Madeleine Elise Toth

Awwwww! We get to hold her today!

New Pics!

My sister let me take a ton of pictures of her wearing all the maternity tops I made this fall. Poor thing--she's having the baby tomorrow and she still changed in and out of all these outfits! So sweet. Anyway, here is my favorite--the autumn roses Simplicity top. The only bummer is that it fits so well at the empire waist that the shirt is difficult to get in and out of. I think I'll make her another one, a post-pregnancy top that she can wear anytime, and either give it a side zipper or add in some elastic somewhere. As it is, the top is probably a bit too snug when she sits down. Still, pretty adorable. Plus, she loves it, so that's what really counts.

9 months!! Baby time tomorrow!

Knocking Off Banana Republic

I really like BR's clothes--they are classy, usually well made, and generally fit me pretty well. Wearing their clothes, though--especially the dresses or suits--always makes me a little nervous because I'm convinced I'll show up at an event and two other women will be wearing the exact same thing. Normally that wouldn't matter, but since I only ever get dressed up for class or professional events, that makes things awkward. Nothing like being caught wearing the same clothes as your students!

I generally can't resist their clothes, though, because we live near a BR factory outlet (score!). And when they have sales, they have really, really good sales. A few weeks ago, for example, I got this very cute shirt for $8.32. I couldn't buy the fabric for that price! Well, I can't buy the fabric anyway, but you know what I mean.

Anyway, I love the cut of this shirt. The gathering along the sleeves and the bodice mean the shirt is pretty form fitting. I especially like the back of the shirt, which picks up the gathering motif, as well. In fact, I liked it so much that I got two of the shirts. One I wear and the other I pulled apart to pieces to use as a pattern.

My sister has a BR maternity dress that she loves that has a similar style, so I decided to make her a maternity version of the shirt. All the pattern pieces remained the same except the front panel. I did added about 10 cm in width and a bit extra length to keep things even at the hem. I then just gathered the piece at the empire waist and that solved that problem. On the muslin I had problems keeping the gathers in place on all these seams, so for this version I used clear elastic and that helped a lot. The only tricky bit was the bias binding along the neckline. I hate doing a binding in a knit. My stitching always always comes out wonky and ugly on the inside and there's always one section that is visible from the front, no matter how much I try to stay in the ditch. Sigh. I think this is partially my machine, which is not very. . . precise. But I think I need to play around with the foot pressure. I'm sure that is affecting the quality of the stitching.

It is a cute shirt and I think I'll probably make it again, although not as a maternity shirt. Actually, I think it would be really nice to extend it into a dress. But I probably won't make it again until I can figure out how to do a more precise neck binding. Otherwise it will just bug me and I'll never wear the shirt.

Clothing in Action!

I finally got some pictures of my sister wearing her new jacket. She can actually still button it all the way up and she's due next Tuesday! It's crazy! The other day we were out buying Christmas trees and she was wearing a regular windbreaker, all zipped up. My mom was talking with another woman and mentioned that her daughter was due on the 22nd. The woman looked over at us and said "which one?" lol. She's so tiny. Of course, she's getting a bit sick of strangers asking if she's eating enough and if she's healthy. Yes and yes. She simply didn't gain a lot of extra weight during the pregnancy and what she did gain wasn't along the waistline. Except for the baby bump, of course.

Anyway, I promised to cut her face out of the photos, so you can't see her lovely smile. But the jacket looks cute, at least!

Bleak House, Charles Dickens

Bleak House, Charles Dickens (1852-1853)

Grandmother Smallweed, who has been mumbling and shaking her head at the trivets, hearing figures mentioned, connects them with money, and screeches, like a horrible old parrot without any plumage, “Ten ten-pound notes!”

Grandfather Smallweed immediately throws the cushion at her.

“Drat you, be quiet!” says the good old man.

The effect of this act of ejaculation is twofold. It not only doubles up Mrs Smallweed’s head against the side of her porter’s chair, and causes her to present, when extricated by her grand-daughter, a highly unbecoming state of cap, but the necessary exertion recoils on Mr Smallweed himself, whom it throws back into his porter’s chair, like a broken puppet. The excellent old gentleman being, at these times, a mere clothes-bag with a black skull-cap on the top of it, does not present a very animated appearance until he has undergone the two operations at the hands of his grand-daughter, of being shaken up like a great bottle, and poked and punched like a great bolster. Some indication of a neck being developed in him by these means, he and the sharer of his life’s evening again sit fronting one another in their two porter’s chairs, like a couple of sentinels long forgotten on their post by the Black Serjeant, Death.

