Twitch

Adding Sleeves – AKA: I hate making sleeve patterns

Long Sleeved Shirt

I hate making sleeve patterns.

I spent a good portion of my Thanksgiving break fussing over the sleeve pattern for this shirt, which was based on an earlier, warm weather sleeveless pattern I had made earlier in the year. I tried for a flat cap, but ended up going gathered since it’s the style, and to be honest, screw it. I was spending more time fussing over the sleeves than actually making anything that could be worn. The sleeve cap is ever so slightly gathered, which I do by putting two rows of basting stitches into the cap and gathering them up evenly to fit into the top-most portion of the armhole. The cuffs are hemmed with a 4mm rolled hem foot, but I put elastic channels into the sleeves so that they could be a little puffy and gathered looking at the ends.

The front has a box pleat of roughly 3″ pulled in total in the neckline. That can easily be eliminated, but I think it brings some dynamic to the design. The back is the same, simple keyhole button closure.

The fabric I got on a whim. It was 50% off at Hancock’s Fabrics, so I picked up the amount I needed (roughly 1.5 yards) for under $5. Not bad, if you ask me! My daughter loves it… loves it so much she won’t wear it yet. Figures. I have another stash of fabric to make this out of, and this was the wearable muslin just to make darn sure I didn’t mess any of the measurements up.

I used Twitch.tv to stream the entire construction of the shirt. The recording you can find here, if you’re interested: http://www.twitch.tv/fiercekittenz/v/30182718 I have found that I’m getting a little more used to interacting with viewers while sewing, but it is best for me to work on things that I’m really good at while getting acquainted with streaming first. I’m going with some easier, better known patterns going forward. I’ll be making a Colette Sorbetto out of some lovely fabric from The Cloth Pocket, which looks very much like Gallifreyan in the next week or two!

First Twitch Stream! A Christmas Doll Dress

Doll Dress

So last night I had my first attempt at a Twitch stream. For those who don’t know, Twitch is a streaming service that used to be geared only toward gaming. It has since opened up a new channel called Creative, which allows crafters of all backgrounds and crafting types to share what it is they’re working on. I streamed the sewing of a doll dress as a Christmas gift to my niece, who I hear has asked for an American Girl doll. Let’s hope she gets it! *wink*

Simplicity 1484

Easy Simplicity Pattern

I made the dress using Simplicity Pattern #1484. Normally I would hate on Simplicity. The name is hilariously ironic to me since most of their patterns contain extremely complex instructions and way too many pattern pieces for constructions that should be … well, simple. This one, thankfully, is simple and I’ve made it a few times. It’s quick, easy, and I figured it would be something I could do on my first stream without getting too nervous and forgetting what I was doing.

I don’t normally talk while sewing. Actually, I cuss (more or less) — in particular when I forget a step or stab myself with a needle. That happens often and I had to filter myself last night to avoid putting the “mature audiences” warning on my Twitch feed.

In general, I think things went well. On average I had 6 viewers with a maximum of 10 at one point. I need to figure out how I’m going to stream music and still be able to hear alerts. I have a plan that doesn’t involve me going full bore into Twitch and buying hundreds of dollars of equipment. It’s just me sewing, after all, and I don’t think I’ll be one of those streamers that gets thousands of followers, in particular if I’m sewing doll dresses.

One thing I absolutely want to do going forward is continue to teach. I hope people watching last night appreciated the subtle tips and tricks I was giving as I did each piece of the pattern.

Here’s a close-up shot of the belt details, which is just a silvery ribbon topstitched to the bodice:

Doll Dress Details

Doll Dress Details