Calm Under Tension by Gwen Gyldenege
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Jalie 2795 Hoodie Sew Along - Complete + KCMO, Royals World Series Champs

11/10/2015

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I really enjoyed the Jalie Hoodie Sew Along that Kelly hosted in October. As you can tell by my adored Skoras (minimal shoe with zero drop heel) shown below with my feather message from spirit, I love me some pink. Turns out, without planning, that the hoodie I made for the sew along matches my Skoras! Yay!
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Continuing from my previous post on the hoodie, my next step was to check the bodice fit on my paper tape double. Pretty damn good. Sure there are some wrinkles, but look at how smoothly it fits along the back curve? Yowza!  At first I was thinking that the length would be too long.
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But then, I finished the sleeves and put the hoodie on. Oh wow! Even the sleeves were the right length. Yay! Totally unexpected because I'd read many blog posts and pattern reviews where others said they would shorten the sleeves next time. NOT ME! They're like amazingly perfect. Not over graded. Ladies, you know what I mean. Especially if you're busty, a garment has huge arm holes and really long sleeves with the shoulder seam practically at your bicep. Those ladies at Jalie really know their stuff. Why? Because I'm wearing size CC in my upper body and EE in my lower body, yet the sleeves don't hang to my thighs. 
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For my size, a 26" zipper is required. I thought I might attempt a 24", but then decided I wanted to have the zipper run full length rather than monkey with gaps. So glad I did. I love how this white zipper looks with the pink.  Ooo I can haz hoodie.
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Notice in the zipped up, back view, images on the far left how the neck wrinkles a little? I'm trying to decide if I'd like to shorten the back neck or shorten the hood.

​Also, see the wrinkles at my low back? That may be worked out by taking in the waist a little at the princess seams. 
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The microfleece with the jacket style were PERFECT for flying. Thin, yet warm. A great layer to add with my Under Armor coldgear vest and my compression socks.  You see, typically I'm freezing on a flight. This time, I was just right. That's unheard of without my gortex to block the air blowing about.  

Practicing my SWITCH technique by Katy Bowman while on a long flight by hanging lightly where I could. Boy did this stretch feel good!  

I recently went to Kansas City, MO for a business trip and got caught in the Royals world series win and subsequent celebration. And I mean right in the middle of it!
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Through it all, this hoodie stood by me. I wore it with my new dance top in Funkifabrics Titan & Flexcite to a Salsa dance class in Kansas, I wore it on the plane, I wore it in the hotel, I wore it all over!  I love how this pink really pulls together so many base pieces in my wardrobe!
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I don't cut notches into my fabric after learning from Bravo Bella about the loss of integrity in the fabric stability when cutting into your seams. So, I notch out. And, I left them. They're kinda cute.

I used Kelly's instructions on interfacing the zipper insertion areas and it worked like a champ. 

I sewed most seams with a zig zag, even top stitching at a 0.5 width to allow for stretch, yet appear like a straight stitch. All seams are overcast per the Jalie instructions. That just makes for a clean seam that isn't fussy when worn. Some seams haven't been fully top stitched as I plan to do some fitting in the armscye, raglan area. 
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RAWR! I am Gwenzilla! I lub you KCMO. I will take your tasty wee buildings home with me in my new welt pockets!
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I finished my hoodie just in time to post it to the Sew Along group. And guess what?!  I won the prizes! Me! WOWOW!

I won this lovely prize package, valued over $75, all compliments of the super awesome sponsors!!!!!!!!
  • 1 Sew Chic pdf pattern - http://www.sewchicpatterns.com/
  • 1 Thread Theory pdf pattern - http://www.threadtheory.ca
  • 1 Megan Nielsen pdf pattern -http://megannielsen.com/collections/sewing-patterns
  • $30 gift certificate to Nature's Fabrics - http://www.naturesfabrics.com/
  • A custom Kelly Hogaboom "shrinky don't" - http://kelly.hogaboom.org/

That's just the cherry on the top of my tasty buildings, isn't it?!  Best part is I've never worked with any of the patterns or companies before. It will be fun to try their products and share with you. 
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Jalie 2795 Hoodie Sew Along - Cutting

10/8/2015

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I was rather nervous about cutting into this fabric. Why? Because...
  • it's in a color I love
  • it was on sale
  • I don't want to make a mistake
  • I don't want to spend more money to replace the fabric if I do make a mistake
  • don't want to waste it either
  • I want to have even my muslin work out with only minor changes.
Oh gosh, fear mistakes much, Gwen? You are not perfect, silly! Let go and play. Maybe this journey could be fun!! It's only fabric. Or is it?!  Relax for goodness sakes!

