SPRING DRESSES // TESSUTI RUBY x 2

So I realize that I still haven't shared my spring/summer wardrobe plan - but it is firmly in place, and maternity friendly. It consists mainly of dresses like the ones below that can expand as I do (by removing the belt!), and things that streeeeeetch. I even have so much of it completed (surprisingly for me) that I'm about ready to fully move on to baby clothes, without too much more personal sewing for awhile.

 
A few weekends ago, Jeremy and I spent some time in King City, CA with his nana and took these pictures around her beautiful yard - filled with really pretty flowers and birdhouses made by Jeremy's grandpa.

Pattern: Tessuti Ruby Dress
Size: 14
Modifications: None!
Fabric: Shibori rayon (sold out) from Blackbird Fabrics

To start, I've really been loving the swing dress silhouette recently - but I wasn't quite sure if it was right for my body. Being an hourglass shape, I generally do better with defined waists and flowy fabrics. However, being pregnant and wanting clothes with room to grow, mixed with the idea of self fabric belts (along with inspiration from Sarah's versions of this pattern: 1 & 2), made the Tessuti Ruby dress a no brainer.

The first version I made with my pre-pregnancy measurements, with no alterations - and it still fits great. I used some fabric I picked up from Caroline at Blackbird Fabrics, and hemmed and hawed a bit about pattern placement on this really pretty shibori rayon. I opted to keep the pattern horizontal and with the grain, but I really love Katie's vertical placement.

I really love the shoulder shape on this dress, as well as the back neckline detail. The only sort of mistake I made here was using serger thread to make a loop for my button... You actually can't get the dress over your head as-is without unbuttoning the neck, and the serger thread is fiddly enough to get around the button that it takes me a few tries to get this dress on. I'm also not crazy about necklines being too high, so I made some changes for my next version!

Pattern: Tessuti Ruby Dress
Size: 14
Modifications: Lowered the neckline 2", lengthened by 2"
Fabric: Floral rayon from LA Finch Fabric

For my second dress version of this pattern (I made a knit tank in between the two), I lowered the neckline by 2" and graded to nothing at the shoulders. I feel like it still keeps the general shape, but gives my neck a bit of breathing room. Plus, I can now slip this dress over my head without unbuttoning! I also wised up the second time and used self fabric to make a button loop on the back... just in case I actually do need/want to unbutton it.


The only other alteration I made for this version was to lengthen the pattern by 2" to accommodate my belly as it grows... my first version starts to creep up a bit high now that I'm in my third trimester (!!!!!). Doesn't stop me from still wearing it though (albeit belt-less). :D

The fabric for this version is from LA Finch Fabrics. They stock really beautiful rayons and knits at super reasonable prices. This floral rayon has such a beautiful print with a crepe-like texture that made cutting and sewing this dress a total breeze.

Both of these dresses are currently in heavy rotation, and I love that I can always just belt them back up after the baby is born... so these should last me well into fall! 

ME MADE MAY '16

So I was totally not going to make any kind of deal about this, but there's something in me that can't keep out of the fun...

Even though I'm pregnant this year (and less and less of my clothes are fitting every day), I wanted to participate this year for a few reasons... One is that I think it'll be a fun way to document what's working for me (and maybe what's not!) when it comes to my maternity wear. Secondly, I just really love seeing what everyone is really wearing everyday, instead of something styled for a blog post or a pretty Instagram pic.

The only real pledge I'm making this year is to just try to wear something me-made every day, but realistically that might only be 5 or 6 times a week, rather than every day. I only have two RTW maternity dresses, but they're both super cute (and made in the USA, which is awesome) - so those will definitely be getting some rotation.

I'll most likely post some kind of rundown at the end of the month here on the blog, but you can follow along every day (if you so desire) with me on Instagram - @keday.

Are you participating in Me-Made May this year? I can't wait to see everyone's posts!

