Another New Bag

After two years of dedicated service, it was time to retire my previous Diva Bag. The interior pockets were starting to come unstitched at the top edges and the straps were beginning to fray. Plus, the interior cell phone pocket was designed for one of those older phones that looks like the communicators they used on Star Trek. That's Star Trek classic, with William Shatner as James T. Kirk.* Now that I have a sleek, new iPhone 6, I needed a cell phone pocket that would show it off.

End #1, with the gigantic key pocket

The Diva Bag pattern is the first purse pattern I ever sewed, and I've sewed it at least 7 times since I found it at a quilt fair decades ago. It's my one and only true-love purse. It's the Diva Essential Designer Bag, by Thumbuddy Special. No idea if Thumbuddy is still around, but I've given her information to scads of people when they ask where I got my bag. I hope she's retired and living large on the Riviera.

I have now sewed a couple other purses, as well as a suitcase, so I appreciate this Diva Bag pattern even more than I used to. There really are no fiddly bits, and you don't have to wrestle with the thing to get it through your sewing machine.

Other end, with what's supposed to be the water bottle pocket. Now it's my cell phone pocket.
Sad story.

Over the years, I've learned that the outer shell of a purse should be fairly dark colored, to disguise all the dirt and dust it will pick up being parked under tables in restaurants and tossed in the back of the dog car. And it should be in colors that go pretty well with most of your wardrobe. Unless you are the kind of person who has more than one purse. I can't handle that; moving things from purse to purse means I'd walk out of the house without my wallet way too often.

Light colored lining, with lots of handy pockets

It's best if the lining is light colored though. That way you can find that tiny object you absolutely need which has sifted its way to the bottom of your purse, with the used Kleenex and ATM slips.

Side view, showing large capacity

The Diva Bag hangs pretty small when being used, but this is a large capacity purse.  I can fit a respectable quantity of groceries in this purse when necessary, although I'm making a general effort to carry as little as possible these days. Darned tendonitis.

The way I carry the bag most of the time

One of my favorite things about this bag is that, when the mood strikes, you can sling it over both shoulders and carry it like a backpack. It's pretty darn comfortable that way too.

The way I carry the bag when my shoulder starts to give out

I'm really happy with the finished purse, except for one thing....

When I installed the zipper, I flipped it wrong way round, so my beautiful, custom-sized interior cell phone pocket is on the wrong end. Which renders it essentially useless for cell phone storage because I have to shimmy the phone for a good 5 minutes to get it past the zipper end. Wah wah wah.

I've asked a couple of my sewing friends if they think I should rip out the two bag ends and the zipper placket, with lining, and flip the whole thing around to re-install the right way. They say, "No." It's not like I don't have other pockets that work for cell phone storage; it's just one of those sewing bloopers that will do an instant re-play in my mind every time I use my cell phone.

Well, maybe only for a few months. Then I'll get used to it.

My pattern review is on SewingPatternReview.com here.

* Did you know that the T. stands for Tiberius? Just found that out while Googling the technical name for Star Trek walkie talkies. I'm listening to a fun history podcast called The Rhine,  which runs through the Roman history of the Rhine Valley, so Tiberius is much on my mind.

Blue Jewel

Another knitted FO, and another Wendy Bernard pattern. This is Jewel, from Custom Knits.

A lot of my favorite knitted garments are made from Wendy Bernard patterns. For me, she's got a nice balance of do-able and challenging. I've heard that, in science, the key is to pick a problem that's complicated enough to be interesting but easy enough that you can solve it. And so it is in knitting.

Jewel has a bit of fancied-up ribbing at the top and bottom, and the rest is stockinette with a bit of waist shaping.

The top is actually supposed to be longer, but I ran out of yarn, so I cropped it by popping on the bottom band just after finishing the waist decreases. As long as I wear it with high-waisted bottoms, I'll be fine.

I used 6 skeins of Llana Grossa Binary, in a kind of steel blue color. I scavenged it from the Four Buck Bucket at the Swift Stitch,  here in Santa Cruz. That Four Buck Bucket gets me every time.

I've made this pattern two times before. I'm giving myself some bonus points for this version because I think I finally figured out how to do the crocheted crab stitch edging on the arm scythes. Thank you, YouTube!

I'm a miserly yarn-buyer, which is why I so often end up having to figure out how to do something useful with 600 yards of yarn. Lucky for me, sleeveless shells end up being pretty wearable here on the Central Coast.