Judy the twin is worthy company for these associates. She is so indubitably sister to Mr Smallweed the younger, that the two kneaded into one would hardly make a young person of average proportions; while she so happily exemplifies the before-mentioned family likeness to the monkey tribe, that, attired in a spangled robe and cap, she might walk about the table-land on the top of a barrel-organ without exciting much remark as an unusual specimen. Under existing circumstances, however, she is dressed in a plain, spare gown of brown stuff.

Vogue 8480

This is the second time I've made this little spring jacket. I just think it is so cute. I like the 3/4 sleeves, the topstitching, and the little collar, which is neither too small to be dorky or too big to be overwhelming. My favorite part is the back, though--the peplum gives the back a lovely shape but without making it look like your hips just gained a few extra pounds. So nice.

The only things that make me grumpy about this pattern are the pockets (too small!) and the sleeves (too horrible!). I fixed the pockets this time around, by just cutting them larger. They still aren't sturdy enough to hold much of anything, but you can slip a few keys or an mp3 player in there easily, now, without worrying that they might come tumbling out two seconds later.

As for the sleeves: well, I still hate putting in these sleeves. Last time I made this jacket, I'm pretty sure I ripped the sleeves out four or five times. This time I got them in on the second try, but they still aren't as perfect as I would like. I can't tell if the sleeves are just drafted poorly (doubtful), or if part of it is that gathering on a thick twill isn't as precise as one might hope for. At any rate, getting these sleeves to lie smoothly is a trial. For me, at any rate.

This version of the jacket is for my sister. Between the peplum and the ease, this is the perfect maternity jacket, since it expands enough to allow for the baby bump. I don't know that she'll be able to wear it right now (in the ninth month), but you never know--she's still quite small. I made it using her pre-maternity sizes, though, so that she can enjoy it even after the baby wiggles out.

In fact, I like this version so much, with the dark chocolate fabric, that I might make one for myself. I used a sandwashed twill from fabric.com the first time I made this jacket, and it is very drapey. It's cute, but feels a little bit like I'm wearing a curtain. I really like this twill (from Joann's, actually)--it is wrinklease, so it doesn't need ironing (as much), and the color is really lovely (it looks a little grey in the photos, but it is actually very chocolatey). My only complaint about the fabric is that it attracts little bits of everything like crazy. I had to seriously delint this thing before I mailed it off to my sister. Anyway, I think I'll probably make another one, but I'm torn between this dark brown color and brick red. Tempting, tempting.

Hmm, what else. Oh yeah--topstitching. What a complete pain. I didn't trust the topstitching thread to stay tied, so I pulled all the threads to the inside of the coat, knotted them, then threaded them through the inside stiches. So tedious. And of course, all the knots got a good dose of fray-check. Hopefully everything will stay in place!

All in all, much cuter than the first version, I think. Hopefully it fits my sister, though, because I really don't want to have to take out those arm pieces again!

Not quite sure about those buttons--they might be a little too boring.

The back--luckily, in this light, you can't tell that the top stitching thread is two different colors: dark brown and slightly darker brown. I was too lazy to re-do two of the seams, and I doubt anyone will ever notice.

The inside seams--all tidied up! In retrospect, it would have been fun to use red or teal on the inside seams, but it's probably just as well that the whole jacket matches.

Autumn Roses: Simplicity 3956

I'm just going to admit up front that this fabric seems like something both my grandmothers would love. And I bought two yards of it. Twice. That's right--I liked it so much, I went back and bought more. I've never bought fabric with roses on it. Or with red. Firsts all around! For a poly chiffon, though, this is really, really soft, light fabric. It drapes beautifully and it didn't unravel terribly. And for whatever reason, I'm really into dark reds all of the sudden. I've never liked red in the past, but in the last six months I've become a convert. At least of shades between maroon and brick (somewhat limiting, yes).


Anyway, this is Simplicity 3956. I figure that if I'm now buying mature woman fabric, I should at least pair it with a younger style. And it's a really cute top--the "skirt" is cut on the bias, so it drapes really nicely and hugs the figure rather than poofing out. I wasn't crazy about the slanted front for version A, so I just used the other pattern pieces instead.

