Completed: Wool Muse Jenna Cardi

When I went back to school in September, one of my main goals was to make time for sewing, knitting, and blogging, especially since I now have not only one sewing machine, but two!

Three months later, I'm at that point in the semester when all my labs are finishing up, I've been done with midterms for a week now, and I'm realizing that I definitely haven't been keeping up with that goal! In fact, my sewing machines are still sitting on my living room floor because I don't yet have a desk for them. My desk for studying never seems to be clear for long enough to use it as a sewing desk! I'm lucky enough to have space in my student apartment for a small dedicated sewing space, but I still haven't bought the table I need to set it up.

Anyways, although I haven't been sewing, I still have so many unblogged projects to write about. I originally wrote this post back in the summer in between rounds of the Super Online Sewing Match, but never finished editing the photos for it! Now that Montreal is starting to feel a little wintery, I've been wearing this a lot lately and thought it was a good time to (finally!) post about it!

I had quite a few comments on this cardigan during Me-Made-May this year - it's my second version of the Muse Jenna Cardi, made in a wool double knit that I bought in Montreal during my first fabric shopping trip to Rue St. Hubert. I made this when I was home for Christmas (so, almost a year ago, oops!)

My first version of this pattern fit pretty well, but it needed a couple adjustments. When I first made it, I was expecting it to be much too long, so I shortened it 1 1/2". This turned out to be too much, so I lengthened it 1", so this version is only 1/2" shorter than the original, which is just about perfect.

I took in the shoulder seams 1/4", which makes them sit a bit better on me. They could still be narrowed a little, although they may have just stretched out a little. If I make another, I'll stabilize the shoulder seams with clear elastic (in fact, I might go back and sew some to the seam allowance of this one, to stop them stretching out more).

Although I ended up shortening the sleeves on my first version to 3/4 length, I noticed that they were quite wide before I chopped them off, so I narrowed them by 1/2" on either side for this version. I narrowed the cuff to match, and I shortened them 2". I think Muse patterns are drafted for someone quite a bit taller!

I sewed all the seams on my mom's serger, and the topstitching was done on my regular machine, with a ballpoint needle and a straight stitch. Oddly enough, I find that a straight stitch stretches more when it's topstitching a serged seam allowance flat. It's all I've ever used for this kind of topstitching on knits, and I've never had any problems with broken stitches! For hems, I still use a twin needle or a narrow zigzag, though.

Although this fabric is amazing to wear, it was tricky to sew with. I didn't really have any problems until the button band, which I realized was far too short when I went to attach it! I think it shrunk when I fused the interfacing to it (I did pre-wash it, but in cold water)! I luckily had enough fabric left over to squeeze an extra button band out of it, making it extra long. After I'd interfaced it, I cut it to the right length.

The fabric also definitely has some spandex, whereas the fabric I used for my first version didn't. The vertical stretch from the spandex made attaching the button band quite difficult! The top layer kept stretching, and as a result, there are a couple little tucks in the stitching on the inside, but nothing is visible from the outside, so I decided to leave it. Unpicking serging is such a pain - that's one advantage to sewing knits on a regular machine!

The topstitching was equally tricky, because the fabric kept wanting to stretch and bunch up. I eventually got it to look decent, though it's definitely not my best topstitching. This would be a lot easier in fabric with less vertical stretch!

After this, I decided that making buttonholes in this fabric would be far too finicky, so instead I attached snaps by hand. These buttons are only decorative!

These buttons have a somewhat interesting story - I finished this cardigan while home for Christmas, aside from attaching snaps and buttons. I didn't have any buttons that I wanted to use, but I knew that I would be able to buy some in Montreal. Once I attached the snaps, though, it took me at least a month to get myself out to buy buttons! It's not that it's really that far by metro to Rue St. Hubert, but it was difficult to find time to make the trip.

