Done with the One Pattern Many Looks entry! It has been a busy month of sewing for me with a grand total of 6 ruched tees for the contest, 1 skirt, 1 ruched tee altered with a wider hem, 1 long sleeve cowl tee + 2 sleeveless cowls that were dyed.

I've been taking a little break and going through my stash as I plan the main focus for February. In the meantime, I've been working on a muslin for Burda 7082 so far I've been pretty pleased with the fit. I cut the smallest size (10) and took in 3/4" from the underarm and graded back out to 5/8" about 2" from the end. I took in 3/8" deep tuck x 2 in the back from neck to hem, blending into the dart - I also moved the back dart to stay in line with tuck. I need to remember to move the back skirt dart so it lines up with the back top. I normally have to adjust the shoulder to waist (shorten), but it is hitting me right at my waist! I tried it on with the pins and I am going to leave out the side zipper. I added a fusible stay tape alone the fold line and shoulder seams as well as fusible interfacing to the front self facing. I haven't made a faux wrap dress before, but something about this one called to me - I think it was the pleats. The pleats are sewn and everything just lined up perfectly - love Burda!

Dyeing Fabric - The Results!

It was an interesting experience and after I saw the results of the first batch, I just had to whip up another 2 tops to try some additional techniques before I had to pick up my mini workshop from the garage. Snow Melt - the gauze top was synthetic and didn't pick up the dye at all. It was the wrong snow - it should have been wetter to get a tighter pack - I ended up with far more white that I planned for - the spirals are kind of cool - this was just 4 colors

I had laid out fabric in the bottom of the tray, so this was dyed by the snow melt run off.

Next was smooshing fabric in trays and pouring dye over them in patterns. I have a lot to learn about what colors are created when the dye colors overlap...

The light blue shirt - dye was 28 hours old, and I diluted it about 25%.

This was full strength dye - processed for 24 hours in the garage - it was cold. My favorite so far!

I got started with fabric dye at PatternReview.com - Angela Wolf's Beginners Guide to creating fabric A good guide for the basics to a quick start - especially if you are more interested in garments. Now I am enrolled in the Craftsy class The Art of Cloth Dyeing I've only watched a couple of classes and already learned so much - it is geared towards wovens and not knits - still going to try the techniques on knits anyways. I also finished another top, KwikSew 3740 This is a great basic with the perfect cowl collar.

First attempt at fabric dye

I really meant to get pics of the tops I sewed before dyeing, but I forgot. I also didn't get as much done as I hoped, but it was time to just go for it!

The first picture set is snow dye. Unfortunately I forgot which end was which after I packed the snow, so it will be a big surprise to me as to how this ends up. One of the tops I thought I was sewing with a stretch cotton or rayon gauze, but it might also have a synthetic component as it doesn't seem to be absorbing the dye like the rayon tops. Hopefully it won't all wash out! I put some left over rayon spandex in the bottom of the tub to be dyed by the snow run off.

The top picture was an old white cotton thermal tee. I attempted a little strategic placement with black for the sleeves and middle, and magenta for the top and bottom which was also loosely pleated and wrapped with a loose rubber band. The bottom picture is a sleeveless cowl loosely folded then sprinkled with sea salt. The colors are lime green and magenta at top,navy blue on the bottom. Hopefully I will get to the discharge dyeing tomorrow. I have a green top ready to go, and a red top about half done.

I am in a midst of a sewing frenzy! I am sewing a number of tops - up to 4 in various stages of completion so far, as I prepare for my first adventure in fabric dyeing. It's kind of a big production for me as I have to set up in my garage. I wanted a number of items to experiment with so thought I might as well try out some different top patterns at the same time. I'll be doing both low immersion dyeing and discharge dyeing. I did a quick test with some scraps and regular bleach, just to see what colors would be pulled out, and I should be ready to go either tomorrow or Friday. This is exciting! Pant fitting is temporarily on hold, but I'll be going back to that while the dye is setting.

I've been busy still struggling with a jean style narrow leg pant. I do think I've made progress, but you can only baste and rip a muslin so many times before it's stretched and no longer accurate for tracing. So I'm taking a little break from that. As a confidence booster, I tried a looser fit pant with a narrow lower leg and am very pleased with the fit.

Next, it's another ruched tee - getting ready to experiment with bleaching out the fabric.

My next revision of the ruched tee is in polar fleece - no ruching, but I left the sleeves long and sewed in thumb holes - love those! I also turned the collar around, left the seam open, overlapped the front edges and voila, easiest convertible collar ever. I didn't even need any closures as the fleece sticks to itself and stays put. I have a regular version cut in a slinky knit and my final version for now is in a black slubbed rayon lycra, just needed a good basic black top. Then it's back to another round of pant fitting before starting my jacket. It's going to be a busy month. Pictures coming soon! And here it is - collage showing some of the ways you can wear the collar.

Making Progress

Sewing was sporadic over the holiday, but I did make some progress. Finished the techno skirt, and it was a little tricky sewing, the interfacing did not adhere well and I had to end up stitching it down. What helped was switching to the walking foot and turning the feed dog pressure down to 2. I had a little trouble with the lining at the top by the invisible zipper - ripped it out 3 times before I got it, but I will remember for the future! I also finished another ruched tee and since I had left over fabric, made a matching skirt as well!