WINONA-Wrapping up!

At this time, I turn one pant leg inside out and stuff the pant leg turned right side out into the pant leg turned inside out. I align the crotch and stitch, finish and topstitch the seam.

The apron is comprised of three pieces of material: One front piece you see, a lining for the front and the back piece of the apron.

The front apron piece and the front lining piece are stitched just around the round pocket openings, right sides together. The pieces are turned, pressed and edgestitched along these curved pocket openings. I think I edgestitched twice, once at 3 mm and once at 6 mm, around each pocket opening.

Because the back of the apron may peek out a bit, it is nice to use a material that has an attractive reverse side. This olive drab nylon has a nice reverse side, so it's all good. At this time, I stitch the front of the apron front+lining piece to the back apron piece, right sides together. I finish this seam with an overcast stitch, turn the apron and press the seam. I edgestitch all along this seam at 3 mm.

The apron piece I attach to the pant legs right at the seam allowance.

I did not take any photos of making the waistband! This trousers just takes an elastic casing waistband and goes on something like this. Yeah, I'm not much of an illustrator, but I hope you get the idea.

The strip of waistband material is stitched together at the short ends to form a ring. However, a small gap is left on one half of this stitching line for inserting the elastic.

This ring is stitched to the waistband edge right sides together. The waistband is flipped up, so the right side is seen from the front and pressed. The waistband is pinned to the waist edge wrong side, on the inside of the pants. For a more finished look, this edge is tucked under again before pinning. The waistband is stitched from the right side at 3 mm from the fold edge of the initial seam. This stitching line should catch the inside of the waistband.

The top of the waistband is edgestitched at 3 mm. The elastic is inserted with the aid of a safety pin or bobkin. The elastic is cinched to the desired fit and the ends are secured with a long bar tack. The elastic is tucked into the waistband casing and the small opening is closed with a few straight stitches.

Measure one last time for length, hem the pants and I am done! (Actually, I hemmed before putting on the waistband...whatever...)

And I trimmed that silly piece of thread there...

And the reveal in front of the beloved Orange Inn café in Laguna Beach.

Thank you, Claudia, for the fun, funky and easy WINONA Sassy Pants!

Postcards from California

I walked out my front door early this morning to give whoever was out there with the world's noisiest chain saw a piece of my mind, when I saw that it was not a chainsaw, but a little parade of classic VWs going up my street.


On our walk today, this is what we saw.

This couple was smiling and holding hands. And my heart just melted when they got up and danced: She in her pretty Sunday best and he, well, he has a "Wild Thing" T-shirt.

And this guy? The hat, the shorts, the skateboard, the hair? It's like Lederhosen in Munich. He was even wearing Vans. Seriously, this is a person you'll only see in California. He'd get stopped at the border to Oregon.

I love you, California.

WINONA-Moving right along

Where do we go from here? Let's get the pant leg backs done.

So, what we have here is this big curve. You have the option of pinning carefully all along the curve and stitching. I find that can lead to puckers. What I do is just lay the beginning corners perpendicular to each other for the first stitch. Then I just carefully align the corresponding edges all the way along the curve with my thumb and forefinger while continuing to stitch. Works like a charm.

Before I stitched the two pieces of each pant leg together, I stitched some ric rac ("rick rack"? "ricque racque"?) along the seam allowance of the outer pant leg piece. This is then tucked into the seam for a little extra detail.

I have topstitched all the seams with a nice thick bright green topstitching thread.

Now, it is time for stitching the fronts to the backs at the outseam. For this second pant leg, I removed the initial basting stitches and put in new ones, so that I could ease that middle section to match the back pant leg just perfectly. I got lucky on the first pant leg: My initial gathering happened to fit just fine.

I have pressed the finished outseam toward the back and topstitched.

Now comes the time to lay the inseam edges right sides together and stitch, giving me the completed pant leg. Topstitching the inseam can be done a couple of ways: You may either work the pant leg over the free arm, but that will only get you about half way up the pant leg. In this instance, you'd flip the pant leg around and topstitch over the free arm from the other direction until you meet the initial top stitching line.

