Week 3: Bathing suit sewing class

So week 3 was a whopper of a class! We verified the measurements and modifications of our pattern. This took an hour, which really flew by for me. I made one line that needed to be corrected.  9/10!

We were taken through the steps of now retracing our pattern. The pattern we just spent 2 weeks on is our master. We now have to retrace it. Mme Dorothée says that we should always trace our pattern opened. We are not going to trace our pattern on our material on the fold. We also want the material right side up. This is new to me. I rather like this approach. When working with a material that has a pattern it always confused me to have the pattern face down. I want to see my placement.

Ok, I’m with her so far. I was a bit confused on making the pattern for the power mesh and crotch, but after seeing the whole bathing suit sewn, I get it now. I guess my concern is that the instructions I have are all in French. Yes, I understand French perfectly. BUT, there are sewing terms in French that I have never heard of and don’t know what they are in English (Fronces: still not sure if that is a dart or a gather) I saw the suit done, but the instructions are all in French. I took a lot of notes, but they are nothing compared to the instructions we received. They are quite detailed.

We cut out the power mesh, mine is thicker, so I have to add 1 cm to the sides. We cut out the lining for the chest and crotch, we cut out the bathing suit material. We sewed the darts, we made the gathers, we sewing the elastic for the chest, we sewed the bathing suit, we sewed the lining. We did everything but the elastic and bust inserts. That will be the last day. She GUARANTEES us that it will fit like a second skin. I sure hope so... 

NOW, I have to go home and do this on my own with my own material! EEKS! I am afraid as there is only one more class. I can do this, I can do this. If all else fails, back to stretch text I go to buy more material. The green patterned material I wanted to use I do not have enough of, so it is the solid hunter green for me. BORING, but whatever! Maybe I will go to stretch text anyways.....

Week 2: Bathing Suit sewing class

During week 2 we corrected our patterns and verified that we measured properly. We then moved on to modifying the pattern to fit our preferences, body types and to make it more modern.

As you will recall, the pattern is an older pattern. The hip line, the bust line and the style is out of date. We were given a guideline that we should follow to make the necessary adjustments. Mme Dorothee could have used a more recent pattern, but she said in all patterns there are modifications to be made, and she has this one down pat. The straps need to be adjusted, the width of the crotch, etc…

I adjusted one pattern in class with the teacher, and the other 3 I did at home. I hope I did it properly.

We then moved on to material stretch and elasticity. We tested material to verify how much stretch it had, and therefore which pattern size we should use. With both my materials I am to use my size 10 pattern.  I am still not confident in my ability to test the stretchability of the fabric, and I was told this is normal. It takes some time to become comfortable with it.

We moved on to the Cup of the suit and sizing. I am an “AA”. EEKS! Need I say more? 

BZZ Campaign International Delight’s Iced Coffee.

I have not done a BZZ Agent in a few years. I have always have great experiences with being a BZZ agent. With life being as hectic as it has been, I have not had the time to invest in many things. However, there was one campaign that really caught my eye! International Delight’s Iced Coffee.  There are 3 flavors: Vanilla Caramel Macchiato and Mocha. With the summer heat upon on this campaign is perfectly timed! Simon loves to buy the Iced cappuccinos, and I never thought to make them at home!

When I opened my BZZ kit, I was thrilled, It came with 2 beautiful International Delight Tumblers to make the drinks in and 9 FREE product coupons, 3 for me and 6 for family and friends. I have given away all my coupons (except mine of course).

With coupons in hand my friends and I set out to find this product only to find they were not in stores yet. We were patiently waiting as the hot weather started and it was the perfect weekend for the iced drinks.

My mother was the first to find it at Loblaws. I have heard reports that people found it at Walmart, but not at mine. I gave up and gave my coupon to my mother so that she could pick us up one by her house. At least we got to drink it!

My mother said she found hers to be too sweet. What did you think? Simon loves anything sweet, so the sweeter the better for him. I guess you can add more ice to water it down when it melts, what do you think?

La Ronde Season Pass - pre season sale!

I let Simon talk me into getting season passes for La Ronde this year. I have not been there since I was 16, over 23 years ago! I know that since 6 Flags bought La Ronde it has gone monster crazy HUGE! I looked at the cost of the pre-season pass purchase and thought, why not? You can make 7 equal payments, easy enough! I get free parking, skip the line ups, I took the free lunch and dinner for everyone. And Sam gets in for free! We also have all kinds of perks and bonus.... LET  SUMMER BEGIN!

Sewing class Club Tissus - Bathing Suit

I started my sewing class at Club Tissus last week. I originally signed up for Tissus Extensible (stretch material) but it was cancelled. Luckily she opened up another Bathing suit (1) class. I originally wanted this class but it had already started.

This class is a 4 week class and she GUARANTEES that the bathing suit will fit like a second skin. The first week we learned about taking our measurements and adjusting the pattern to fir OUR measurements. This is what I wanted to learn. How to adjust a pattern to my small frame.