When I finally did, it was an afternoon that I had no labs and no immediate studying to do, but it was also one of the coldest days in February (and Montreal had a record-breaking cold February)! I was planning to go to Rubans Boutons, a store that specializes in buttons, but it was so bitterly cold and windy that I just ducked into the first store I saw that sold buttons and bought these. It was a really difficult shade to match, so instead I went for these black-brown buttons with a little flower detail. I love them, and they were really inexpensive.

I think that with the little tweaks to the fit, and a nicer (to wear) fabric, this second version of the Jenna turned out much better than the first. It's a super versatile piece and nice and cozy! The only things I don't love is that the style doesn't look so nice unbuttoned, so I might experiment next time with making it into a V-neck with a continuous binding around the neck and button band. In some of these pictures, I unbuttoned the bottom half, but it's not the most flattering way to wear it!

I should also mention the top I'm wearing in this post, since I probably won't post about it on its own. It's my fourth version of the Bronte Top by Jennifer Lauren, my go-to knit to pattern. I whipped it up when I needed a simple project to get back into sewing when I was home for reading week. The fabric you might recognize if you've been following for a while - it's leftover from a Moneta dress that I made last summer.

I made it with 3/4 length sleeves and added on extra ease at the hips, like my third Bronte, and I'm pretty happy with it. I goofed and overlapped the shoulder too much, so when I took these pictures, the neckline was really tight and not super flattering.

Note to self: just because you've already made a pattern three times, doesn't mean that it wouldn't help to glance at the instructions! They say clearly that you line up the notch on the front piece with the edge of the back piece when they overlap, but I went ahead and lined up the notches on the two pieces, meaning that I overlapped them a lot more than I was supposed to!

It would mean a lot of unpicking serged seams to fix this, so I just left it, accepting that it wasn't my best make. But, I realized pretty quickly that I wasn't wearing it, so it needed to be fixed. The first thing that I unpicked was the stitching that tacks the two layers together, and I realized that this fixed the problem! It now bunches up a little around the shoulders, but with such a busy print, it's not noticeable. For such a simple knit top, it was an easy fix, so I'm happy with it! I haven't had a chance to take any pictures since fixing it, but I find it much more flattering now.

Anyways, I'm not going to convince myself that I'll have time to blog again while studying for finals, but you can keep up with me on Instagram, where I'll share some sneak peeks of my holiday knitting (that I'm NOT going to leave to the last minute... right???)

Until next time! Happy Thanksgiving to all my American readers, and thanks for reading!

Completed: Smooth Sailing Trousers, Take II

First of all, I'd like to say a huge thank you for everyone's support and congratulations for winning the Super Online Sewing Match! I had to stop responding to comments because my replies were getting a little redundant (I can only say thank you so many times!), but I'm reading them all and I appreciate every one.

It felt a little strange once it was over, because suddenly I had no more deadlines! I took advantage of the time to work on some mending and alterations that I had been ignoring all summer, catching up on some knitting, and writing some blog posts about things I made ages ago and never blogged about (oops).

Speaking of not blogging, sorry for the total radio silence over here! I got so busy so quickly with school and moving into my Montreal apartment, and since I haven't really been sewing, my mind hasn't really been on blogging. Even though I wrote up some post on past makes on the plane, it's taken me ages to get around to editing photos! (And yes, these are some more photos that I took at my uncle's place with my phone duct taped to the railing... ugh, they are so boring!)

I've been meaning to post about these pants since I posted about my first version back in May... what happened to the summer? These are my second version of the Smooth Sailing Trousers by Wearing History. I loved my first pair, but they stretched out so much and I'm not sure they're mendable, to be honest. I've pinned up the new hem, but it's practically on the bias since the inside of the pants legs stretched so much more than the outside, for whatever reason. Because of this, they flare out very oddly at the bottom. I'll see if they hang a little more nicely once they're hemmed for real...