Or, you may topstitch this inseam in one fell swoop by scrunching the pant leg behind the presser foot, sort of turning the stitched part of the pant leg inside out as you go. You do not place the pant leg over the free arm, but stitch that little bit that you can. And then scrunch that stitched part behind the presser foot. Stitch-stitch-stitch/scrunch/stitch-stitch-stitch/scrunch/stitch-stitch... Eventually, you'll make it all the way up the pant leg.

WINONA-Day One (but later)

Okay-dokey.

At this time, I stitch together the three sections of the front pant legs. I kind of need to pay attention as to which center piece is which, and which way is up. Other than that, pretty straight forward.

Here, I have gathered the knee pieces before stitching to the upper and lower pant leg pieces. In hindsight, I should have stitched all three sections together and then run the basting stitch along the sides of each of the middle pieces. That way it would have been much easier to ease the pant leg fronts to match the pant leg backs in a later step. So, do as I say, not as I do: Stitch all three sections together, run a basting stitch along the middle pieces and gather later to match the pant leg fronts to the pant leg backs. Alrighty?

And, this is the time to add any trims that should join in the inseam and outseam. No such thing as too many trims.

WINONA-Day One

Winona Day One? I'll post over several days, but this pattern went together so easily, that I finished it up in about three hours. And I am pretty slow, pretty inefficient.

First, I need to decide if I want the apron detail or the side pockets. My girl is eight years old, now, so she might think the apron is a bit babyish. So I ask her opinion and she likes the apron. Goody! But the roomy side pockets are super-duper, too, so I would have been happy either way. I think I will age this look up a bit for a pre-tween in the choice of fabrics. I have this awesome olive drab nylon stuff. I've got to dig through my receipts and find out where I got this, because I want more. It is a thick, water repellant nylon with a brushed underside. Feels softy and smoothy against the skin. It is a material that is used quite a bit for board shorts and just a great material for being at the beach, because it wicks moisture away and dries in an instant. It's also kind of shiny. I like shiny.

This I have paired with a cotton material taken from tea towels from Anthropologie. That I have paired a material that repels water with one designed to absorb water makes perfect sense in my world. Just live in my reality for the moment. I like it here.

And here is a photo of the salad of trims that I thought about including. I'm shooting here for urban/ethnic/retro/vintage/French provincial...I seriously need to stay out of the Anthropologie store.

More tomorrow!

Dog days and kitty pants

I don't think I am the only one who puts things off. Otherwise, FedEx wouldn't even exist. Anyway, I've been procrastinating. On just about everything. I'm assigning blame for my putting off 'til tomorrow to adjusting to the summer routine and having to keep the kids occupied with things sun screen centered and sans screens--computer, video and handheld.

But it's also just jolly ol' procrastination. I have a huge administrative pile from which to dig out my sorry, miserable self. Can you feel my pain? Irreparable hard drive and no back-ups for over a year because I couldn't get the stupid modem on that ancient Windows hunk-o'-junk to talk to the FiOS...no excuse, of course...really, just another procrastination...But you see what I am avoiding. Please, feel my pain, because I don't want to. I'm awarding any and every distraction my utmost attention. 

Here, the girl wore her ZORRA trousers. The ones with the lucky kitties. She still hasn't warmed up to the big girl face ones. We had an errand in Taluca Lake, so a swing by the Farmers' Market on Fairfax for falafel and figs is practically on the way.

On the business end of things, I have WINONA translated and printed and ready to go. WINONA was another victim of IT-misfunctioning procrastinating. But it's off the list, finally. Please place any orders over the shop.

I have a pretty stack of fabrics right here that I should WINONA-ize. I should probably sew-along this. Whatcha think? It would give me something to do besides enter 18 months worth of accounting. I'm up for it. 

Nothing ventured etc.

ZORRA is totally one of those patterns that needs to be photographed worn to appreciate the genius of the knee-thingies. Ingrid has so much talent putting in the itty-bitty details that take the look to another level.

But here are a few detail photos of my ZORRAs. I had these canvas bags from Japan with funny screen-printed images that fell victim to my rotary cutter. I didn't have much to pair with these brilliant images, but I thought some green khaki and Amy Butler might pull it together. I'm not quite sure. Nothing ventured, nothing gained and all that jazz.