The base pattern that everyone is using is an old out of print pattern from Bouclair Studios. It is a one piece suit with no bells or whistles. We will be adjusting the hip line to make it more to date. There is a front, a back, crotch lining and bust lining. We make 4 pattern sizes. The one we pick will depend on the % of stretch of our fabric. We learned how to modify the pattern the first week and measure the bust, waist, hips and trunk to fit our specific measurements. We do this for all 4 pattern sizes. My sizes were 8, 10, 12 and 14.

Next week we will learn about the material and how to determine the amount of stretch. Yippee! I got my list of supplies I had to buy, and Simon and I had fun at Club Tissus buying stuff. I did not know that I had to pre-soak the elastic in cold water over night, otherwise when you go in the pool, the suit will cut off your circulation when it dries on you! This is why you take the class. There are a few notions I have not worked with before, like power mesh. This is what holds your belly in. After 2 kids and 2 C sections, this is needed. Yes, even at my small frame, I have stuff that moves around too! We were asked not to buy the bust shapers, this will be for another class. We will determine our size in a future class. Mine will be small. There was a time.....

WE had bought swimwear material at Stretch Text. I have a solid green and a cool green pattern. I think I will use the pattern. I believe I have enough. I cut out the Jalie Racerback suit and when my machine went KLUNK I set it aside. After this class I will finish it.

They offer a Bathing Suit 2 (style), and I hope they offer it. This class was added because another one was cancelled. If not, I will take it next year. Every class she offers sounds amazing. They are intensive theory, where you do the work at home. She expects the homework to be about 3 hours. This was you get the most out of your money. You are paying for the instruction. Not like Fabricville, where the teacher brings her own work in the class, does not really teach you much, what she does is not exactly 100% correct, and when you ask too many quesions she tells you she is not giving another class next sessions. B**ch. I spoke to the owner and let her know what was going on. She was not impressed. Nether was I. I was ready to take ALL kinds of classes, I have since last July. She just lost me as a customer... But that is another post. Sorry for the rant. I feel betrayed.

Sewing / Cutting table inspiration

Have you ever seen something and you have an Ah-Ha! Moment? Well, I did. I was reading Victoria’s blog   and she posted on something she saw that struck her as brilliant. She took us over to Brooke Wilkerson's blog. She took 12 IKEA LACK tables and stacked them to make this wonderful cutting / sewing table. I checked the IKEA website and the white ones are $9.99 each (even here in Canada). 

Here is what she created. Sheer genius, n'est pas?

I love the height of the tables, the depth of the table, the storage area beneath and the fact that it is held together by Velcro and can be dismounted easily. My current table is a fold up table from Canadiantire. It is too low, too narrow for my sewing table. This IKEA hack will allow me to have my sewing space while still being practical and affordable. My sewing space doubles as a play room and entertaining area. When we have people over I remove my tables. When we have large dinner parties we set up long tables in my sewing area. This idea will still allow us to do that!

Thank you both for sharing this WONDERFUL idea! Now, to save up $$$ for this. 

Jalie 2908 Stretch Jeans

This week I started Jalie's Stretch Jeans, pattern 2908. Simon and I went to Tonitex and picked up a nice stretch denim for $6 a meter. This made me reconsider my position on Tonitex. Simon suggested that we go there from now on. I think he has a good point! 

I took my measurements, waist 29 and hips 37. I cut out a “S”. I hope they are not too small. I know in the Big 4 patterns, I am a 10. If I go by the measurement charts, I would be a size 14, but from experience that is WAY TOO BIG. This is my first women’s pattern for Jalie, so we will see. They do not appear to be too large. They may be tight, however. I was going to do a muslin, but I decided against it. I had this vision of me knowing what to do once I made this muslin, then reality came back. Perhaps taking a course on pant fitting next year would be an asset. I have no idea about crotch depth and curvature!

Simon was SUPER awesome and he picked up the kids for me. That way I could go straight home and sew. What a sweetie-pie! He took them to the park and played. I was able to accomplish a lot! I tried designing a pattern for the back pockets and realized that I did not like the results. I would need to tinker a lot more before I commit to designing a back pocket. I have a new Janome Memory craft 8200, so I am sure I can arrange something fabulous, but not today.

The back pockets were simple to construct and place on. The more you practice something, the easier it becomes. I got confused on the front pocket illustration and had to rip out my seams. 

This will be my 4^th fly that I have completed. The last time it was a breeze! Let’s hope tonight it will be as well.

Now in number 13 and 14 it appears that you sew all around, no? oops, no, look at 15. This is where I finished up the other night. I undid my stitches and laid it out flat. Then I pinned on the top and it now looks like #15. Sam has his first ear infection (now we know why he was so grumpy!) so I have not had the opportunity to sew as much as I would like. After a few hours of grumpy and crying I can no longer concentrate eek! Tonight Simon is picking up the kids again (love that Hubby!) and I will have a few hours of uninterrupted sewing time. I plan on getting the front pockets completed and the fly. Wish me luck!

