SuperEggplant

Hey, so I broke out the Korean sewing book again (I’d link to the post about it, but I guess the post is on my old blog, and ding, dong, the link is dead! If you need to know about that book, you might have to harass my webmaster, i.e., the crazy brother).

I had this lightweight plaid fabric in my stash. I think I got it at the Fabric Depot outdoor sale last summer. It’s an easy, breezy little dress, but I had fake my way through the instructions, since I cannot read one character of Korean. Anyway, I am not sure what to make of this dress. I put it on today and did not look in the mirror. Now I am looking at the photo, and the dress looks kind of weird. Oh well, who cares! Now if only it would get hot enough so I could wear the thing.

So I’m back from Canada, ey! Didja miss me? A couple of important things I learned up north: the BC Ferries have excellent soft serve ice cream (dense and fluffy at the same time), and the cafes have “americano mistos” (one place referred to it as an “africano”). Why don’t they have americano mistos here? Or maybe I am the dummy because I should just request it that way?

Anyway, behold the shruggy dealie thing I made with inexpensive, super stretchy, cotton-poly knit from the Fabric Depot outdoor sale. I downloaded the free pattern from Japanese web site Polka Drops. It was interesting to sew, since there are only 3 pattern pieces: the front & back are one piece, the sleeves are another, then the banding is the final piece. I couldn’t quite decipher the instructions, but the pieces fit together pretty easily. Since this fabric is very stretchy and droopy, I was very happy to have my serger and cover lock machines. I did not, as you can tell, get all anal crazy about matching stripes or anything.

When I first tried it on, I was all, what is up with this thing not closing in the front, but then I realized it is supposed to nest delicately on the tips of my shoulders, so I just embraced it. The shruggy cardi is actually very comfortable and provides just the right amount of warmth on a coolish summer evening. For realz.

So I’ve been a bit obsessed with this Japanese fabric store Rick Rack. They also produce patterns and books, so I managed to hunt down one of the books. I think I got it online from Kinokuniya. There’s a handful of patterns in the book, and they are simple and streamlined and perhaps a little frumpy and thus right up my alley.

I am pretty happy with the seersucker shirt, as it is super comfy and easy to wear. I like the little banded edge on the sleeve. I know some of you have been missing Peter’s comments. He didn’t have a whole lot to say about the shirt, but he did laugh pretty hard when he first saw it. He then muttered something about people telling me I should wear more fitted clothes yet here I go making “another wide-body shirt.”

Okay, we’re heading up to Canada for a week, so things will be quiet for about a week and a half, which, well, is not very unusual, anyway. Lates!

I live in T-shirts, but I must say that finding the perfect-fitting T-shirt is an elusive beast. It doesn’t help that I will love the fit of one shirt one day then hate it the next. As my father used to say, “Picky, picky, picky.” It’s a good thing, then, that there’s such variety in T-shirts.
And how’s this for variety! This shirt looks like a normal T-shirt with set-in sleeves from the front, but heyyyyy, raglan in the back! I first saw this on Yoshimi’s blog. She is one of those overachieving Japanese women who looks perfect in anything and everything, and that alone should have made me very suspicious of her, but I decided to keep an open mind and follow her lead.
The shirt pattern is called “Fujiko” and is available from Japanese pattern shop Tamanegi Kobo. Now, the name of the shop should have made me suspicious as well, since “tamanegi” means “onion,” and I detest onions. But anyway, the shop has made it very easy for international shoppers. Pay with PayPal and download the PDF pattern, and there you go!
Some tips and other info:
- set the paper size on your printer to A4, cuz that’s what they use in Japan
- I did not do the whole bodysuit thing, so no snapping crotches or anything
- the directions are in Japanese, but you basically just have three pattern pieces, so you don’t really need directions. I found it easier for my spatially challenged brain to sew the back (raglan) part of the sleeve to the bodice first. There is some curvy stuff happening with the front part of the sleeve, but do not fear it!
- I made the size small (seam allowances ARE included), but I am planning to make a size medium for comparison’s sake (I am more comfortable with a tad more ease)
- I used some sort of fleecy base layer fabric that I got at Rose City Textiles a while back. I realize it is summer and I have no business wearing a thermal-type of layer, but ask anyone here–it has been unacceptably cold all summer!
And the beat goes on.

