Back home and sewing....

Last weekend I spent time with my brother before heading off to help my dad & his wife, my uncle and my aunt & her husband clean up my grandmother's house. I was given the task of going through my grandmother's sewing stuff. I threw out many partly completed sewing projects and recycled some patterns and magazines. I did send some completed but not hemmed items to charity donation along with some Threads magazines and some assorted unused patterns and notions. Unfortunately due to the remote location of the house, and time frame for emptying the house, more of the magazines could not be given to others who sew.

These tags were my great grandmother's - I have her Elna sewing machine from the 1970s (although its not working).... I did keep some patterns, fabric, and notions for myself and might get one of the Husqvarna sewing machines. My aunt currently has the older one and is deciding which machine she wants to keep. I left most of the fabrics, sorted in drawers or buckets so my aunt could decide what to do with them. I also left my aunt with an assortment of patterns, notions and other supplies as well as the knitting machine.



Quilting


Since I got home I've had a chance to get back into sewing again. I did complete some more squares for the Quilt Along.



Sewing for Me
I also found an OOP Burda 6157 pattern for panties, slips, teddies, camisole and tap pants at my grandmothers and decided to try it out with fabric & lace I brought home with me. I'm guessing the beige is a nylon-lycra and the lace is a 6" wide stretch lace. Before I started working with the lace it felt fine - not too aged, but as I worked along it seemed very rubbery. I may cut out the lace after a washing or two... I'm not sure its going to work.




Pattern Description:
Slip, Teddy, Camisole, Shorts and Panties

Pattern Sizing:
European Sizes 34 - 48

Older Burda pattern without seam allowances - remember to add them.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes. I made view D - and it looks the similar to the drawing but I'm not sure whether I should have used stretch lace (I did) or regular lace....

Were the instructions easy to follow?
They were easy to follow, but brief and missing some information. I didn't follow their elastic application method - but applied in two steps. I'm glad I've made panties before because there was no recommendations about elastic lengths - more below...

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I disliked the brief list of notions required and fabric suggestions. I'm guessing the panties were to be made in the silky knits listed on the instructions as I'm not sure they'd fit properly in a woven. And requirements for the lace was listed at "12cm (4 1/2") laced edging or band: 0.6m (3/4yd)" From this I'd guess they were using regular lace not stretch lace - I used stretch lace and they are a little large in the front, and the seams pull.

I also disliked that the elastic lengthens for the legs and waist were not included. The leg elastic is only applied to the front/crotch section and back not to the lace/side front piece. I measured the pattern pieces and subtracted 2" for the back of the panties. Because of the stretch lace, the side seams pull to the back when wearing. For the waist - I truly guessed on a measurement... I think I chose well, although may be able to make it slightly shorter next time.

I like the construction order - went together quickly.

Fabric Used:
Beige Nylon - Lycra and stretch lace
(ignore the grey crotch lining piece as I couldn't find any other light colours and these were just a muslin)

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
Used stretch-lace because I figured that was what was needed... but think regular lace would be better as it might fit properly.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes I will make these again. The front-side piece will need to be made shorter or with regular lace for a better fit. I might try both.

I would probably make the crotch lining the same size as the front piece instead of seaming it.

Conclusion:
The other items look to be in wovens (camisole, tap pants, teddy and slip) and I may make them at some point.

The panties are a great start and are drafted quite well even if the notions/fabrics listed on the pattern are hard to understand.

Bra Sewing

I've been tweaking my bra pattern and completed two more bras... one black, the other red & white. I'm having problems finding wires short enough to fit, so I tried cutting one set of wires last night. But the glue dried funny, so now I need to remove the glue and try again so there's no rough wire showing.

I really wish more stores would carry bra making supplies. I ran out of a few items (channelling, hooks, wires) at midnight on Saturday. Two local stores had some of the parts I needed, but still had to head out to a third store to get the hooks today (it isn't open Sundays!).

I've started Ottobre 2/08 #8 in a dark blue fabric with yellow flowers. I'm using a yellow fabric for the bias binding. I'm not happy with how the bindings going, so I'll be using a different method for the armholes.

This past week I've also been doing some mending... replaced a zipper, patched jeans, stitched side seams on a sweater. And finished two undershirts for dd2 (originally cutout for dd1)