ZORRA is eins der Schnittmuster, der eigentlich angezogen photographiert werden muß: Nur so kann frau die Genie hinter den Knie-Dingens wahrnehmen. Ingrid besitzt ja diesen Talent, die winzigkleine Details zu integrieren, die das Design zu einem anderen Level heben.

Nichtsdestotrozt ein paar Detailaufnahmen. Ich hatte solche Tragetaschen aus Segeltuch aus Japan mit diesen witzigen Motiven aufgedruckt, die eben Opfer meines Rollschneiders gefallen sind. Passende Stoffe waren so richtig keine im Regal. Ich dachte, etwas grüner Khaki zusammen mit Amy Butler tun's. Bin mir jetzt nicht so sicher. Wer nicht wagt und so weiter.

And I can't resist this image. Ray and Charles Eames. And Ray is driving! Love her shoes...

Und dieses Bild kann ich kaum wiederstehen. Ray und Charles Eames. Und Ray fährt! Liebe ihre Schuhe...

Via Apartment Therapy.

Bugs: viral, shutter and otherwise

I'm a bit sick. Not this sick. No multi-colored warts. Just the usual yuck-yuck cough-cough sniffle-sniffle pounding-headache stuff. Nothing really to complain about, 'cept my girl celebrated a birthday and all I wanted to do was lay my head face down in the cake and sleep. So, not too many pictures. 

Ich bin etwas krank. Nicht so krank wie dies: Keine bunte Warzen. Nur das gängige ekel-ekel huste-huste schnief-schief Aua-Kopfweh Zeugs. Nichts zu bemeckern, nur mein Mädchen feierte Geburtstag und ich wollte bei der Feier lediglich den Kopf auf der Geburtstagstorte legen und einschlafen. Ergo, nicht so viele Photos von.

The girl's double-layer ESI top has a pair of coordinating ZORRA pants. I think the pants are really cute. Maybe there was a bit too much cold medicine-induced fabric mixing. At any rate, they didn't pass mademoiselle's muster, so no pix of those. Can't win 'em all. And anyway, I don't think I will ever like anything I make as much I like this. Curse you, Nic.

Mademoiselles gedoppelte ESI-Bluse hat eigentlich eine koordinierte ZORRA-Hose. Ich finde die Hose zuckersüss. Eventuell fand doch etwas zuviel der Erkältungsmedizin wegen Stoffmixerei statt. Auf jeden Fall bestand die Hose Mademoiselles Musterung nicht, also davon keine Photos. Nicht jedes Teil ist ein Treffer. Und außerdem habe ich das Gefühl, ich werde nichts nähen können, was mir so gut gefällt wie dies hier. Neid, Neid, Neid.

My apologies to Anthropologie for slicing up one of their tea towels. Much too pretty for drying dishes.

Und meine Abbitte an Anthropologie, denn ich habe eines deren Geschirrtücher zerschnitten. War eben viel zu schön für das Geschirrabtrocknen sowieso.

 

The girl's big present was a digital camera. She's having a blast with it. Maybe tomorrow she'll post a bit on Fledge her first photos.

Das große Geschenk war ein Digi-Kamera. Sie hat einen Wahnsinnsspass mit. Vielleicht morgen macht sie den Fledge-Posting.

Recycle restyle

An IMKE shirt and a basic skirt also following the Frankenstein principal. I sliced up some cuuuuute twill toddler pants from Bit'z. That's Paulapü's cheeky little squirrel embroidery.

Ein IMKE-Shirt und ein einfacher Rock nach dem Frankensteinprinzip. Ich habe eine süüüße Kleinkindhose von Bit'z zerschnitten und anders zuzammengestückelt. Und dieses ist selbstverständlich Paulapü's freches Eichkätzchen.

Oh, baby!

Hello, baby. 

Unlike any other babies, who enter my house, I do not love you unconditionally. I have expectations of you. I expect you to perform and achieve much better than your siblings: Your finicky sister, Elna, that good-for-nothing brother, Brother, that off-key Singer and that Pfaff...?Pffff...

