Week Three: Wranglin' Raglans

Please excuse the delay in posting for this week...both Rhonda and I ended up otherwise distracted on Tuesday, but back on track today....

Week Three of our Month long T-Fest is all about the raglan sleeve T.  This week Rhonda and I are both starting with the Chelsea T pattern from Fabric Store.com.  It is a free pattern that you can download and tape together, easy to do and not many pages to deal with.  Rhonda did a post about using the pattern HERE.  She also used it for her tea towel T in week one HERE.

For most people, raglan sleeves are flattering and easy to fit and sew.  But, for a broad shouldered person like moi, not so much.  There never seems to be enough fabric to fall nicely over the cap of my shoulder.   I was a bit worried when Rhonda suggested the pattern because I have kind of given up trying to get a raglan sleeve to fit me, usually opting for a set in or other type of sleeve.  But I took the challenge....

I made a 'trial balloon' of the pattern, once I got it taped together, and sure enough, I got plenty of wrinkling and pulling between my shoulders.  The front and back of the T fit OK and the length of the raglan seam was good, it was just the amount of fabric over the shoulder that was off.  To create the needed room, I did a 'fisheye' adjustment at the shoulder point, which added room without changing the length of any seams.

A second 'trial balloon' confirmed my suspicions, I did need the extra bit of fabric and once it was added, the fit was very nice.  Thank you Rhonda for nudging me into raglan sleeves!  (She is the Queen of Sleeves after all! 👸)

With my adjusted pattern in hand, I started looking around for fabric.  I liked the idea of a good old striped T-shirt.  I thought making the front and back in stripes with contrasting sleeves would be a sporty, fun look.  I found a black and white striped scarf in my drawer and liked it with a beautiful sheer gray silk crepe over it.  The scarf was  not big enough to cover the need, so I went shopping, hoping to find a black and white stripe, preferably silk, to match the drape of the sheer overlay.

I came home with several pieces, one small stripe, one dot and no silk!  I laid the gray over them, along with the striped scarf and still wanted those stripes...and silk!!!

Not giving up, I decided I would make my own stripes!  ...And here's where I got totally carried away!  It sounded like a simple idea...just make some stripes...out of silk crepe de chine...yeah?!

#!@&!!**### (no need to elaborate on that part of the process! 😬)

I did manage to get my stripes and loved them.  The black has a lovely jacquard pattern and I used the matte side of the white.  

Once I got the pieces together, I realized that the simple turned neckline finish recommended in the pattern would not work with the sheer sleeves.  Instead I cut a facing from the black silk.  I turned the outside edges, applied some fusible seam tape and laid it under the neckline on my dress form.  I steamed it to activate the fusible tape and hold it in place and then sewed the right side facing in place.  Worked like a charm!

             

So my 'sporty' striped T got a wee bit over the top and decidedly schmancy!  But I really like it!  It feels very elegant and refined and I have no idea where or when I will ever wear it!

     

Since I ended up with such a fancy T-shirt, I thought a fancy recipe would be in order....

The last time my son and his girlfriend visited she and I took a baking class together.  I'm not much of a baker, but she is very accomplished, so I was following her lead.  We made french macarons, which I love but never imagined ever making myself.  I got out the recipe and dove in!  

First the meringue:  stiff peaks

Then add the dry ingredients and fold to make batter that flows off the spoon like "slow lava"

(the dark flecks come from very finely ground Earl Grey tea. Yum!)

Use a piping bag to make a whole slew of little cookies...the paper templates under the parchment paper make the spacing easy. (hint: take the templates out before baking...and don't ask me how I know this *#!!)

       

Bake, cool...fill with yummy butter cream and enjoy!

This recipe is very similar to the one we used in the class, with the following changes:

Skip the coloring and the flavoring and add 2 teaspoons of very finely ground Earl Grey tea.  I don't care for Earl Grey when it's made into tea, but when you put it in a cookie...yummy!

Even if you never make French Macarons you will want to make this butter cream!  It is totally divine.

2 sticks unsalted, room temperature butter (oh yeah!)

2 cups confectioners' sugar

1/4 cup honey

1/4 cup sour cream

1/4 tsp salt

Whip it all together until smooth and creamy. 

A silk raglan sleeve T and Earl Grey Tea Macarons...totally schmancy!

Week Two: Oriental T

Here we are...week two of our "month of woven T's".  Week one's inspiration was the humble tea towel.  For week two we decided to start with kimono fabrics.  So, 'oriental tea' if you will.

Rhonda graciously offered up some vintage kimono pieces for us to work into our designs.  