NEW SPRING FABRICS! // THREADBARE FABRICS

Spring has sprung, at least here in Southern California, and I could not be happier to wear dresses and bright colors. I have so many things on my spring to-sew list, ranging from dresses, tanks, skirts and colored jeans! I have plans for all of our new fabrics, and I cannot wait to cut into them.

We have three new fabrics in all, one of which has almost infinite possibilities! You can read more about each fabric below.

10.5oz S-Gene Cone Mills Denim in Natural

I get a lot of questions about colored denim, however, it seems to me that colored denim tends to be lower quality. This fabric is the same Cone Mills S-Gene denim like some of our other denims, but has its natural color and is prepped for dye. While it's beautiful on it's own, you can totally make a pair of jeans (or skirt, dress, etc) in any color you like! You can use natural dye methods (it might be time for me to actually read my copy of The Natural Modern Dyer), or simple store bought dyes - the possibilities are endless.

I made the colors at the top of of this post using RIT dyes, and they even have a cool color library for mixing custom colors (including Pantone seasonal colors!).

Product info >>

12oz S-Gene Cone Mills Denim in Indigo
First up is our newest S-Gene weight: 12oz S-Gene Cone Mills denim in Indigo. Many people have inquired about our sold out 11.5oz weight, however, we are currently unable to restock. This new denim is officially our replacement! The weight difference is unnoticeable in person, and it features the same great quality and spandex content everyone loves in the 11.5oz.

This denim also features a broken twill weave, which helps prevent leg twist in skinny jeans (if you're an avid wearer, you know what I'm talking about!).

Product info >>

4oz Tencel Denim Shirting in Light Blue

We're very pleased to offer a new shirting weight fabric, eco friendly 4oz Tencel Denim Shirting in Light Blue. This tencel is soft, with good drape and would work well for dresses, shirts, pajamas, and even soft woven pants like Luna or modified Hudsons. In fact, I recently made a pair of Carolyn Pajamas from this fabric, and I need to get them posted before I grow out of them!

This fabric is made in the USA from cellulose fibers and is similar to rayon and bamboo fabrics.

Product info >>

As always, please feel free to email us with any questions about these fabrics or our other products!

SURPRISE! // MATERNITY JEANS

So I promise I make more than jeans, despite what my recent blog posts indicate. It just so happens that these jeans were a total necessity. My last pair actually weren't quite fitting all the way because... I'm pregnant! Jeremy and I are so happy to be expecting a baby boy in August!

I'm now half way through my pregnancy, and I'm finally feeling great. When people tell you you'll feel better in the second trimester - they are not kidding! We actually found out about the baby two days before leaving for Germany and Austria - so that was rather exciting. The only downside was that it limited my beer drinking to the non-alcoholic variety (but there's tons of it - at least one kind at every beer hall and restaurant). I felt pretty good for most of the trip, but started to feel sort of nauseous towards the end - which continued for several weeks. For most of January and February I had a serious lack of sewing motivation - partly because I was burnt out on winter makes, and mainly because I was completely exhausted. It was only a few weeks ago that I started to feel up to sewing again, and my sewjo has now returned with a vengeance!

Pattern: Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans
Size: 10, View A (low rise)
Modifications: Added an elastic waist band for maternity!
Fabric: Cone Mills S-Gene Denim in 9oz Indigo, from Threadbare Fabrics and navy ponte knit from the garment district
Worn with: Self drafted tank based on my bodice block made at Camp Workroom Social

While most of my clothes still fit okay, about a month ago, my usual jeans became something I couldn't bear to wear anymore. I decided to take a crack at maternity jeans, and now I've been wearing these nonstop.

For this pair of jeans, I used my trusty Ginger Jeans pattern and our nicely stretchy 9oz S-Gene Cone Mills Denim. I've long admired the pretty blue color of this denim, but for some reason I thought I preferred a heavier weight. Therefore, this is my first crack at the 9oz, and I'm completely in love. It's thinner, but still feels sturdy, and the stretch is a godsend right now. Being the S-Gene denim, I can still wear these multiple times without them bagging out (which is awesome when you only have one pair of wearable jeans).

