Sunday, May 26, 2013

Lay, pin, cut, pin, Iron, pin, sew, iron, pin......... take apart and start again!!

You know when you set forth to create a shitload of things it can be rather overwhelming and rewarding all in one. 

We decided we needed to make tank tops and shorts and a pair of pants for our upcoming trip to Mexico. 

This would have been pretty easy had it not been for the passing of my father and the following trip to Nova Scotia that would take up some of the time we had allotted for the hefty menu of items. 

Dads memorial also added to said menu the need for appropriate pants and shirt. Now granted I did have a few weeks to prepare for that and after all was said and done I did manage, with the help of my beautiful Scissor happy Prey ( she has taken on the job of cutter and pattern creator!) to create some really nice black pants and an impressive first try at a button up boy shirt. 




So after these clothes were created and a very very very long drive to Nova Scotia and back we were once again sitting in the "Sweatshop" cutting and sewing!!



I am unsure if I ever mentioned the EPIC trip to Lens Mills where we spent hours.. and I mean hours of frustrating and again rewarding shopping for the materials that would be what everyone see's us sporting all summer long.

We got t-shirt material for tank tops, linen for shorts and pants, some really cute skull stuff for dresses for Prey. It was pretty overwhelming but in the end has already proven to have saved us tons by not having to buy the clothes we are wearing!

Now we have learned a few things in the creation of tank tops. The most important has been bias tape. Its a bit of a racket but when you actually figure it out its pretty simple. Prey has spent hours cutting and ironing bias tape for all the different colors of t-shirt material we got. Upon returning from Mexico we have discovered a youtube video that has showed us some great tips and tricks and will make all bias tape situations easier from this moment forth!! 

I have made a pattern for pants from an existing one I made shorts from earlier on.  It seems I think I am fatter then I actually am! Which in my mind is wonderful but in reality is a pain in the ass when I create AWESOME shorts and pants that are about two sizes too big in the waist. The pants I made for my dads deal I had to put pleats in the front to make them fit. When it came time to make the shorts and pants for MExico I thought I had taken enough off the waist to make them fit but apparently I have not. 

So I have some lovely linen pants and shorts that I believe I am going to put for sale as  it might be too much work to alter them .. I am going to ask the great and wise "Oma" what her advice is as I am thinking I could just take them in at the butt and avoid removing pockets etc. But if I can't do that they will grace the bottom of someone I love.. I can hope anyways.. Or i will just continue to wear them with a belt and all folded up at the top. 
I also might have sewed the zipper in the linen pants backwards and you have to zip them up from the inside!
I actually did it to both of them but managed to catch my mistake before finalizing the shorts and changed it up.


I need in the future to remove at least a inch to two from the waist and at least another inch from the top.  I will refer to this post before embarking on more shorts.

We made two different styles of tank tops in a few different patterns and materials. I believe in the end we made about 8 of them. 





Then we ran back to fabricland a few days before we left and got some material to make prey a cute summer dress and me a cover up for the bathing suit. 

This little dress was so simple. The material was already smushed up at the top and all I did was zip up the side and add a hem. Now we had originally planned to add shoulder straps to it but changed our mind. The material was kinda expensive but I imagine it will go on sale eventually and we will get more of it. 

 The coverup I created from discount fabric and I LOVE it.. I might if I make more shorten the arms and make it a smidge shorter but really its wonderful and flowy. It makes me feel sexy, like a girl should!


It has a belt that goes with it but I prefered to wear it without. The sleeves got in the way when trying to reach for things. Careful over candles!!  ;o)

The material was easier to sew then I thought it would be. I got to put the petal to the carpet on the lonnnnng hems. Another experience with button holes and making belts which both turned out great. I did tho in my excitement to be done with it forgot to sew up the one end of the belt and ended up in Mexico with it undone. I just tied a knot around both of the ends and it looked great.  But again.. lol I didn't end up using the belt I felt it cut me off and looked silly! 

I can make these for my friends easily!! 

Now you might be asking yourself, What really happened while you created your new clothes?

I understand why  you would be pondering this and will not disappoint you.

I will admit there were a few situations per se that came up as we put all this stuff together. 

The best.. I mean best.. involved a pair of shorts, a home made pattern and a really short CaMel creating them!
*Smiles sheepishly*


So settle in and get ready for a little giggle!!