Anyways, on to this pair, which I'm much happier with! I'll start with the fabric - this was a 100% unknown suiting fabric that I got whem I volunteered at Our Social Fabric earlier in May. At first I thought that it was mostly (if not all) polyester, but then when I saw how much it wrinkled and shrunk, I think there's definitely some rayon, maybe even some linen, in there. Anyways, it has beautiful drape and a nice feel to it, but it's still substantial enough for these pants. I have plenty left over, so I think I may make a matching jacket! It was wonderful to work with and I love the colour, which is just a touch more green than it looks in these photos.

I made a few modifications to the pattern from the first time to improve the fit. I graded back down to a size 12 at the hips and the legs, so this was pretty much a straight size 12, grading to a 14 at the waist. The first time I made it, I made a straight size 14, but kept the shape and size of the crotch curve from the size 12, which was the size I made my muslin in.

The fit is passable, although it's definitely not quite right in the back. I didn't notice the odd way the fabric is hanging when I made my first pair, so I don't know if that was a side effect of making the legs a little narrower or just something that wasn't so obvious in drapier black fabric. In any case, it looks like I need to scoop a little out of the back crotch curve, which I might actually still be able to do easily enough. The way these pants are put together, it's really easy to tweak the fit at the crotch.

I find that when I wear my first version, I'm always reaching for pockets, so I had to add them this time around! I used the pocket piece from the Cambie dress, but I modified it so that the pockets could be sewn into the waistband to stop them drooping. I took lots of pictures of the process with the plan of doing a tutorial on how to do this, but after all the pattern hacking I did this summer, this seems pretty simple in comparison! If anyone's interested, I could still write it, but for now I'll just show off my finished pockets!

Since I added pockets at the side seams, I moved the zipper to the centre back. I did a lapped zipper instead of a centered one, and hand picked it. This time, I remembered to add on the extra seam allowance for the lapped zipper - this was especially important because the seam allowances are only 1/2" for this pattern.

I made these while I was in Canmore, so I couldn't use my mom's serger. I just zigzagged the edges, although in retrospect, I wish I'd taken the time to do bias bound edges. The zigazzed edges aren't very neat when compared to some of my more recent makes with French seams or flatlining. I guess that just shows how much I've learned about finishing techniques this summer!

To hem these, I turned under the edge 1/2", then another 1 1/4", then slipstitched. I can't remember exactly why the odd amount, but that what I have written in my notes! These seem to be the right length, anyways. I hemmed them short enough that I could wear them with flats, but just long enough that they don't look too short with heels either. I took a few pictures in both, and I think I prefer the flats, which is probably how I'll wear them most often anyways!

I couldn't find a button that matched, so I put in a hook and bar to close the underlap above the zipper.

The one thing I'm not so happy about it my belt loop placement. Because I moved the zipper to the back, I couldn't use the suggested placement, so instead I pinned it on the pants and just marked where they looked about right. Unfortunately, once I'd attached them, they were completely off from where I'd marked! I'm not really sure why, but since the loops are sewn into the seam that attaches the waistband to the pants, unpicking them means unpicking the waistband after it's been attached. Looking back, that wouldn't really have been that much unpicking, so I'm not sure why I didn't bother, but I guess I decided that it was good enough. (Again, writing this, I realize how much I've learned from the SOSM! After all the unpicking I did to get things right, I realize that taking a bit more time to fix something can make you so much happier with the finished product.)

Overall, though, I'm quite happy with these - much happier than with my first pair! I haven't worn them all that much over the summer because they aren't very bike-friendly, but in the fall in Montreal, they'll be great!

Thanks for reading!

Super Online Sewing Match: The End!

I still can't quite believe this, but I opened my email last night to some very exciting news: I won the Super Online Sewing Match! I remember when I was debating whether or not it was even worth it to send in an audition email. I didn't think I stood a chance!