What is it with cross-over bodices? I just can't figure them out. Either I'm cutting the wrong size (and I triple checked on this one) everytime I make one of these, or these patterns are just wacky. Using the center seam lines on this pattern will leave a huge amount of fabric flailing around on your bosom (heh--that's what my grandmother used to call them ;). I always end up having to cross the pieces much father over, which throws everything else off. The other problem is the gathers. As they are drafted, they'll end up somewhere near your armpit. Awkward. I moved them underneath the breast points and that solved that. It isn't a perfect solution, but it does avoid that weird fabric bubbling that occurs, making everything look a bit deflated, if you know what I mean. I know nothing about pattern drafting, but I think this one must be based on a C cup--maybe that's why everything is more spread out?

The other major change in this version was shortening the zipper. Hopefully my sister will still be able to get in and out of this shirt! I used a shorter zipper mainly because of the linings. I like to use the lining to conceal the zipper edges and that would have been impossible with the longer zipper because of the bodice crossover. This way, though, everything is nice and neat on the inside. I used french seams for most of the vertical seams and only serged the bodice seam and the armscye. I could have done a french seam along the bodice seam, but frankly that would have meant six layers of fabric along the front crossover. This chiffon is thin, but it still would have been bulky. The black lower layer, by the way is a "silkessence" from Joann's. It has a slight sheen and crinkle to it, which plays off nicely against the matte of the chiffon.

My only other comment about the shirt is that the ties are not terribly long. I simply knotted them here--they don't serve any purpose except decorative--so if you want a bow, then you should either attach the ties at the side seams or cut them considerably longer. I actually like the knot--it is simple and doesn't distract from the rest of the shirt--but some people like bows.

Anyway, this was supposed to be a maternity shirt for my sister, but I think it is long past wearable for that purpose now. The bias cut means the shirt stretches nicely over a more swollen belly, but nine months pregnant might be pushing the limit. Oh well. She can wear it for a while after the baby is born and then drag it out of the closet as soon as a sibling makes his or her presence known.

The serged bodice seam (front)

The serged bodice seam (back)

Ha! Almost looks like I matched the pattern. Sorry, I'm just too lazy for that kind of thing.

French seams all over the place

Fabric Anemone Boxes

I ran across these super clever fabric boxes probably two years ago, at an upscale boutique. So very, very smart. When all closed up they look basically like pillows, but they are easy to open and store all kinds of things in. How perfect would these be for scraps? Or kids toys? Or socks? Especially socks.

They look like the type of thing that you could figure out how to make, especially since they are based on origami folds. These boxes also include a metal folding frame at the top of the bag, though, to insure that the "box" folds correctly every time. So, all you need is an Erector set, a lot fabric, and even more patience, to figure it out. Still, there must be a way to make one of these.

Snap bags

I'm totally enamored of these Snap bags. They are made with vinyl, so they are really sturdy, ad the blend of classy and punk is so clever. I especially like the way the bags themselves are so simple, but with really interesting topstitching. It's the kind of thing that looks easy to do, but which I probably wouldn't want to try. I love the pom-poms.

North and South, Elizabeth Gaskell

From Chapter V, of North and South, by Elizabeth Gaskell

‘Are we to go straight to Milton? Have you taken a house there?'

'No,' he replied. 'I suppose we must go into lodgings, and look about for a house.’

‘And pack up the furniture so that it can be left at the railway station, till we have met with one?'

'I suppose so. Do what you think best. Only remember, we shall have much less money to spend.'

They had never had much superfluity, as Margaret knew. She felt that it was a great weight suddenly thrown upon her shoulders. Four months ago, all the decisions she needed to make were what dress she would wear for dinner, and to help Edith to draw out the lists of who should take down whom in the dinner parties at home. Nor was the household in which she lived one that called for much decision. Except in the one grand case of Captain Lennox's offer, everything went on with the regularity of clockwork. Once a year, there was a long discussion between her aunt and Edith as to whether they should go to the Isle of Wight, abroad, or to Scotland; but at such times Margaret herself was secure of drifting, without any exertion of her own, into the quiet harbour of home. Now, since that day when Mr. Lennox came, and startled her into a decision, every day brought some question, momentous to her, and to those whom she loved, to be
settled.