I use candles to pray, to send healing energy, to remind myself to release & send it all up to the Divine for transformation. I just picked up a few new Reiki charged candles at Crystal Voyage this past weekend. As I set them up on my altar, I kept noticing that the candles I chose were the same color as my fabric. It wasn't until a day later, that I realized I could have released my fears of cutting and fabric mistakes to the Divine to be transformed. Hmm...
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My impromptu prayer to the Divine:
"Aho! All things great and holy, Blessed Mother, Sacred Father, Divine and ascended seamstresses, tailors, designers who have passed on, I pray, would you assist me with this creative project? I am afraid. I would like to release those fears and walk forward in faith & appreciation knowing I am fully supported and growing with each step of this project. I know there is nothing too great or too small. I know not why this is important for me, but it matters to me. I know that you would not fill me with the inspiration to see if it were not part of my sacred path. I give thanks for the help I receive. I'm grateful for the ease, enlightenment, and forward motion. Blessed be."

It feels strange to release something as minor as a sewing project to the divine for help. Sewing is part of my passion and life's work. Don't we all pray for help in our work at some time or another? Wouldn't it be easier if we released the outcomes of our daily work to Mother & Father God for assistance?  As much work as I've done to trust the Divine, I still have times when I continue to get stuck in those fears and then let myself stay back and not proceed. This must be a moment that I'm being held back so I will really consider things on a deeper level than before. For that I am grateful.
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It was such a smooth grade on front and back. Wow!  I always feel better after I measure myself and the pattern and look at the amounts of ease included in the pattern. So that was the first step I took while feeling the fear and doing it anyway.

I looked at all the pieces, measured hips in both CC and EE size. I took out each seam allowance and estimated what the final dimensions would be if I excluded the front (with welt pocket) from the grading up at the hips. I measured my underarm length, then measured the pattern and roughly estimated where my waist would be. Then graded from CC to EE on sides & back only. I lose about 1" of ease. Not too bad!
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I am excited to see this cut out. The color is vibrant!!! It's a cheap micro fleece from Joann's so I could test and not worry I would ruin good fabric. Though, I always aim for minimal waste, even if that means deviating from the recommended layout. I'm surprised by the excess fabric. The Jalie designers did a great job laying out for minimal waste. I think I may have not done the best job. It seems that I would have saved more fabric had I drawn the pieces full size rather than using them on the fold. This fabric did not want to behave as I lay it out to cut either. So, it's a balance between minimizing frustration, being efficient, reducing waste, staying on grain & ensuring the nap flows the same direction on all pieces.

It took me 2 nights (I had short amounts of time due to other commitments), but I finally got all the pieces cut out. Didn't seem like a lot of pieces until I got down to the last 5. I was able to conserve a piece of fleece approximately 30" x 24". Yay! Maybe I can use it on another project.
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    Gwen Gyldenege

    Author: 
    Gwen Gyldenege

    I'm a one woman circus.  
    I'm curvy and athletic.
    ​I am a dancer.
    My last name translates 
    to "Golden Oak". 

    I'm an artist, intuitive, engineer, seamstress 
    and performer.

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Except for sources otherwise stated beneath images or bottom of the page (Creative Commons), all images and works are copyright Gwen Gyldenege, all rights reserved.  Contact Gwen to request permission.
Photos used under Creative Commons from I Robertson, DoNotLick, Gustty, Jayson Emery, Nbepko, Gamma Man, I Robertson, Lars Plougmann, RowdyKittens, Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious, The Wandering Angel, VasenkaPhotography, quinn.anya, Léa Chvrl, Lost Albatross, Guttorm Flatabø, BEST PHOTO, RowdyKittens, allistair, BozDoz, tanakawho, Navicore, Bilal Kamoon, D-Stanley, Kris Krug, glasseyes view, essers, Richard Masoner / Cyclelicious, Alex Pepperhill, Found Animals, adactio, Office Now