Before submitting our entries for round five, we were asked what we learned about ourselves and our sewing through this contest. This was my answer:

"This has been a summer of huge personal growth for me in many ways; I moved out of residence to live on my own, I worked my first full-time job, and I competed in this contest. Oddly enough, I've called sewing and knitting my "creative outlet" since picking it up again just over two years ago, I've never considered myself a very creative or artistic person. At school, I've always been strongest in math and science, and that's exactly what I'm studying at university - the most creative course I'll be taking next year is computer programming! 

That being said, this contest has made me realize how creative I can actually be. I felt a little like the underdog in this contest, being the youngest with only a couple years of "serious" sewing under my belt, but it has really pushed me to branch out, try new techniques, change designs to suit my style, and make the highest quality garment I can. It's given me the incentive I needed to break out of my habit of making more knit tops and dresses! I never knew if anything would work out, but everything so far has, and because of that, I've become so much more confident in my sewing.

I've also realized how much I love hand sewing, which I've always seen as a finishing touch, usually to make the finishing of a garment less visible. My Marianne dress was my first project where my hand stitching was visible on purpose, and I loved it! I can't wait to experiment with other hand embellishments - next up is learning some hand embroidery!"

I'm so incredibly proud of everything I've made as part of this contest. I wear both my Sutton Blouse and my Marianne Dress quite a bit, and I sleep in my Carolyn Pajamas every night! My Caravan Tote is my go-to summer bag anytime I need something a little bigger than my purse, and perfect for cycling when I wear it as a backpack!

I was so happy with my Cascade Duffle Coat, and I think it'll be so great for fall in Montreal, but I really had no idea how this contest would end. Leah and Teresa are both such talented sewists, and they both made amazing coats. It's been such a pleasure to sew alongside everyone else in the contest as well:  Lori, Barbara, Meredith, Michelle, Kristina, Tanya, and Cheryl. I loved seeing everyone's take on the same patterns, and I got many ideas for future projects from them!

This contest couldn't have come at a better time for me. I'm just about to move into my first apartment in Montreal, where I'll set up my own sewing space with my new machines. I'm also only a few days away from my second-year "blogiversary" - my first post on this blog was on August 29th, 2013! I remember following the first SOSM two years ago with such admiration for the contestants, just before starting my blog. I never imagined, then, that I would be a contestant in the next one, let alone the winner! I've learned so much in the couple of years since I picked up sewing again, and I've especially learned so much this summer.

Lastly, thank you so much to everyone reading, commenting, emailing, and following the contest. The comments on my blog are what inspire me to keep blogging, and everyone's support has meant so much to me throughout the competition!

Here's to many, many more years of sewing!

SOSM Round Five: The Cascade Duffle Coat

Two months after sending in my audition email for the Super Online Sewing Match, I still can't quite believe that I made it to the final round! This round's challenge was the Cascade Duffle Coat by Grainline Studio.

I'll admit that I may have panicked a little bit when I found out... I've always wanted to sew a coat (my current wool coat needs replacing), but I imagined that it would be a summer-long project, not a week-long project! I also had no idea what I would do for fabric, and figured that I would probably have wait for shipping to Canada and get a late start. We were given a gift certificate to Fabric Depot to use, but as with the other challenges, shipping to Canada would have taken longer than is practical when you only have just over a week to sew.

To my complete surprise, I visited the local quilting store where I've been able to buy notions, and found that they had some nice wool coating literally tucked away in a corner! It looked like it had probably been there a looooong time (it was quite dusty), but I was so happy and so excited that I didn't care. I decided on this teal wool and mohair coating which is cozy, thick, and really nice quality. Mohair is one of the warmest wools out there so this should be great for Montreal! I'm not sure it'll get me through January and February, but that's what my down coat is for.

Before buying the wool, I went home and thought about design. Like most Grainline patterns, I liked the pattern, but it wasn't really my style. I knew that I would want to make the shorter version, since a longer boxy coat would overwhelm my small frame. I experimented with making it a little more A-line and adding a box pleat at the back, similar to shorter swing coats from the 50's.