My Ravelry notes are here.

Summer Shorts, Take Two

Now this is what I'm talking about! Comfortable shorts with great pockets that sit at my waist.

These are Shorts 107A from the July, 2016 issue of Burdastyle. They come in culotte length too, if that's your jam. Look at those pockets! Cute, no? The tops kind of curve up over the waistband and turn into belt loops.

BS 07-2016-107A

I made them out of some lightweight denim from Hart's. I'd recommend a pretty lightweight fabric for these; by the time you have those wide belt loops over the interfaced waistband, you have quite a few layers of fabric to sew through. In fact, I ended up not catching the belt loops in the waistband seam on the inside. I just hand-stitched them down, to reduce some of that bulk.

Side view

I decided not to include the cuffs (or turn ups, as Burda calls them). Cuffs on shorts always seem a bit fiddly to me. They're not comfortable to sit on, and they keep folding and unfolding themselves in awkward ways. I also left off the faux pocket flap on the back. I probably would have left it off even if it was a real pocket, because who needs back pockets when you have those nifty front pockets?

Back view

You can't see it in this photo, but there's a belt loop in the back which is wide enough to balance out the front belt loops. You can kind of pick it out in the line drawing up above there. Even though there are only three belt loops, they're wide enough so that your belt stays put.

This is my new favorite shorts pattern! In fact, I like them so much I'm thinking I might lengthen them into regular pants.

Here I am, test driving them on the Back Bay Loop at Newport Beach. In my book, shorts that are comfortable enough for a longish bike ride are winner.

The Boy gave them the thumbs up!

My pattern review is on SewingPatternReview.com here.

Summer Shorts

I seem to be on a shorts-making kick.

These are shorts #110 from the June, 2016 issue of Burdastyle.

Burdastyle 06-2016-#110

The pattern includes a cute tie-waist feature, which I omitted. I don't usually wear my tops tucked in when it's shorts weather and I thought the tie would poke out below my shirt, spoiling my smooth lines.

Omitting those tie bands turned out to be more complicated than I had blithely assumed. There's a lot of folding and pleating that goes on with that waistband. I ended up moving the zip to the back, just so I wouldn't have to figure out which markings were all about the integrated ties and which were about the fly.

I'm sure I made those changes more complicated than they needed to be. I ended up having to recut the waistband to get it to fit the top of the shorts. Twice. And then I took the waist in about 1.5 inches after the shorts were finished; otherwise I could pull them off without unzipping.

They're still riding a little lower than I thought they would, though in reviewing the photoshoot in the magazine, it does look like you can see the model's bellybutton. Sometimes Burda will tell you in the pattern instructions where the waist will end up; sits 3 cm above waist, and so on. This pattern was silent on that issue.

The magazine shows them in two lengths, Bermudas or Short-shorts. As a senior citizen, short shorts are not in my repertoire. And as a short person, neither are Bermudas. So I aimed for a length someplace in-between.

Rear view. Looks like I could use a flat butt adjustment, huh?

I used a Kaufman cotton with a bit of texture to it. Maybe it's a cotton jacquard? It's a dark brown with tiny little raised diamonds that are a more golden color. I had lusted after it for months and finally cracked and bought the last 2 yards at a recent Hart's flash sale.

All in all, I think these shorts are edging close to a fail. I wish the waist were a little higher, and I wish the pleats draped a little more. Most of this (if not all of it) is my fault. As far as I used it, the pattern was nice. I do still like the pleats, even though they're a little "Roman gladiator" in this weight fabric. The shorts are comfy as all get out, and the width at the hem means they're cool and breezy to wear.

I think I'll end up enjoying them when our real hot weather hits. Would I make them again? Maybe. Though I have my eye on another shorts pattern from the July Burdastyle.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.

in the Pink

Gosh, I finished another knitted object!

This is Pink, from Custom Knits by Wendy Bernard. It's just about the most straightforward sweater you can imagine knitting. Top down raglan with a V-neck; a wardrobe staple.

Front view. No shoes again,  how embarrassing.

It's knit from some cotton yarn I got ages ago at one of my favorite knitting stores in Grass Valley. The store is no longer there. Very sad.

I had started another sweater with this yarn and then set it aside for, oh gee, maybe 8 years or so. I found it while tossing the stash in preparation for a knitting retreat last fall. I decided I didn't like the original project much, so I ripped it out and looked for something else I could do with 600 yards of cotton yarn.

