on this dress appealed to me - I like the simplicity with the subtle details. Above, you can see the hand stitches at the neckline and empire waist, and the pleated sleeve trim.

I think there's an interesting juxtaposition of casual fit with formal styling here. The sleeve caps are high and narrow, but the dress itself is loose. I was able to leave off the side zipper, which is good, because I wasn't enjoying trying to put it in between the side seam pocket and the armhole.

Restricted arm movement is the drawback to the high, narrow sleeve caps, and when I raise my arms the bodice fit looks fairly awful, despite the normal fit adjustments I make for shoulders. If I made it again, I'd swap this sleeve for one with a wider, flatter sleeve cap.

Pockets!

And some replacement pants were in order for the boy, don't you think? He loved these pants with all the details - the fun back pockets and front patch pockets, as well as the darted knee segments.

Even if the knees weren't hole-y, nearly 2 inches growth since May (yahoo!) necessitated a new pair. After more than a year of growth hormone therapy, we're finally seeing results. It's not good to go 4 years without having to trace a new pattern size.

Sources:
Stitch Details Linen Dress (Ottobre Woman 5-2012-1).
Linen blend from Mill End Textiles

Frogs Pants (Ottobre 1-2008-25)
Stretch khaki denim from who knows where

Polar Paws

Life's been very full lately, so I'm happy to say I did not forget how to find my own blog on the internet. I have a lot of blog reading catch-up to do, but I'll be coming around to visit you soon!

The cooler weather (we had snow flurries yesterday) has inspired me to dig out the polar fleece scraps and my stash of winterwear patterns. Given my sewing sparsity lately, I thought it'd be good to start with the easiest winter pattern: mittens.

In fact, I made the mittens in my husband's size, because when you are sewing fingers, larger means easier. This pattern has only three pieces: 1 thumb, 1 mitten on a fold, and 1 cuff. And the thumb is symmetrical, so you don't have to worry about attaching it to the wrong-handed mitten.

The "cuff" piece is ribbing which is zigzagged to the inside to cinch up the wrist area. This is done in the flat before the mittens sides are stitched up. A soft elastic could be used instead of ribbing, especially since it would have better recovery.

And then the mitten is hemmed with a zigzag.

Here's a view of the inside. The pattern includes 1/8" seam allowances and the seams are left unfinished.

My husbands loves his new mittens  - and it was a funny coincidence that I was stitching these football print mitts while he was watching the Vikings game.

I'm eager to try the glove view shown below. These gloves and mittens will be a good companion to the pattern from Controlled Exposure for shell overmitts.

Sources:
Polar Paws: Green Pepper #508
Polar fleece scraps - for adult size large, I needed just a smidge over a third of a yard (12 inches) for the height of the mitten, but would be able to get two pairs from the width of the fabric