I really wanted to use buttons because I knew I wouldn't be able to find leather for toggles, but to have a functional button closure, I would have needed to add another band to the front, which would make it too bulky. Instead, I made button closures from leather cord. I changed the pockets so that I could get my hands into them more easily, and I added decorative buttons tabs to those as well.

The last thing I couldn't decide on was whether my coat should have a hood or a collar - I love a good collar, but I've been caught in far too many Montreal storms to deny the practicality of a hood. So, I made both! The hood is removable, and attaches with snaps underneath the hood. I made the collar a little smaller to accommodate the hood, and a little rounder, out of preference. The finished coat is a little retro, a little modern, and super practical!

When I bought the wool, I found some black silk lining hidden in all the polyester. I love silk lining because it adds extra warmth, and just feels amazing to wear! I would have preferred gray to match the leather cord, but they only had black and white. I was really happy with the leather cord and buttons that I found, though! They have such a random collection of notions at this store, but it worked out well this round. They only had three colours of metal zippers, but the light green zipper tape with silver teeth looked nice, so I went with it.

I also chose some flannel to line the pockets and hood, and to use for the zipper band. It's a charcoal gray and light green herringbone, but looks gray from a distance. It matches the leather cord nicely, and up close, the green goes well with the teal (and is pretty close to the zipper band). It makes the pockets and hood so much cozier!

I made a muslin to test the fit around the shoulders, because with the more flared shape, I wanted it to fit really well there, so it wouldn't look too big everywhere. I found that it fit quite well with very little adjustment, which is really nice! To make the A-line shape, I placed the back piece 1 1/2" away from the fold, to allow for a box pleat, and I slashed and spread the front piece, then re-traced the armhole shape. I thought I might have to shorten it, but I actually lengthened the sleeves 1/2"! I think that's a first for me. I think they ended up just the right length, and so did the coat - it's short enough to be flattering, but long enough that it'll cover my sweaters.

To modify the pockets, I first removed the extra that gets folded under when they're sewn as instructed, then folded under a corner of the pattern piece. I then drew in where I wanted the button tab, and made a pattern piece that size plus a seam allowance and a little extra for turn of cloth. When I sewed them, I sandwiched the tab in between the main fabric and lining, and sewed along the diagonal, reinforcing the seam with the selvedge of my silk lining, sinc I didn't have any twill tape handy. I understitched, then sewed the other edges, leaving an opening at the bottom, and then turned it right side out. When I attached it to the coat, I made little bar tacks at the edges of the opening, for strength. I made them narrow enough that they sink right into the wool and blend with the topstitching, but they're there!

I ran into a bit of trouble attaching the zipper, when I realized that the recommended zipper and zipper band didn't fit my coat! I went back to the pattern pieces, and the button band is indeed longer than the front band for the size 0, unless I made some mistake somewhere and was supposed to take a larger seam allowance on the zipper band or something. I had to unpick it and shorten my zipper, then I added bar tacks on either side to prevent the zipper pull from coming off. This did set me back a little and I actually emailed Jen about it - I could have made a mistake with it somewhere, but it could also be a problem just with the size 0, since the coat does get a little shorter with every size.

Making the button closures was a little fiddly, but I'm so happy with them! It was a lot of trial and error - I figured out the right length to make the loops, but I had to twist them in precisely the right way before sewing the loop shut so that they would lie flat once I made the twists. I couldn't pin the leather, so I used a glue basting stick to hold everything in place before I could stitch it. I wanted them to be really secure and lie flat, so I stitched them to the coat at every point the leather overlapped itself.

I added some matching twisted leather cord to the button tabs as well, so that they would match. They're completely decorative, but I love the little detail!

I actually originally added similar button tabs to the sleeves as well, but once I tried on the coat for the first time, I just didn't like them. They were too much! There was enough detail on the body of the coat, and with so much flare, having something at the ends of the sleeves just looked odd. The fabric is also super thick, and I found them to be quite bulky and annoying to wear. So, off they went!