Up to the point of making shorts for this adventure I had only put together a few pairs of pants. Both of them from the same home made pattern I had created a month or so ago. 
I am very lucky and have someone that loves cutting out my stuff so I went ahead and made the adjustments to the pattern I thought necessary to make the waist smaller and to mark and fold the area where the pants would now become shorts! 
Prey did an awesome job of cutting them out for me. All the pieces for pockets and zippers, waistbands and of course the main front and back panels.
The material has a pattern and also a front and back. I have a hard time sometimes figuring out the difference and this was no different. I had my friend Nyx and Prey help me figure out the right side of the fabric and off I went to create the shorts. 
After attaching a pockets I started to actually put the shorts together. Outside seams were not a issue. Then it came time to put it all together and I realized that there was a discrepancy.  When I went to match the inner seams the material was longer than it was supposed to be. 
I couldn't figure it out so I did what any frustrated sewer would do and sewed the darn things up.. then tried to sew the bum part and immediately saw there was a flaw in the system!

The shorts had a tail, like a duck!!! 

They are not right.. I can not have a tail. At least not a tail in the shorts I need to take with me to Mexico. Immediatly I begin to panic thinking I did something wrong with the pattern.. or perhaps I have sewn them together right side wrong.
We are both tired and stressed out as we have been so focused on getting stuff done and have had so many distractions and small setbacks! 
We put the shorts on inside out and pin them in a fashion that tucks the tail in. I baste that and try them on and realize there is no way they will be able to work like that.

Frustrated we put them aside.. unsure of what the hell has happened but needing to move on to other projects. 
The next day I am sitting going over the pattern, holding up the shorts and wondering still what the hell happened when the light went on in my head. I was sad to loose the fabric as it was some of that which we spent so long hunting for in toronto. 
*Blushes*
I realized at that moment that the distance between my butt and waist is almost equal to the distance from my butt to my knee and I have sewn the back panels of the shorts on upside down!! 
*Smirks*

So with the help of my wonderful friend Nyx, who sat and took apart the shorts and the encouragement of the team, I managed to put the shorts together again. This time I omitted the bottom pockets and back pockets. Both of which were on the first pair and they were done! 

I have to say these are some of my favorite shorts now! They are cool and flowy. 

One of Preys pet peeves is to see pocket gap!! 
So I had to install little velcro pieces to the pockets so they would not bulge open when I sit.  Its a bit of a pain in the ass to have that there as I try to shove my hands in my pockets but if it makes her happy I will adjust! 

I am sad I did not take pictures of the duck shorts. They were funny as hell.  It seems tho my sense of humor at the time was not with me and I did not want to document such a great screw up.

Now.. I know to take pictures of everything. You would not believe the "AWRY" that exists within our world.

A Sense of Humor is required on this Ryde!! 

When all was said and done.. before we finally left  (I say finally because we went to the airport a day early all ready to go to Mexico only to find out we were a day early as we tried to check in!!)  (AWRY)!!!

We made a few sets of poi and cut out some to sew when we returned 

And on the day we were supposed to leave we came home and made a dress.. I forgot to take a picture of it and ended up selling it to a friend yesterday. When she gives me a picture I will post it here. Its really pretty and the second attempt at a great pattern we made a few months ago in a really slippery pain in the ass material. That dress I sold yesterday as well .

I look forward to seeing both of my sexy friends sporting clothes that came from the Sweatshop!! 

It is still fun and even more so now because Prey is so very involved. It makes it easier to accomplish a lot of things in a short amount of time. Its also fun to try to create new patterns for things we really need. 

Things might be a bit slower now as I embark on a new adventure that will see me going outside of the house for a lot of hours a week. 

We have plans to create more poi, scrubs and more tank tops. We have ideas of ways to adjust those tops into sweet sexy dresses so we will be testing that out in the next while.

We also were given some amazing patterns from a friend of ours a few weeks ago. There are some fantastic retro dresses in the pile we are dying to create.

My Aunt from the states sent me a care package that included some patterns. I was thrilled and hope to have my Bear over with the baby and make him some of the little bears from one of the patterns. 



I am super stoked to make some more stuff. Wish more of it would fit us but that will come in time. Prey puts a lot of time into research so I know we will figure it all out eventually. 

 So that is that.. an update of our adventures in the Sweatshop. Its been one heck of a month ish.  In the end I believe we both feel pretty darn proud of ourselves for being able to accomplish so much and have it look good and be functional! 

We are now looking for baby boy patterns which are hard to find. It seems the lil fellas only wear pants and shirts that there are not so many variations of. I forsee a lot of little costumes in my future. Starting with  a few Dragon tails I want to make for my little guys!! 

We are having far too much fun!!