Here we go again with my toils in patternmaking! I want to keep hammering away at patternmaking so I don’t forget what I learned and also to try to improve my very limited skills.
So, when we got invited to a wedding, I figured it was the perfect opportunity to make a party dress (also because I didn’t really have a dress to wear). I had seen a Grecian neckline dress at J. Crew that I really liked, but I tried it on, and to say it did not fit is an understatement. Armed with my patternmaking knowledge (ha ha ha), I decided to go for it:
1. The J. Crew dress had a princess seam, but I was afraid that trying to do a princess seam AND a Grecian neckline was going to really rattle my tiny brain, so I just followed the instructions in my patternmaking textbook for the Grecian neckline and made a muslin. Disaster. I got kind of confused because there was a top piece and a bottom piece, and I wasn’t really sure how things were supposed to come together. A horizontal seam across the bustline seemed kind of weird. The muslin looked insane.
2. After that I decided I needed some additional guidance, so I bought a pattern that had an armhole princess and a Grecian neckline. Yay! It wasn’t exactly what I wanted, but I figured I could adapt it. I decided to just sew up a muslin of the pattern in case it miraculously fit (because then I wouldn’t need to do any drafting), but of course it didn’t.
3. On to Plan C! I went back to drafting my own pattern, but it was really helpful to have the purchased pattern to refer to. I started with the armhole princess seams then did the neckline. I had to make a couple of muslins but got to the point where I felt I had a workable pattern.
The Good:
- I think the dress came out pretty well, and it is just as I had envisioned it
- I think I did a decent job with the lining. I know that sounds silly, but hey, I like the lining
- I’m very pleased with the fabric and how much it cost. I wanted to use silk doupioni, but I didn’t want to spend a ton in case I ruined the dress. Hello promotionally priced silk doupioni from fabric.com! I got 2 yards of silk doupioni, 2 yards of cotton broadcloth for the lining, a zipper, thread, and a couple packs of needles for UNDER $30. Thank you very much.
- Silicone pasties
The Bad:
- Should I mention the puckers by the armholes? Well, they weren’t there when I was fitting the bodice. I think they appeared because I tried a trick of sewing some elastic to the lining to pull in the strapless side of the bodice. I think I placed the elastic incorrectly or something. By then it was too late to remove the elastic, so I just figured, screw it, nobody is going to care. After I got home I did take the elastic out, and I think next time I wear the dress I’ll just use some double-stick tape (they have that for clothes, don’t they?) to keep the strapless side secured.
If you’ve read this far you deserve a prize or at least a visit to a mental health specialist. Thanks!

My primary goal in the Patternmaking III class I took at Portland Sewing was to come up with the perfect button-down shirt pattern. I learned during the patternmaking classes that I have freakish shoulders. They are wide and stick out, so it’s often hard for me to find tops that fit me in the shoulders. So, armed with my sloper, I jumped in to draft a button-down shirt block, one that I would be able to use over and over, or at least that was my goal.
Man alive, did I have a lot to learn. I think I drafted about 4 sleeves, and I am still not completely happy with it (a bit too puckery in the cap for my taste). There were various other challenges, one being that I have very poor, or Peter would say nonexistent, spatial skills. It’s a wonder I’ve been able to sew at all over these decades.
Check out all these muslins! Muslin mayhem! When I got down to the final pattern, I still wasn’t sure it was going to work (and as I mentioned before, I still need to tweak the sleeve or maybe improve my sewing skills).
So some interesting lessons in this. My instructor helped me decide on some style issues. She suggested incorporating armhole darts, as those can be flattering for the chestally challenged. We kept the top shortish, because I have a long torso and short legs, and visually you want to break up the body into thirds: one-third on top and two-thirds on the bottom. The shorter top is supposed to make my legs look longer. I used the waist darts in the back for additional shaping. I apparently wear clothes with too much ease and was encouraged by others to wear more form-fitting items, but you know, I am not sure how comfortable I am with this. I guess at heart I am just an ease-y gal, ha ha. And the experiment continues …