I also made shoulder pads out of cotton batting to add, but found the same thing. Maybe I just made them too thick, but with so much volume at the bottom of the coat, they were just way too much. With the heavy fabric, though, the sleeve looked like it needed some support, so instead, I drafted sleeve heads for them. What a difference! They're subtler than a shoulder pad but make the shoulder sit so much more nicely.

I sewed the collar as suggested, but I had to modify the hood a little to make it removable. I initially made it longer because it would be sitting below where it would if it were sewn in, but it ended up too big so I trimmed off the extra I added. I sewed it mostly according to the instructions, except that I attached the snaps, then sewed the bottom shut, leaving an opening to turn it right side out. I only attached the snaps to the lining, after interfacing the places where I would attach them, so that they wouldn't show when I was wearing the hood. To get the placement right, I pinned the collar on so that it sat nicely, marked the places I pinned it on both the hood and the coat, and then attached the snaps. After attaching the snaps to the hood, I topstitched about 3/4" from the edge to give them some stability.

Attaching the snaps to the coat was a little terrifying! The outer coat was completely sewn at this point, and with the brand of snaps that I was using, you have to punch a hole in the fabric first, so there's no going back! I figured that if it didn't work out, they would be hidden under the collar and I just wouldn't mention them... but, they worked really well! The hood sits so nicely and comes off easily (but not too easily!).

After that, I was finished with all the changes that I wasn't sure would work out, so I followed the instructions a little more closely. I'd never sewn a bagged lining before, and while I was attaching it, I was convinced that it wouldn't work. It just seems so bizarre while you're sewing it, and then you start turning it right side out, and all of a sudden you have an (almost) finished coat!

Once I finished, I couldn't quite believe what I had just made. I think it looks so professional, and it's definitely one of the most involved sewing projects I've ever finished - possibly even more so than my grad dress, and I spent months on that!

Over the course of this contest, I've learned so much, and I've made five amazing garments that I'm so proud of. I've tried some patterns that I probably wouldn't have picked on my own, and I've learned to modify them to suit my style - it's made me so much more confident in my sewing!

Thanks for reading! Be sure to have a look at Leah's and Teresa's coats as well - they're both beautiful! And keep an eye on Sew Mama Sew for a showcase on Saturday, with the winner announced on Tuesday.

Lastly, another huge thank you to Micheal from Photoflow, a family friend, for taking these photos for me!

SOSM Round Four: The Carolyn Pajamas

I'm going to remember this as the project where all my sewing equipment failed me! Cutting everything out took frustratingly long (I'm still not used to not having a rotary cutter!), then my machine kept eating my fabric, the tension just wouldn't cooperate, and the threads kept getting tangled. It also decided that it only wanted to do two stitch lengths: either quite small (about 1.5 mm) or medium (about 3 mm), which meant that basting (and removing it) took quite a while.

I was already behind and definitely feeling the pressure of the deadline, and then to top things off, my iron died on me. Fantastic.

My parents were visiting during this challenge, which was both good and bad in this situation. The bad part was that they were out hiking and had taken the car that I drive, so I was stuck without an iron until they came back (I was actually considering biking to the hardware store when it started pouring rain). The good news, at least, was that they were happy to go to the store for me to buy a new iron once they got back, so I was able to stay home and focus on my project.

Technology issues aside, I really enjoyed this round of the Super Online Sewing Match, the Carolyn Pajamas by Closet Case Patterns. I really loved the pattern as-is, so unlike other rounds, there wasn't anything I really wanted to change. Instead, I focused on construction - I underlined everything and used the underlining to finish the seams, I replaced nearly all the topstitching with hand sewing, I made my buttonholes by hand, and I added covered buttons to match the piping. The result is a couple of the most well made garments I've ever finished! It's almost a shame that they're just pajamas... although I should point out that there's something very indulgent about making pajamas this nice!

