Free Sewing Tutorial: Drafting a Facing for a Cowl Neck Top

Now that it's fall here in the Midwest, I'm in the mode of making some longer sleeve knit/jersey tops  I have a couple of tutorials that give instructions on how to draft a basic cowl neck jerey top (see here and here).  With my first few cowl necks, I was satisfied with a simple hem or leaving the cowl neckline serged, but recently I've wanted a more finished look.  This tutorial will teach you how to add a self-facing to your cowl neck pattern, so that you can't see any stitches around the cowl.

You will need:
*cowl neck top pattern
*paper
*pencil, pen
*ruler
*tape

Here's an example of what your cowl neck pattern will look like WITHOUT a facing:

The first step in creating a facing is to tape some paper to the cowl neck line, so that you can extend it.

Next, draw a line 2-3 inches above your cowl neck line.  Angle the edges so that it it is a mirror image of your original cowl neck.  It will look like this:

Cut out the front of your top as you normally would.  To sew your top, fold across the neckline at the extention that you made with wrong sides together (wrong side of facing against wrong side of fabric).  When you attach the front of the top to the back of the top at the shoulders, you'll have a double layer of fabric on the top front and a single layer of fabric on the top back.  It will look like this after you've sewn it together:

Inside cowl neckline (front)

Cowl neck from right side

For this top, I used ponte knit fabric (thicker, more stable) that I purchased at Hancock Fabric's in a sale (I think their ponte knit is still on sale).  Fabric.com, GorgeousFabrics.com, and MoodFabrics.com all have a good selection of ponte fabric, mainly in solid colors.  I wanted longer sleeves for it, so I used the sleeve piece from my Silhouettes Pattern #195 and shortened it to bracelet length.   I finished the edge of the back neckline with 5/8" fold-over elastic (I pulled it slightly as I attached it to the neckline with a zig-zag stitch - I find that pulling it slightly stops the back neck from gaping).  I originally recommended cutting on the top on the bias to make the neckline nice and drapey, but this weekend I experimented with cutting it out on the straight grain and it worked just fine. To cut the top out on the straight grain, you'll need a fabric that is nice and drapey to begin with, but most knits/jerseys are plenty drapey.  Here's how it turned out:

I made a pencil skirt with the same fabric (not to be worn together - THAT look was a freaky visual disaster!) and I'll post about that later this week.  Let me know if you have any questions about the facing and I'd love to see pictures if you try this tutorial!  Email them to poldapop@gmail.com, and I'll add them to the post with a link to your blog (if you have one).  Here's one that Diya at The Hobby Harbor made recently:

Cheers!

What's Up: Accessories

Hey!  I must say, I have been having the time of my life the past couple of weeks.  My little business is doing well and with Belly in kindergarten and Mooper in daycare two days a week, I can really crank out some work.  I feel much more even-keeled having work days again.  And I love being able to give my sole employee a paycheck every week now!  She really deserves it . . .

I've got tons to show so I thought I'd break it down into categories.  I had a small swirl of business in my Etsy shop, selling two of my upholstery swatch/scrap custom wallets and one pre-made wallet in the same week!  I think the wallet is improved with the zipper closure and I'm excited that I got to have some practice with the new design.  It definitely helps to get into a rhythm when handstitching the zippers in place.

These wallets really bring out the obsessive side of my personality.  I could play around with the placement of the internal fabric pieces for hours!

Jill, of Custom Cookies by Jill, ordered a handbag a few months ago and I only just cleared out the orders in front of her to get it made.  It's based on the bag pattern in the BurdaStyle book, with some (I think) improvements: shorter leather straps/handles, thermolam fleece interfacing to give it more structure, a cell phone pocket and a zippered pocket.  I'm thinking about ways I can further play around with the design, because the bag is a great size for an everyday handbag.

And because I wanted to figure out the right combination of interfacing for the bag, I made one for myself to test it out.  The fabric I used on my bag is from one of my Economy Shop hauls, so it probably cost me about $1.50.  New fall budget bag for the boss!

And yes, that is a Hancock Fabric's sale pamphlet peeking out from under my wallet.  Got to be prepared.

Jalapeno Dress . . . and recipe

Yes, I know that jalapenos are green and not red (and I know they have a tilde accent mark over the n, but I can't figure that out on my computer), but I posed for this picture next to our jalapeno plant, hence the name.  And the dress is a little spicy!

I originally planned to make this dress for the Summer Sewing Challenge over at BurdaStyle (check out the winner - her dress is fantastic!).  But time was not on my side and I missed the deadline.  I actually gave myself plenty of time for this project, which is unusual, but I fiddled around with the belt for an entire weekend and then didn't have time for the rest of the dress.  But, who cares?  I got a dress I like out of it!

I used cotton lawn purchased from Fabric.com for all parts of the dress, so it's nice and light for summer.  The pattern is BurdaStyle's Heidi Dress, but I took a few inches off the length and four inches off the sleeve.  I made some slight alterations to the pattern and the only change I'd make if I do it again is to raise the shoulders by about 1/2 inch - it gaps just a bit around the neck & arms and that would fix it.  I've already worn it a few times and I'm sure I'll get even more use out of it next summer. 

Look, Ma!  Pockets!

Now for the recipe accessory . . .

Jalapenos Stuffed with Cheese & Dates

We have a ton of jalapenos in our garden this year - yesterday alone I picked thirty jalapenos.  Until I found a version of this recipe, I wasn't sure what I would do with them all.  It's not like you can put thirty jalapenos in a dish and survive to tell the tale.  Both Devon and I love this dish so much that we've gone from having too many jalapenos to not nearly enough.  I found this recipe through Pinterest and then tweaked it.