 Kimono are a series of fabric strips connected to make the traditional Japanese garments.  The fabric comes from a single bolt called a tan that is about 14 inches wide by about 11 yards long.  All of the fabric is incorporated into a single garment.  You can often find pieces of the fabrics that have been scavenged from worn out kimono... and that is exactly what Rhonda sent to me in an incredibly generous and inspirational package.

The gift included four different kimono pieces, an African print and an Indian stamped piece.  When I opened the package my brain immediately went into high gear.  The Kimono pieces were not big enough for a whole shirt so I started trolling around in the 'ol stash and went a little crazy pulling fabrics and making combinations.  I haven't had that much fun for a while and that was just the first step!  I know...I got a bit carried away!

I have been drooling over the work of a designer called Susan Eastman.  She uses Kimono and other Japanese fabrics to create simple, elegant garments.  I knew as soon as I saw the fabrics that this would be the perfect inspiration for my "Oriental T."

I have to admit that the package from Rhonda made me feel a wee bit guilty.  (...only after the squealing and gleeful giggling subsided!)  One of the piles on my table had a very definite blueness about it, and if you have seen my closet you know that blue is not a big component of my wardrobe.  I knew that would not be the T for me, but it felt an awful lot like Rhonda.  So the first Oriental T I made was for her...

Along with the blue floral print Kimono fabric, I collected bits of blue silk and linen, a silk and wool blend with an interesting weave, a couple of indigo/batik square patches that my husband brought back from a trip to Japan.  For a pop, I added a fuschia pink scrap.

I wanted a simple drop shoulder shape with a cut-on sleeve (a la Susan Eastman), but often with this style there is too much fabric that collects under the arms and makes the garment look sloppy.  I decided to 'tighten up' the design by starting with my woven T pattern with set in sleeves.  I added just enough to create the 't-shape' without the extra roominess that usually accompanies this style.

The white pattern pieces are my woven T pattern, the brown paper is my new pattern.  By continuing the shoulder line I created the cut-on sleeve that I wanted.  

I snooped around on Rhonda's blog and noticed that she works on a size 10 dress form, the same as I do...I hope that the size will be OK for her...I did shorten it up a bit!  🙏

I let the fabrics dictate the sizes of the strips that make up the shirt.  It was a bit like putting together a puzzle or a quilt.  I was careful to put the softest textured fabrics for the sides/sleeves so they would drape around the shoulders nicely.

I cut the last scraps of the kimono fabric into strips to use as the neck binding...just eked it out.

       

I popped the blue oriental T into a package for Rhonda...I was feeling inspired and having sew much fun...I moved on to my second T.  It was very hard to decide between the two remaining piles on my table, I really wanted to make them both...but having a deadline relegated one to the back burner...for now! (there will be another Oriental T post in the future!)

I chose the piece that has a deep raisin color that is one of my favorites.  I also liked the over lapping blocks and thought that would be a great element to work into my T.

The rest of the fabrics came from my stash.  I realized as soon as I thought about stitching the kimono fabric to anything that it would need to be reenforced to handle the stresses of a garment, so I underlined it with a silk charmeuse. 

 It's always a bit scary to cut into a unique piece of fabric...no going back to the fabric store for an extra 1/2 yard!  So I spent time trying out different arrangements on my dress form to get a combination I like.  As I started to cut and assemble the pieces, it became clear the I would have several 'panels' in the finished shirt and that too much stitching on the Kimono piece would not be a good idea.  I figured out ways to line and secure hems to the lining so eventually the only 'raw' seams on the inside were the sleeve seams.  It got a bit convoluted before I got to the finish line, and there were a couple of 'unsewing' moments along the way, but I'm pretty proud of the results!

The zebra print charmeuse is underlining the Kimono piece.  I self lined the silk stripe for the other parts of the top.  The striped sleeve I cut double with the hem on the fold so it is hemmed and lined all in one go.  

I liked the pop of color from the red silk at the front neckline and repeated it on the back neck and sleeve facings.  I used the overlapping block idea for the back embellishment.  I hope I did justice to the beautiful piece that Rhonda 'donated' to the cause!

My 'tea recipe' this time is crazy simple!!!

...that would be cinnamon sticks simmering in water.  Yep, that's it!  I was at a yoga retreat center last summer and the food was all vegan and amazing.  Every afternoon they would put out 'cinnamon tea.'  I couldn't get enough of the stuff!  I finally asked the chef how to make it and..."put cinnamon sticks in a pot of boiling water for a while!"  That's it!  (not only delicious, but the house smells delightful!)

I like it hot or iced, but my favorite way to have it is 1/2 tea, 1/2 milk(whatever kind you drink) a bit of honey to taste, over ice.  It's like an iced chai latte!  So yummy and refreshing.