To maternity-ify these, I took inspiration from several sources - namely Gillian and Katie's pull on Ginger Jeans, and Megan Nielsen's tutorial on adding an elastic waistband to RTW jeans. By the way, Megan Nielsen has a super cute maternity blog - DIY Maternity. I guess I never needed to know about it before, but it's full of cute ideas.

I made my standard size 10 in the low-rise View A version of the pattern, and sewed everything as directed until the waistband. For the fly, I just skipped the zipper and fly shield, and sewed it down rather than basting. You'd think that would be faster, but I found it sort of hard to topstitch without the zipper as a guide and I ended up re-doing it 3 times. Oh well!

Before attaching the waistband, I measured down 1" from the center front of the jeans, and graded to nothing at the sides (this is for belly room). Then I cut along the line I drew... which was a little nerve-wracking because I'd just spent hours making really nice looking jeans that I was just chopping into. But it worked fine! :D

For the actual waistband, I used some ponte de roma knit in navy, and 2" wide elastic. I measured the elastic on my body where I estimated I'd be wearing my jeans, pulling a wee bit tight for a snug fit (but not too tight... I am expanding after all). I cut my ponte the same length and double the width, with a 1/2" seam allowance (rather than 5/8" - no reason). I attached the waistband to the jeans, topstitched the seam allowance down using topstitching thread and I was all done!

I've got a load of spring makes coming down the pipe now that my secret is out - so hopefully things will get a bit more exciting around these parts! I'm pretty excited to share my spring and summer wardrobe plan soon - maternity edition!

Have you sewn for maternity? Any favorite patterns? Any advice on what to do with a newborn once they're here?!

NEW JEANS IN JAPANESE DENIM

Hooray for new fabrics! We recently updated our stock at Threadbare Fabrics with four new arrivals, including our first foray into Japanese denim. And of course, I tested it for myself!

Pattern: Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans
Size: 10
Modifications: View A (low rise) at waist, View B (skinny leg) from the hip down
Fabric: Japanese 10.5oz black-on-black denim from Threadbare Fabrics
Worn with: An unblogged Sewaholic Granville in chambray from Michael Levine

Japanese denim is known for its quality, and Jeremy and I were interested in exploring fabric from outside of Cone Mills (which is the majority of our current stock). From reading various blogs and talking to some people, I realized there was a desire for not only Japanese denims by the yard, but also black denim with black threads. What better way to address both of these issues than to stock Japanese 10.5oz black-on-black denim?

Of course, it was important for me to do a test run with this fabric. It's sourced from a different place than what I'm used to (I know I can expect great quality and recovery from Cone Mills denim), so I made up this pair of Ginger Jeans. I've made Ginger so many times, it was really easy to compare the final product to that of my other pairs.

To start, I decided to do something a little different, and I made a low rise version with the skinny leg (View A at the top, View B from the hip down). It was really quick and painless to blend between the sizes, although I'd really love to give Heather Lou's recent mid-rise tutorial a whirl sometime.

The low rise is... very low. But I really do like that I have another option from the high rise. Next time I'll probably raise the front and back rise by about an inch and call it a day. Currently, these really need to be worn with a belt - which I've gotten used to not wearing due to better fitting jeans. Also, I may have accidentally made the waist too big, and was too lazy to unpick everything.

The real test of these jeans, however, is the quality of the denim. To say that this denim is fantastic is an understatement. I easily wore these jeans 4 or 5 times before washing, and they held up just fine. In fact, they almost never seem to "relax" and feel fresh from the wash until about the 4th or 5th wear. That's actually something you may want to keep in mind if you decide to make jeans with this denim... Our S-Gene fabrics relax a bit after one wear, so making them tight is no problem. But the Japanese denim takes longer - so I'd definitely baste before sewing to check the fit (and don't over-fit them).

This denim is getting major love in our house right now, and I'm almost done with a pair for Jeremy to replace his fading black Levi's. So despite the stretch factor (and the lighter weight), I think they make a nice pair of men's jeans. The texture is great, the recovery is great, and the color is uniform and dark. I love them, and everyone needs a great pair of black jeans! :D

Check out this item in our store!

