The unpublished 11 plus two

Happy New Year!  The last three months of 2015 were hectic, although my world is always hectic, but I did manage to get some sewing done - just no time for photos or blogging!  It's now January and I'm on holiday, so a bit of time to do some catch-ups :-)

I have a total of 11 projects that were completed between August and December as well as the two dresses I've been working on over the last couple of days (peek previews on Instagram). Oh as well as the two Butterick dresses that need a Part 2 post completing. Then there was the one remake because I lost my black merino circle top somewhere - I think I left it in a hotel room or a rental car!?! I wear that baby ALL THE TIME and was feeling really lost without it.

Some of the projects really do need a post of their own, like my first formal dress, but others I thought I would quickly summarise and move on.

MARFY TOP 1913
I love my first top so much I needed to make another. This time a simple black embossed silk. OMG this fabric was the worst to work with, resulting in an uneven hem line. It works fine if I tuck it in.

Keeping with the black theme, coz I was feeling that black tops worked with my jeans, is the GILLIAN WRAP TOP. I had previously made the Gillian Wrap Dress as a tester, and I absolutely love it. I picked up this cotton knit from The Fabric Store January 2015 and had originally thought I would make some t-shirts. Well this is just a fancy t-shirt right!

Knowing that the skirt of the dress doesn't have a lot of flare I needed to add some flare to the skirt back so it would 'poof' over my jeans rather than cling!  I set to with the slash and spread method in three places adding 3/4" each time. I also lengthen the sleeves by 1-1/2" and put a wee 1/2" hem on them with the cover stitch machine.

In September I tested the TAHI SHRUG for Muse Patterns using some knit remnants. I made a size 36 in the long sleeve version.  I didn't quite have enough of the purple for the entire sleeve so added some black merino to make it look like a cuff. I also stitched it up with black thread to give a contrast look, but you can't really notice it. I don't really wear this - I'm not sure whether it's the colour or the pattern ... I think I've a bit more of a bolero, cardi kinda girl if it's not a jacket.

MESA by Seamwork
I've already made Mesa twice before and both dresses I've worn constantly this winter just gone. So of course I needed a summer version! I picked up this poly knit, that feels like neoprene, from Spotlight specifically for this dress. I did however, make a few changes to the pattern.

1. Raised the back neckline by 1/2"
2. Lowered the front neckline by 1"
3. Shortened the sleeves by 3"

I wore it to work a couple of times, but come to the conclusion (through my own modesty) that it is probably too short to wear with bear legs to the office - I was feeling too self conscious! I wore it on Christmas Day and it was perfect, so maybe it's more of a BBQ kinda dress, or I could wear it with 3/4 leggings with some heals .... hmmm things to try.

The last on the remake list is this STRIPE MISSION MAXI.
I love the Mission Maxi pattern and have made it a couple of times before. I've been looking for the ideal stripe knit, with the right amount of body and stability. I was passing by The Fabric Warehouse in November (passing by means the car detoured off the motorway!) and found just what I was looking for.  This is a cotton, lycra, poly knit which I'm gonna say is a light-medium weight.

I feel like I have a tone of maxi dresses in the wardrobe, and while I love them, my legs never get to see the light of day. So for this version I shortened the back to be a middi length and added a curve to the front piece for a bit of interest. I am in love with the dress, the colours, the comfort, the length - it just screams summer to me and I've been living in it constantly.

The Adventures of B5882 (Part 1)

A wee interweb search of B5882 will quickly reveal the challenges that this pattern has provided - but who doesn't like a challenge right!  However, I didn't realise this until after I had committed to making two of them for daughter #1.

As always I started with a muslin anyway, so no biggie, I would just work out all the fit issues at that stage and then enjoy the construction.

I started by cutting out a size 12, but reduced seam allowances down to 3/8" rather than the recommend 5/8".  It all went together pretty well, except for where the cup hit the top of the side front. The pattern says "turn down upper end of bra along fold line, as shown, baste."  The picture below mimics what the pattern illustration shows - but how bloody weird is that!

So I pretty much ignored that part of the instructions - although in truth I only used the instructions as a general guide rather than following them step by step.  So rather than turning the bra/cup under I extended the side front up to the top of the bra/cup - as you can see in the photo below, the red line was the original stitch line.

Actually the lifting of the side front to meet the top of the bra/cup side gives a much better look, and snugs up under the arm for a better fit as well.