You will need:
*a truck load of jalapenos - slice in half lengthwise and the sloppily remove seeds and white veins(don't take it all out - you want to keep some heat)
*cajun spice
*cream cheese - I do use the lower fat version as penance for the bacon
*dates - sliced lengthwise in to about 6 slices each
*bacon strips cut in half

Heat oven to 350 degrees.  Fill the jalapenos with the cream cheese and sprinkle with the cajun spice.  Place a strip of date on each jalapeno.  Wrap the jalapeno with half a slice of bacon.  Bake at 350 for 20 minutes and then broil on high for 10 minutes to crisp up the bacon.  Yum!

Here I am eating it will a kale salad (also from the garden).  Is it lunchtime yet?

Camp Runway

Wow, now that was fun.  Nancy Sidman, another local seamstress, and I led a camp at The Little Bits Workshop in River Forest.  We had eight girls (mostly age 10-11), eight different patterns, six sewing machines, twenty-five hours, and one handy assistant and from this motley mix we helped the girls make the clothes for their own Runway Show.  The challenge we gave the girls was that whatever they made had to go with at least two items that were in their closets already (I did this so that they could walk the runway twice and to stop them from making something completely impractical). 

I started to get nervous that we wouldn't be able to pull this off a few days before camp started.  We had met with the girls at our local Hancock Fabric's store to help them pick their patterns, fabrics, and notions.  About half of them had some sewing experience but at least three of them didn't really have any sewing experience going into the week.  I'm not sure any of them had made something from a commercial pattern.

And it was a crazy week.  We kept a running theme about the importance of making mistakes, and by about Day 4 we had the girls exclaiming proudly, "Hey!  I made another mistake!"  Unlike the real project runway, there were no tears or meanness, but we did have the last minute sewing on of buttons and repairing of seams.  The girls were a ton of fun to work with, although I did vastly underestimate the challenge of reading a pattern while eight young girls chattered constantly in the background.  And we all worked hard, VERY hard, to pull this off.  I don't have pictures to show, but you should absolutely check out the video of the Runway Show on Little Bit's website (it's the QuickTime link in the middle of home page).  It comes complete with music, a runway carpet, and revving fire engines (the workshop is across the street from the fire station in River Forest). 

Here's a snap of the certificate (printed on cardstock, no less) we gave them after the show:

And now I have some dreams I'm trying not to indulge in for the moment about taking this show on the road.  I'd love to do this with other girls (taking into account all I learned from the week), and I wonder if Nancy and I could get a grant to do this with girls who have fewer advantages than those from River Forest.  We will definitely do it at Little Bits again next summer and I know a few girls who will be back with us!

Little Clothes

Whew, the past few weeks have been crazy.  I have about five posts in my head (and in pictures) that haven't yet made it to my fingers and keyboard.  And this week I'll be teaching Camp Runway (oh, I can't wait!) so those posts don't stand a chance of escaping from my head.  I'm sure they are feeling cooped up and a little stir crazy (wouldn't you if you were stuck in my head? Shudder.) but they'll just have to stay put.

I've been sewing some little clothes for little people in the past few weeks.  This first outfit is for Helen, the daughter of one of my clients.  She really liked the idea of these ruffle pants and from there we figured out an idea for a top to go with it. 

I had fun with the process on this one.  Helen and Melissa came over to look through my fabric stash and Helen loved the Michael Miller Pretty Birds Dancing fabric (orange).  I put together a board on Pinterest with other possible fabrics and an idea for the top.  She picked out her favorites and I ran with it.  Or rather, clumsily shuffled through it.  The pattern I found to use as a starting point for the top (Peek-A-Boo Pattern's Charlotte Dress) was much more difficult than I imagined.  I think some of the difficulty was due to some awkward construction issues - I'll be tweaking these in the future - and I had to re-do a few things to get it right.  I think the top alone took me close to nine hours to complete, which seems just plain silly.  I do like the design, so I'll likely make it again, but faster. 

Here are some of the lovely design details:

I also made some little clothes for my own kids (WHAT?  MAKING CLOTHES FOR MY OWN FAMILY?? SHOCKING!!).  I usually do this only for special occasions as they really have way too many clothes already.  But with Thing 1's 5th birthday, I really needed to create something special.

I bought the main fabric from a woman here in Berwyn who was clearing out her stash (she used to run a business sewing kid's clothes and baby blankets). It's an old Michael Miller design, and I was kind of surprised that my big girl fell for this one.  She picked out the contrast fabric at Joann's and the buttons were from Grandma's basement.  The pattern is the Addison Dress from modkid patterns.

 

And because I had fabric left over, I had to make Thing 2 something to match . ..

 

So glad we were able to find a coordinating piñata!

And while I don't usually write about food on this blog (although I do have a recipe to share in one of those poor trapped posts), I did want to show off the cupcakes I made:

My MIL gave me a book on decorating cupcakes a few years ago and the tradition we have is that the girls get to flip through the pages and pick out their design.  And since this birthday girl's favorite food is apples, she wanted these (stems are tootsie rolls, leaves are rolled out starburst).  I have to say I'm pleased she managed to thwart the Hawaiian theme.

And I've got some big breaking news (not sure why I'm burying here at the bottom, but there you go - maybe it's the teacher in me making sure you read to the very end).  I'm finally making enough money between teaching and sewing custom-made clothing and bags to afford a day or two of childcare for the little one now that the big one is in school.  I'm excited to see where I can take things with daytime consecutive hours in which to work.  Wish me luck!