Back view

Why do I always buy 600 yards? Why do I think that's enough to make much of anything? That's why I have so many sleeveless sweaters.  Which is OK, I guess, considering I live on the Central Coast, where long sleeves are rarely required.

Well, 600 yards wasn't quite enough to finish up this sweater. I ended up needing to buy another hank of cotton to add the ribbing and finish the neck. I took the daring step of getting a contrasting color. Actually, I had to be daring because there was no way on God's green earth that I was going to be able to find another skein of my original yarn. Especially since I hadn't kept the ball bands, so I have no idea who made it or what it's called.

As it turns out, I like the contrasting navy bands, so all is well.

I would happily recommend this pattern to a new knitter. The gauge is 4.5 stitches to the inch, so it moves along pretty fast, and it doesn't ask for any tricky stitches or techniques. Plus you can do the whole "try on as you go" thing that top-down knitting allows.

I'm thinking of casting on Beatnik to take on the train with me to Washington State in August. Kind of a big leap in complexity, huh? I'll let you know how it comes along...

Rectangle Tee

Even Burdastyle lovers will complain when they try to pass off a couple of rectangles seamed together as a pattern. I'm a hard core Burdastyle fan, but I've got to admit that BS 06-2016-#101 (Oversized Sleeve Shirt) looks like you could draw it up yourself with a straightedge in 5 minutes. But, gosh darn it, when you look at them, these are really nicely drafted rectangles!

BS 06-2016-#101

See how there's just a bit of curve at the sides, right by the arm pit? And again across the bust at the front?

Somehow that gives this top just enough shape to escape the gravitational pull of Planet Boxy.

Yet it's still a super-easy sew. Four pieces, finish the neckline and you're done.

Rear view

I used a hunk of black knit that had been in stash for several years. It feels like a cotton/poly mix and it has a texture kind of like Izod polo shirts; you know, with little holes in it and enough weight to kind of hold its shape. Not much stretch either, but since one of the fabrics Burdastyle recommends for this pattern is sweat shirting, I figured I could get away with it.

Side-ish view

I want to try this top again with a drapier fabric. Burda shows it in stripes, with the stripes on the sleeves running horizontally and the stripes on the body running vertically. I have a piece of jersey with teal and white stripes and I'm determined to to get this top out of it.  I think I'll have to shorten the sleeves quite a bit to make it work; those cut-on sleeves use up more fabric than you might suppose.

I wore my new top with a knit pencil skirt (from Gertie Sews Vintage Casual) to my friend Lisa's birthday/retirement party and felt just a bit gussied up but still comfortable enough to eat massive quantities of chips and dip.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.

City Gym Shorts

Here's a quick summer project:

Business in the front

These are the City Gym Shorts, a free pattern from Pearl Soho. They describe the pattern thusly: 

Designed with a classic tulip hem and an easy elastic waist, these shorts have all the comfort and ease of traditional exercise gear but with way more style! 

Party in the back!

I wouldn't call them hard-core exercise gear. No pockets, for one thing. What's a girl to do with her keys? 

They are straightforward to put together, though, and they come out looking fairly stylish. I think that's partly because  they have a lower rise. My earlier version of simple elastic waist shorts (Burdastyle 06/2014 116a) came up to my true waist, where the elastic created a fairly bulky, crumpled paper bag effect. The City Gym Shorts sit about 3 inches below my waist, or about 1.5 inches below my belly button.

Straightforward doesn't mean trouble free. The waistband was a bit of a fiddle, but I think it comes out looking pretty RTW. You end up with the one-inch elastic plus 5 layers of fabric wrapped around the top. In a lightweight woven, this finish feels nice and substantial. It could be a nightmare in a heavier fabric.

The tulip hem is cute and gives you a nice range of motion. The instructions have you finish the hems with bias tape, which was the most technically demanding part of the whole process for me. But I did like the way it looks, once I got 'er done. 

The pattern is intended for lightweight wovens, which means you can have fun sifting through your scraps. I used the remnants from my Wave Dress.  

I think the pattern delivers a pretty close fit. I made the size suggested for 35-37 inch hip, and they feel good, but if they were any snugger, I'd have to shimmy to get them on. I'd suggest measuring the flat pattern before you commit to your size.

I don't think I'll be wearing them for running, but for an easy bike ride, or a trip to the gym to lift weights, they'll be just the ticket. I can also report they work well for lounging around the yard, sipping a cooling beverage.

My pattern review is on PatternReview.com here.