NEW ARRIVALS AT THREADBARE FABRICS!

It's new fabric time at Threadbare Fabrics!! My initial goal was to begin offering more fabrics sooner, but I wanted to choose really carefully. I'm really proud of how our little store has been doing in the last few months, and I didn't want to overrun it with new fabrics just for the sake of having new product. So you can rest assured that I very much love these fabrics, and all are currently/will be a part of my wardrobe.

There are four new fabrics in total (with more planned for spring), and I've included some information below.

10.5oz Cone Mills S-Gene Dark Indigo Denim
Introducing our newest S-Gene denim weight - 10.5 ounces! It's the perfect middle ground between the heavier weight 11.5oz and the lighter 9oz S-Gene denim. This denim will work for low rise skinny jeans (like Ginger and Jamie) as well as other shapes. Be sure to note the spandex percentage, and baste your jeans to test the fit accordingly.

I've had a few trusted jeans makers tell me they prefer stretch denim in this weight range - and we're happy to offer it!

10.5oz Japanese Black-on-black Denim
Another popular request I've heard is for both Japanese denim and black-on-black denim. Japanese denim is considered to be extremely high quality, and I can vouch for it! I recently made my first pair of jeans with this denim, and they hold up just as well as my Cone Mills pairs.

The black-on-black is also new for our shop - this denim boasts only black threads (rather than white), and the fabric is very dark. The reverse side of this denim is a really nice dark charcoal, which could also be used for a slightly lighter pair!

10oz Cone Mills Non-stretch Indigo Denim
Calling all boyfriend jeans! We currently stock 12.5oz rigid non-stretch denim from Cone Mills, and while it's perfect for men's jeans and heavyweight applications (check out Darlene's apron!) - it might be a bit too heavy for most women's taste in jeans making. Enter this 10oz Cone Mills Non-stretch Denim! It's the perfect weight for boyfriend jeans, and other non-stretch patterns. I'm currently making Jeremy a pair in this weight, so it's great for men too!

I think jeans made from this denim would look great distressed or even bleached (like Lauren did here).

4oz Floral Denim Shirting
This gorgeous lightweight floral denim shirting is our first foray into light weight fabrics. It's perfect for collared shirts, popovers, shirt dresses, and even men's shirts. It has a very soft hand, and is completely opaque. It presses, sews and wears like a dream. I've already used this fabric to make a McCalls 6885, which I'll be posting soon.

This fabric is also extremely limited stock (around 20 yards), and can possibly be reordered depending on demand.

As always, if you're making jeans from any of our new denims, please baste together your pieces and try on before committing to permanent stitches and topstitching. All denims are different! Also, if you have any questions, need swatches, or have fabric suggestions - shoot us an email!

ALDER + ARCHER SHIRTDRESS

Happy February! Big things are happening this month! It's my 30th birthday in less than 2 weeks (eek!) and we've got four new fabrics coming to Threadbare Fabrics!! Things are pretty cold here in California (I'm from the midwest, so I know that's basically a joke) - but we're really not used to below 50F degree temps. Now onto my new favorite dress...

I'm not going to lie - I'm a total Grainline fan girl. I love Jen's style, and basically anything she posts about, or any pattern she releases - I'm going to at least consider it... If not buy it and make it immediately. So when she released instructions for a pattern hack featuring Alder + Archer - I was smitten, and I wanted to make my own.

ALDER + ARCHER DRESS
Pattern: Grainline Studio Alder Dress + Archer Shirt
Size: Alder View B, size 10 + 1.5" FBA (3" total) with Archer sleeve,  size 10 tapered to size 2 at wrist
Modifications: The whole thing is a mod!
Fabric: Floral viscose (rayon) poplin from Blackbird Fabrics (unfortunately sold out)

It took me awhile to perfect my Alder pattern (I still have not posted about this), but basically Jen's pattern measurements don't really match my body - so I end up with an amalgam of sizes and a necessary FBA. However, my Alder and Archer patterns fit perfectly now - so they were ready to be combined!