So, sure, I bring my baggage into this relationship. But I promise, you'll not be bored with me. And I can grow to love you.

I hope this is the final chapter in my years' long serger drama. My first impressions of this baby are okaaaaay... I kind of expected the air threader to suck the thread through in one breath. It took about three or four breaths. Is my baby a bit asthmatic? Figures. 

So for a first run, I went a bit Frankenstein on these old shirts. The baby did okay. My affection grows.

Hallo, Baby.

Anders als bei den anderen Babies, die in mein Haus kommen, dich liebe ich nicht vorbehaltslos und unbedingt. Nein, ich habe ganz bestimmte Erwartungen von dir. Ich erwarte, daß du dich entsprechend besser benimmst als deine zickigen Geschwister: Die wankelmütige Schwester Elna, der Taugenichts Bruder Brother, der falsch singende Singer, und ich pfiffe auf den Pfaff. 

Ja, ich habe meine Erfahrungen und Vorbehalte. Aber bei mir wirst du nie gelangweilt und ich kann lernen, dich lieben zu können.

Ich hoffe, dies das letzte Kapital meines jahreslangen Overlockdramas sei. Meine ersten Eindrucke von diesem Baby sind soweit nicht schlecht, mittelmässig. Ich habe erwartet, daß die Luftdruckfädelung in einem Atemzug funktioniere. Ich habe etwa vier Atemzüge gebraucht. Kann es sein, daß mein Baby etwas asmathisch ist? Typisch. 

Für die Testfahrt bin ich eins auf Frankenstein mit diesen alten Shirts gegangen. Baby hat gut mitgemacht. Meine Zuneigung wächst.

Diba asked me to test sew her new pattern, ESI (sure!) and photograph it (no problem!) with a lot of sun and summer feeling (oka----oh...). See, thing is, it's JUNE here on the coast of California. So it's cold and rainy. It's the little quirk of fate that has the rest of the Northern Hemisphere frolicking in the fresh summer sun, while we don't. It's sort of like the weather gods say, there's only so much sunshine and the deal is, California, you can have sunshine and blue skies while everyone else is tromping through slush and scraping ice off their windshields and dodging hailstones and tornadoes, but you don't get to have any sunshine and blue skies when the rest of the world is scheduled to have theirs. So hand it over.

Diba bat mich ihren neuen Schnittmuster ESI probezunähen (gerne!) und diesen dann zu photographieren (aber klar!) mit viel Sommerfeeling (jaöö...ähm...hmmm...). Problem ist, wir haben gerade JUNI in Südkalifornien. Und d. h. kalt und regnerisch. Doch. Es ist die kleine Laune des Schicksals, woin während der Rest der nordlichen Hemisphäre in der frischen Sommersonne herumtollen, wir derart herumtollen eben nicht.  Als sage die Wettergötter, pass' auf, Kalifornien, es gibt eine begrenzte Menge an Sonnenschein und du darfst den Sonnenschein und den blauen Himmel haben, wärend die anderen durch den Schneematsch tratschen und Eis von der Widschutzscheibe kratzen, aber wenn die anderen ihre Portion Sonnenschein disponiert sind, mußt du diesen ja abgeben. Also, hier damit. 

May Grey and June Gloom have something to do with an inversion of cold air from Alaska and warm air from the inland...Whatever. It's not the California you'd expect in June. But, we dig it. Rain is such an anomaly. It's WATER that drips from the SKY! How cool is that? It leaves puddles! Rock on!

May Grey und June Gloom haben etwas mit einer Inversion von Luft aus Alaska und Luft vom warmen Inland...wie auch immer. Es ist eben nicht der Kalifornien, den man für Juni erwartet. Aber wir mögen's. Der Regen ist so die Anomalie hier: Der ist WASSER, das aus dem HIMMEL tropft! Wie toll ist das denn? Und wir haben Pfutsen! Rock on!

And that's what I made with the new baby! I'll show you more later.

Und dort, das mit dem neuen Baby gemacht. Ich zeige Euch später doch mehr von.