P.S.  It fits!!!   Whew!  Rhonda received the package and the ninja bunny T fits.  You can see her wearing it HERE. 👍

Week One: Tea Towels to T-Shirts

"In 18th century England, a tea towel was a special linen drying cloth used by the mistress of the house to dry her precious and expensive china tea things."

I love tea towels!  And I'm so glad that they are popular again.  I have been collecting them for years, usually from antique shops, but recently I have been finding new ones everywhere.  True confession...I do not dry my dishes with them.  (I have a dishwasher that works just fine!)  I think of them as 18" X  24" pieces of fabric.  They are usually cotton or linen (my fav!) and printed with everything under the sun!



To start off our "Month of Woven T's" Rhonda, over at "Rhonda's Creative Life" and I are each starting with the tea towel of our choice.  Should we call them Tea-shirts?  😝  (You can see Rhonda's pick HERE.)  My pick was a towel that I spotted on my recent trip to Taos, New Mexico...

What's not to love?!

It's got chickens, and a vineyard and herbs and WINE!

It's actually printed on an old cotton flour sac so it has a soft rustic texture.  And it is a bit bigger than the standard 18" X 24" towels.

Snapped it right up!

I headed out to Oregon at the end of July for the International Pinot Noir Celebration!  (yes, it is all wine all the time!!!) 😋 I have been looking forward to this trip since a friend and I started planning it a year ago.  She retired at the end of June and we decided it was a great way to get her launched into her new life as a carefree retiree!  It was an amazing event.  Not just lots of Pinot Noir to try, but fabulous food prepared by 80 different chefs from the northwest region.  The finale is a outdoor salmon bake for 1,600 people!  

I thought a wine shirt would be just the thing!  My traveling buddy was a bit dubious about the idea, but I figured it would be kind of like the 'camp t-shirt' for the weekend.  And, the guazy texture of my tea towel was the perfect weight for the predicted (and actual!) 90+ degree days!  So I surged ahead!

For some reason my towel reminded me of the Mexican peasant tops with all the colorful embroidery on them.  Maybe because I was in New Mexico when I found it...?  Anyway, that was the picture in my head as I started working on my Tee.

Square neck line, blanket stitched edges, loose, cool, comfortable...

I wanted to keep the image intact so I had to come up with something else for the back side of my shirt.  I pulled a light weight turquoise cotton and a cotton madras from my stash.  Both had the light summery texture of the towel.

I chose a drop shoulder style "T" to use as much of the towel as I could.

I did add some embroidery, but tried not to get too carried away.  Just a bit more wine on the back yoke!

It turned out so light and summery that I actually got a pair of white capris to wear with it!  I can't remember the last time I had a pair of white pants!!  Maybe a mistake with all the wine...

I gathered the plaid into the yoke and dropped the back hem a bit.  The white edges have turquoise blanket stitching and the turquoise edges have white. 

The embroidery on the back yoke took me right back to seven years old and the outline stitched pillow cases that were my first sewing projects.  I even got out my embroidery hoop!  ...no I didn't embroider wine bottles on my bedding!  😝 Just lazy daisies.  🌼🌼🌼

I'm not sure I transformed it completely.  It still has it's original 'tea-toweliness' about it.  But it was totally fun to make and makes me smile when I wear it.  

You might think that with all the wine going on that my recipe would involve a bit of Pinot, but, no, I decided to go with the travel theme for this one.

The 'recipe' that I want to share is a bit more craft than cooking, but it is all about making a cup of tea.  When I travel, especially for sewing retreats, I like to have my favorite tea.  It's a loose blend that I get by the pound from my local tea shop.  One trip I was unpleasantly surprised when I opened my suitcase to find loose tea leaves ALL OVER EVERYTHING!!  I had secured them in a zip top bag, but the airplane pressure must have popped it open...😬  Not wanting a repeat of that episode, I decided to bag my tea more securely for future travels.  I made a long tube out of a scrap of silk organza, I measured out the amount I needed to brew a bottleful of tea and put it into the tube, I sewed it shut and repeated the process until I ran out of tube!  I added a string and a tag and Bob's your uncle...I have travel tea bags!  Obsessive? Perhaps?  But it sure beats loose tea leaves in your panties!

"T" with Friends: A Month of T-Shirts

My sewing room has been more of a parking lot this summer than an actual work space.  I have been traveling a bit and finding treasures along the way that I have been piling up on my work table and that's as far as they seem to get.  But all that is going to change in August! (Yikes!  That's tomorrow!)

A little while ago I asked my friend Rhonda if she would like to collaborate on a project.  She said "YES!"  Rhonda writes a lovely blog about her sewing adventures and other creative pursuits HERE.    I was thinking maybe a post about woven T-shirts, which I have been loving the past few summers... but Rhonda took that thought and ran with it!  She suggested that we do a T-shirt every week in the month of August. 😳 And I said, "YES!" 😳😳 So that's what we will be doing.  (Talk about jump starting my sewing!)  Each week we will create a theme or a challenge for ourselves and share the results with blog posts.  One of the things that I love reading on Rhonda's blog is the weekly recipe that she shares, so our posts will include some favorite tea (get it?) recipes along with our woven "T's".