I found the perfect fabric for my Alder + Archer dress from Caroline's beautiful shop - Blackbird Fabrics. Caroline's viscose poplins are always great for dresses and skirts, because they've got all the benefits of rayon (soft, flowing) with the added bonus of being opaque.

I went to work combining the patterns - using Jen's tutorial (it involves changing the arm hole shape). I also took a page out of Katie's book, and made the front of the skirt gathered all the way across, by hacking off the front "tails" of the View B pattern, and extending the skirt fronts. Additionally, because I was already tracing the pattern off to change the arm holes, I combined the yoke and back piece into one because *laziness.* 

Overall, I'm really in love with this dress. Changing the arm hole shape isn't terribly difficult, but I do have a few changes for next time. I think I may still need to give a bit of room in the front of the armscye....sometimes it seems a bit tight. Also, I think I really need to use the Archer pockets vs. the Alder pockets, because after doing an FBA, they seem almost comically small (luckily they blend right into the fabric enough to not bother me... too much).

These photos were also taken by Jeremy in the Munich Englischer Garten, and you can see more pics from our recent Germany/Austria trip here.

HAPPY 2016!! // WINTER WEAR

Happy New Year, everyone!!!! It's been a very busy few months! It all started back in November when Jeremy and I traveled to Indiana for Thanksgiving, came back to LA for 5 days and then went off to Germany. Somewhere around August, that all seemed like a good idea... At least we had fun!


In December, we spent two amazing weeks in Germany and Austria (you can see some of Jeremy's awesome pics here). We spent 3 days in Germany in 2011, and we'd been craving a trip back ever since. This time we did 4 days in Munich, two in Hallstatt, Austria, two days in Salzburg, 4 days in Mittenwald, and back to Munich for two days. It was a great balance of city and country, long stays and short - and we hit up many a Christmas market. All in all, we had a great time and I'm sure we'll get the itch to return again in the not-so-distant future.


I feel like I've spent the last few weeks recovering from travel and the holidays - so I'm just now getting around to posting some new handmade clothing - finished just in time for my trip! I made several new items, and these are the best of it.

Also - the pictures of the first three items were taken in Hallstatt, Austria, and the last set were taken in the beautiful Englischer Garten in Munich.

SWEATER KNIT CARDIGAN

Pattern: McCalls 6996

Size: Large, View C
Modifications: None
Fabric: Teal tweed double knit from the LA Garment District
Worn With: My first knit hat - the Magic Hat in Madelinetosh Nebula

Cardigans used to be a major staple of my wardrobe, but since I began sewing - my cardigan collection has aged because they're almost all from my RTW days. McCalls 6996 seemed like as good of a choice as any - plus it's easily picked up in a Joann's sale (although I may have ordered this from McCalls during a $3.99 sale due to impatience). 

This pattern sews up quite quickly, and I easily made two of these in one day (the other is a very thin, white sweater knit that's been dubbed the "Ghost Sweater" and likely won't make an appearance here). The sizing, however, as McCalls tends to be - is a little on the large size. I made a size Large based on my measurements, but easily could've gone down to a medium if it was included in my envelope. The overall effect isn't too large, but in a bulky double knit - it's bigger than I'd like. 

The fabric was a lucky street-side find that I came across while rolling with my Katie gang through the LA garment district (made up of me, my friend Katie, and Katie of What Katie Sews). It's a fairly thick double knit, with a teal tweedy textured (say that three times fast) outer layer, and a black inner layer. It probably has a bit of poly content, but it's really soft and super warm. 