I cut out a size 0 top, grading to a 4 at the hips, and size 4 shorts. I knew that I wanted to make the shorts and short-sleeved top, because I have way more winter pajamas than I ever wear, but in the summer, I sleep in a pair of Disney boxer shorts that I bought in Disneyland 4 years ago... all summer long. Needless to say, I really did need a new pair of summer pajamas!

I made a muslin, and the fit of the top was great, but I did have to fiddle with the shorts a little. I raised the rise 1", so that they sit at a more comfortable place for me (although I'm short, my waist is really high on my torso, and I don't find anything sitting low on my hips very comfortable). I lengthened the crotch seam 1/4", then I carved 3/8" out of the seam to make more of a "J" shape in both the front and the back. I'm pretty new to fitting pants, but I've had to do the same adjustment before, so this may become a standard alteration for me.

The fabric is a silk and cotton blend voile that I bought in Calgary, the nearest big city (it's just over an hour's drive from Canmore, where I'm staying). Finding it was a bit of an adventure... first we went to a place called Fabric Depot, which looks a lot better online than it really is. It was almost entirely home decor fabric, so I didn't see anything that was even close to what I was looking for. My mom asked if they had any rayon and the guy there didn't even seem to know what we meant!

The nicest fabric store in Calgary is a place called Olga's, but unfortunately we were too late in the day to make it there before they closed. In slight desperation, we went to the nearest Fabricland, which I usually avoid because I've never really had any luck there. I did manage to find this fabric, though, which I didn't love at first, but once it was away from the store and the other fabric there, I liked it a lot more! As the pajamas came together, I realized how perfect it was for them. It's bolder than I would wear normally, but I absolutely love the print and the colours.

Since it was fairly sheer, I chose to underline everything. I couldn't find a similar weight fabric that was white, but I did find a light yellow cotton voile that matched quite well and took care of the sheerness. Since I don't have a serger, I'm experimenting with different seam finishes, and this was the perfect time to try a seam finish I've been wanting to try for a while - flatlining! Basically, you cut the underlining larger, and wrap it around the raw edges of the main fabric. I followed this tutorial at Cashmerette for the basic technique.

The only problem with this technique is you can't use it for all the seams because you can't deal with corners (I tried a couple different ways of approaching this, with no luck). I considered finishing the other seams with bias binding or French seams, but both of these would have been too bulky with the underlining. Instead, I finished some of the edges with flatlining first (the side seams, the shoulder seams, and the underarm seams), stitched in the ditch at the ends of the seams to secure it (I didn't find that I needed to stitch in the ditch along the whole seam, as the two cotton fabrics stuck together pretty well), and then turned it inside out again. I then sewed the main fabric and the underlining together with a 1/8" seam allowance, clipped the corners, turned it right side out, and pressed. This way, all my finished edges had a 1/2" seam allowance (you lose 1/8" with the flatlining technique). It made for more rounded corners, but they're inside in the seam allowance so it's not a problem (you can see this at the edge of the shoulder seam above).

The edges that would be later enclosed by a cuff or facing, I didn't finish, but I did finish the bottom edges of the pockets with French seams.

The only thing I probably should have done differently was how I finished the fly - I finished the vertical edge with flatlining, and then the bottom edge I sewed the two layers together. This made the fly look rounded with a bit of a wrinkle, so I probably should have just made it rounded anyways, since I made my topstitching at the fly rounded.

Overall, though, I love this finish, and I really want to use it again sometime soon! It's a great alternative to a full lining if you're worried about a fabric being sheer. The only problem was that it took ages - I really underestimated how much time it would take to underline everything! It was only my second time underlining anything (the first time was my grad dress), and I forgot how long it takes.

I used the same fabric for piping and covered buttons, which are accents that I absolutely love. After my Caravan Tote, I was really anxious to use piping on something else!