I figured out the pockets quite easily. I fixed my mistake and after that it went pretty smoothly. The pants are taking quite a bit of time as I have to sew in bits and pieces. I try to get at least 45 minutes in before I make dinner. That is if Simon is home and he can take care of the kids. I am now making the tabs for the belt and will attach them and then the waistband. I tried on the jeans and they fit! Yippee! I like that I chose the higher waist. We will have to see if it is too high. I am tired of having jeans that are too low and I am constantly hiking them up. I am not 18 and letting "it all hang out", so sometimes low rise is just too low.

I have made a number of pants now and the fly construction is terrorizing me way less. I think after this pair I can consider myself an expert on this section. I am glad that I am perfecting my technique!

Summer PJ's for the boys

The warm weather is upon us, and it looks like it is going to stay! I must say I am loving this, but it has caught me by surprise. I do not know why, it is not like we had a lot of snow, nor has it been cold lately. I’m just not that organized this year I guess. Too much going on.

I have gone through the boy’s clothes and took out the clothing that was for winter. I just haven’t taken out the summer garments yet. Tyler has a few short PJ bottoms, but not many. And I KNOW we have some for Sam, I just can’t find the size 2 clothing bin at the moment. PROJECT!

I have the perfect pattern for PJ’s and I have the pattern traced out for Tyler’s size already, Simplicity’s 9499. I can bang out a shirt and short in no time at all! I will make sure I get the most out of this pattern. It gives you both the children's sizes and the adult sizes. Make sure to trace the pattern to keep it for a LONG time!

I plan to use this pattern to make Tyler's splash pants that we bought the material for, and then that night I finally found his splash pants tucked away. 

New Look Workroom 6120 Misses' Dress

When I saw this pattern I had to have it! I love the simplicity of the dress and the neckline. She looks fierce, and I could picture me in this. I have had this in my stash for a while along with the material, but it isn't really a dress one can wear in the winter. Not with the silky material I have.












Simon and I cut out the perfect material for this pattern! The pink will be for the sash. I hope that we chose to place the pattern in the most flattering placement of the fabric.



I thought this dress would be lickity-split easy. I am tired (teething toddler in the house), and there are a few steps they do not write down. They show it in their illustrations, but they don't tell you to do it. Thank goodness I knew better, otherwise I would have been lost.

I tried sewing the bias tape on the neck by machine and it turned out horribly! My sewing teacher helped me take it off. Seeing as we had only 30 minutes left to our class and the whole class I basically spent doing this, she took pity on me and pinned it back for me. She showed me how to sew a neck binding on by hand. MUCH BETTER! But it does take much more time. That is ok, I want to learn the finishing touches, and they take time.

I took a whole 3 hour sewing class to get to the pockets. Working with silky material is difficult. You can't be in a rush. I finished the top part, surged and all! The hem is so much easier to do when you serge the edges first. I rolled it up the first time, pinned it and did not like what I saw. I unpinned it and took my time. I have learned to S-L-O-W down. I have way too many sewing projects on my list. The object now is not to plow through them all to learn, but rather to learn attention to details. Hopefully I will get this done for my last sewing class next week!

Finally finished! 

I finally finished this dress! I took my sweet time with this project. The silky material is hard to work woth if you are not used to it. I pinned everything, then basted it before sewing. That way my material did not shift. I used a walking foot, which is a must.

What I really like about this pattern is the belt, which surprises me. I am not a belt person, but the shape of it and the wrap around is nice and feels comfortable.

Due to the nature of the material one must wear a slip or else run the risk of static cling! The skirt did not hang properly, but put a slip and that is corrected.

Dedicated, uninterrupted sewing time is a luxury these days

My sewing instructor informed me 2 weeks ago that there may not be a Spring session for Friday evenings. I spoke with Simone as we had decided that I did not need to take another sewing class this spring session. My last sewing class will be April 26^th. With this date LOOMING ahead I got to imagining what the next few months would be like. I find it rather difficult to get 3 hours of uninterrupted sewing time for myself at home. I have 2 young boys (19 months and 5 yrs old) who are rather active. For those of you who have young children, you will understand my dilemma. I want the quiet time, the reflection time, and the dedicated time. These 3 hours are precious to me. It allows me to work on my projects in an environment where I can concentrate, where there are no distractions. I love that and I do not know if I can give it up.

I took to the internet to find another sewing class. Perhaps I want a newer challenge. One where the class is structured, one where I can build my sewing techniques. Perhaps lingerie or bathing suits. Club Tissue offers a bathing suit course, but it has already started. They do have a class on Tissue Extensible (stretch material) but I already know how to make leggings, shirts and a skirt. I would like to perhaps make lingerie. Va-Va-Voom! The problem is that these courses are in Laval, at 18h30. I live in Pincourt, off-Island westward = 2 bridges to cross at rush hour = MAJOR TRAFFIC.

I have 2 kids at 2 different daycares to pick up, go home, start dinner, wait for hubby, UGHHHHH But if it is for 5 weeks it is something maybe I can deal with. Maybe.

All of this uncertainty has made me anxious. I enjoy my sewing time and I am not ready to give it up. I cannot find any classes in my area, and I am at a loss of what to do. Simon suggested that I do take the next session, if it is available. Do any of you know of any sewing classes in the West end? Given in the evenings or weekend?