I met Rhonda several years ago when I was working at the American Sewing Expo in Novi, Michigan.  She participated in the "Passion for Fashion" competition (a Project Runway-esque event) several times and always created the most interesting and beautifully executed garments.  (check out Rhonda's blog for a description of the PFF event)  Since the show is no longer happening, I have been missing my annual opportunity to catch up with Rhonda and so we are doing a 'virtual' catching up with our August T posts.  I am so looking forward to seeing what she comes up with...

I have been loving to make and wear woven t-shirts.  They are comfortable, particularly when they are made with light weight summery fabrics, and they are a perfect blank slate for embellishing.  Sometimes I get carried away and end up with something like this...
(read about it HERE.)

Sometimes it is about one 'exquisite' detail, like this linen T with a rick-rack trim...

(read about this one HERE.)

I enjoy 'dressing up' a T with a collar, or putting the fabric on the bias to change up the way it fits...It is a great garment to play around with and see what happens. (Read about this version HERE.)

....and everyone needs at least one 'plain white T' in their closet!

(read about my favorite HERE.)

I'm not sure what kind of T's will be coming up in the next few weeks, but that is part of the fun!  And, knowing Rhonda, they are certain to be inventive and gorgeous!  I can't wait!

Simply Cool

It has finally cooled off a bit this week and feels delightful for porch dining and afternoon biking.  But, the end of June was HOT!  and I was in Taos, which was VERY HOT!  In fact, it actually burst into flames while I was there!  (kind of scary.) 

I attended my third DOL (Design Outside the Lines) retreat with Diane Ericson and guest mentor Carol Lee Shanks.  I really love Carol's approach to clothing design and her commitment to no-waste patterns.  She uses every thread of her fabrics.  She makes simple, utilitarian garments that layer and work in combination to create interesting and elegant silhouettes.  I started working with her ideas last year when I attended the DOL retreat and am continuing to enjoy studying her aesthetic and design philosophy. 

This week I spent some time with cool fabrics and simple shapes (a la Carol Lee).  Summer is all about linen for me....and linen on the bias.....ahhhhhhh! 

There are a few things that I've learned the hard way about working with bias.  They add steps and time to making a garment, but the results are totally worth the extra effort.  I chose a rustic natural linen to make my simple A shaped, bias skirt. 

Lesson 1:  Get the grain right!  Spend the time to cut the pieces on the true bias.  It makes everything easier.  For this project I (of course) didn't have quite enough fabric to cut a single front and back, so I cut 4 panels, one of which I had to piece to get it on the bias. 

Lesson 2:  Hang it!  Once you cut fabric on the bias it wants to stretch........sometimes a lot!!!!  My fabric was loosely woven so it started to stretch before I took it off the table!  I always pin baste my pieces together, usually right sides together, so the seams can be sewn without re-pinning once it is hung out and adjusted.  This usually happens in about 24 hours, but sometimes it takes a bit longer.

Lesson 3:  Extra seam allowance!  I didn't have much seam allowance at the center front or back, but I left about an inch at the side seams to make adjustments.  As the fabric relaxes and molds over the dress form, sometimes it gets too narrow and the extra wiggle room in the seam allowances saves the project from the scrap pile.

Lesson 4:  Straighten, then sew!  The straight grain and the cross grain will stretch differently, big surprise!  You can usually see this when a seam, that you cut straight and pinned straight takes a crazy turn between the waist and the hem.  Take the time to re-pin and let the grain do it's thing, 'cuz you will never force it to be straight if it doesn't want to.

If you spend the time up front to work with the grain, you won't be struggling against it as you put the piece together.  No short cuts...just do it!

Because my fabric was soooo stretchy, I decided to go with an elastic waist instead of facings and a zipper.  It's a bit fussy because you have to get the elastic and the waist of the skirt to stretch together, in this case I knew there was plenty to work with.

Elastic trick....to keep an elastic waistband smooth I butt the ends together and sew them to a piece of scrap fabric.  No bulk from overlapping elastic.



I serged the elastic to the waist and turned it to the inside making a self faced band.  It pulls on easily and lies flat over my hips. 

Smooth, bubble-free, straight seams.   Like I said....a little extra effort, but totally worth it! 

To top off my 'simple' bias skirt I made a straight forward white T.  Keeping it cool, I chose a textured woven rayon.  I love the simple lines and naturally cool fabrics.  Ahhhhh!