PLAID POPOVER

Pattern: Pauline Alice Carme Blouse

Size: 44 with a 1" FBA

Modifications: Slimmed the sleeves, omitted sleeve tab, used different cuffs
Fabric: J.Crew Plaid Shirting from Indiesew

My second winter make today is also my second version of the Pauline Alice Carme Blouse. I've made this pattern up once before, but I was never that crazy about the outcome, although it fit pretty well. My main issue on my first version was the sleeve pattern - it's a bit billowy at the wrists, and it's gathered into a narrow cuff - but I get too many Shakespeare vibes from it. 

For my second go around, I used my Archer sleeve pattern (which is a 12 graded down to a 2 at the wrist) to slim down the Carme sleeve, and I used the Archer cuffs instead of the narrow cuffs included in the pattern. I also did a 1" FBA (2" total), and changed the position of the dart - and I really like the fit. I also changed up the front panel by eliminating the pleats, and cutting it on the bias. 

The fabric is a navy and red plaid J.Crew shirting from Indiesew. The fabric has a really nice feel to it, but the plaid was terribly off grain, and lining everything up was a serious headache. Such is the life of a sewist who wants matching plaids and stripes :D With the placket, front panel and band collar - Carme is a great alternative to my regular uniform of Archers and Granvilles. 

SKINNY JEANS

Pattern: Closet Case Patterns Ginger Jeans
Size: 10, View B (high rise)
Modifications: Added 1/4" at the top of each leg piece side seam, grading to nothing below the pocket. This added about 1" and helps my waistband lay flatter.
Fabric: Cone Mills Denim in 11.5oz Indigo, from Threadbare Fabrics

Ah, another pair of Ginger jeans! Can there ever be enough?! I've been wanting another pair of indigo Gingers for a little while now (I've worn this pair basically every day for over a year). The denim is, of course, Cone Mills Denim in 11.5oz Indigo (available at our fabric store, Threadbare Fabrics). The 11.5oz, in my opinion, is the perfect denim weight for a pair of skinny jeans. 

I chose to make this pair with silver topstitching, to make them a bit different than my pairs with gold topstitching. I like the look, and they are effectively different. It's also funny how much darker they are when the denim is fresh, rather than being lightened by washing over a year. 

There's one slight issue with these jeans - a few pairs of jeans ago, I decided to add a bit of room through the hips and waist on the pattern. This works okay for a stiffer denim, but the 11.5oz has such a nice stretch, that it was a bit of a mistake to leave that extra room in this pair. They fit great straight out of the washing machine, but as the denim relaxes a bit with wear - they become a bit too big in the hips and waist. My other pair can be worn for basically two weeks straight without washing or bagging out, while these need to be washed more frequently to tighten up the hips/waist. Note to self - when using the Cone Mills S-Gene... leave the sizing alone :D 

MEN'S BUTTON UP

Pattern: McCalls 6613, view D
Size: Large
Alterations: Diagonal yoke and pockets
Fabric: Plaid flannel shirting from Michael Levine

Jeremy's been itching for a new flannel shirt (this one has been worn completely to death) - so I made him one just in time for our trip. The flannel is from Michael Levine, but I'm not sure of the brand (I had my eye on some Robert Kaufman Mammoth Flannel, but this one isn't it). The fabric is super thick, and was super warm for our trip - as well as Jeremy's motorcycle commute to work. 

There's not too much more to say about this shirt (I've made it about 15 times or so) - it's made exactly as instructed in the pattern. There's only one pocket - I had a bit of a fabric shortage, and messed up the pocket plaid matching a few too many times. The inner yoke is a red chambray - again due to fabric shortage. 

The one part I'm most proud of is the plaid matching. I've always had stripe matching across the fronts and seams down, but I've struggled with matching the plaid. This is probably the first shirt where I feel like I truly nailed the plaid across the entire front, including the button band - keeping the main plaid stripes balanced vertically (I think I did pretty good with this shirt too, actually). Jeremy loves this shirt, and so do I!

I hope everyone is having a great new year so far!  Slowly but surely, I'm getting back into sewing - but I am currently loving knitting (I'm working on the Rosemont Cardigan from Home & Away). Has anyone else suffered from a lack of post-holiday sewjo/motivation? Any tips on dealing with it?