Since my underlining was yellow, I knew that the pieces that were interfaced with white interfacing might look a little brighter than the rest. So, I tried tea-dyeing again! I remembered from making samples for my Marianne dress that rooibos tea, despite often being called "red tea", gives a yellowish colour when using it to dye. I made a batch, then put it in an ice bath to cool it down, and let the interfacing sit in it for about a half hour. I rinsed it in cool water, then dried it on low heat for few minutes. It's not a perfect colour match, but it's close enough that the main fabric looks the same colour from the right side.

Issues with my machine and my iron aside, putting this set together went pretty smoothly. I left the topstitching along the cuffs and other piped edges for last, because I wasn't yet sure how I wanted to finish them. My original idea was to do some sort of decorative hand embroidery parallel to the piping.

Once I made some samples, I had decided on a blanket stitch along the piping, done in coordinating yellow embroidery thread. I knew that for the breast pocket, I would want to topstitch it first for strength, but once I had topstitched it, I really didn't like the way it looked. I've never been a big fan of topstitching, and I found that it was just too much with the floral print and the piping. I realized that if I thought topstitching in matching blue thread was too much, what would I think of the hand embroidery? I decided then to leave off any topstitching or embroidery stitches, and instead to secure the cuffs with slipstitching for an invisible finish.

Rather than topstitching around the collar, I catchstitched the two layers together just outside the seam allowance. This enclosed the seam allowance and secured the two layers together.

The pocket was a little tricker - I knew that the topstitching would make it more secure, but I really didn't like how it looked. But, being honest, I will probably never use this pocket (except for tissues or hair elastics) when there are bigger pockets in the shorts. I don't think I've ever used a breast pocket in a shirt before, so for me they're purely decorative! So, I unpicked the topstitching on the pocket, then slipstitched it in place, making the stitches closer together than I usually would, and tacking the corners with very small whipstiches that I managed to hide pretty well. It's surprisingly strong!

I also raised the pocket 1", and moved it 1/2" farther from the centre. It just seemed to hit at an awkward spot on me!

I sewed the hem by hand, which is completely invisible because I only caught the underlining.

The last problem I ran into was buttonholes. My sewing machine, like many, is a little finicky when it comes to buttonholes. Sometimes they turn out fine, and sometimes they're disastrous! This fabric is much too light for bound buttonholes, but then I remembered this post at By Gum, By Golly on hand-worked buttonholes. This seemed like a perfect project to try this technique! There are only 5 buttonholes, and if they ended up looking terrible, at least they were only pajamas, right?

As it turns out, they turned out really well! I might never do buttonholes by machine again. They're not perfect, but that's the beauty of hand sewing. Not to mention, the moment I started on the buttonholes (right after my iron died), all my frustration at my iron and my sewing machine seemed to fade away. Hand sewing is so relaxing!

As someone who used to be an extreme perfectionist, I love that I can appreciate the beauty of creating buttonholes by hand. Although I love the precision and concentration required to make the tiny stitches even and tidy, they're not all identical, but that's because I'm human and not a sewing machine. These buttonholes were made by my own hands, and a needle and some silk thread, and I'm so proud of them!

For next time, I'd love to get my hands on some buttonhole twist, which everyone seems to recommend, but there was no chance of me finding in time. I just used two strands of silk thread, which worked reasonably well, although something thick enough to only use one strand would probably have worked better.

I'm so proud of these pajamas - as I said earlier, they're probably two of the highest quality garments I've ever made! I only took the photos this morning, so I haven't slept in them yet, but I can't wait. The silk/cotton blend is so light and soft!

The pattern is fabulous, and I'm really tempted to make a flannel pair in the fall, despite already having lots of fall and winter pajamas. I'd love having a coordinating set, though!

Special thanks to my parents for putting up with my sewing mess everywhere and my frustration at technology while they were visiting. Thanks also to my mom for taking photos for me!

I should also add that my machine seems to be working fine again. I'm not sure if it just didn't like the fabric, or if it was just having a bad couple of days, but it seems to be fine now, thank goodness!

To see the other entries, check out Sew Mama Sew tomorrow. Thanks for reading!