I had to make a bunch of adjustments to the front pieces to get better portions and have the princess seams hit the apex, as they should.

Please note that I always work with the stitching line rather than the cutting line of a pattern - for all these adjustments I've identified the stitch line by working from the cut line. So the blue dotted line is the cutting line of the original pattern (size 12) and the pencil/pink pen indicate the stitching line that I will be sewing along (sorry if this is a bit confusing - it all made perfect sense at the time!)

Let's start with the centre front ...

• The stitch line for the top and bottom are 5/8" in from the cut line.
• Only came in 1/4" from the cut line at the bottom and curved it up to the existing cut line at the top - meaning that I had to add a full 5/8" to the top. This resulted in moving the princess seam out towards the armhole, to be more in line with the apex.

Next the side front ...

• Added the 1/2" to the top side of the bra/cup, from the previous stitch line.
• Reworked the side seam by adjusting where the stitch line would be from the original cut line - at the top of the side seam I allowed for a 5/8" seam allowance and at the bottom is moved the stitch line in by 7/8".
• Reworked the princess seam to also have a 3/8" seam allowance at the apex end and a 5/8" seam allowance at the bottom.

The side back also needed quite a bit of adjusting at the side seam ...

• reworked the side seam so the stitch line would be in 5/8" from the cut line at the top and 7/8" at the bottom.  
• The back princess seam stitch line would also be 5/8" in from the cut line.
• The bottom would be same as the front with 5/8" seam allowance and 3/8" at top.

The centre back pattern piece also had to have the seam allowances adjusted.

• The princess seam stitch line would come in 5/8" form the cut line
• The centre back would only come in 3/8" from the cut line

Once all the stitch lines for each piece were identified I was away!

After the adjustments the back was a much better fit and the straps that would be attached at the princess seam mark pretty much fell in line with bra straps. Yay!

All adjustments done and muslin fitting nicely it was time to start with the real fabric :-)  I started with the red and white version first.  The outer shell fabric was a cotton voile that required an interfacing as well as the lining.  The interlining and the lining would be the same fabric - a cotton lycra in an off-white.  This is the same fabric that we'd planned to the be contrast colour for the second dress.

I pinned each pattern piece to the interlining and traced off the STITCH LINE, and the grainline plus all notches.  All these trace marks would end up on the inside, hidden by the lining, so it didn't matter that I did this with red tracing paper.

I cut the outer shell fabric in a single layer, as the outer layer and the interfacing would all be hand basted together.

With the construction - the basted line on each pattern piece is where the two pieces will be sewn together. For me this provides a much more accurate fit in the end and is well worth all the additional work.  As you can see the seam allowances are big and random, they really no longer matter.

Well I think that's enough reading for one post - I'll continue on in my next with the construction, where it will start to look like a dress :-)  Hopefully this is helpful if you are considering making this dress.

More soon -->

Finally Wearable - French Jacket #2

I didn't realise how long it has taken me to finish this and get pictures.... back in December 2014 I shared my progress with my second French Jacket here. It was 99% finished back in December, but it look me forever to put the buttons and the chain onto it.

To be honest I was a bit disappointed with it once I finished putting the jacket itself together.  Mainly because of the sleeves.  This jacket was a mash together of two patterns - V7975 for the body and V8804 for the sleeves.  I cut a size 12 from both patterns.

I had used V7975 for my first Jacket so knew that the fit would be fine. I just needed to make a couple of adjustments to provide more room across my back.  I add 1/4" to the shoulder blade on the side back piece, added 1/8" to the shoulder seam on the side back and another 1/8" to the shoulder seam at the armhole edge on the side front pattern piece.

Now, the sleeve on V7975 is a two piece pattern and I really wanted to try and three piece sleeve. So I took the pattern pieces from V8804, checked the armscye measurements on the sleeve and the jacket to make sure they would fit together - no problem, no adjustment needed.  I also checked the bicep measurement of the sleeve.  The only adjustment I needed to make was to the sleeve length, to which I added 3".

It all came together real well, but the final finished look of the sleeve left me deflated.  There was just too much ease around the arm, which makes the jacket look all sleeves!

The slight adjustment across the back has given the jacket just that little bit more freedom of movement that my first one doesn't quite have.

I also think that I fluffed around finishing it because I really wasn't sure how I was going to wear it without it ageing me 20 years (thanks to some very frank observations from my daughter)!  Hopefully the jeans and black Marfy top keep the look fresh and now.

More photos on my Flickr -->

Refining the Granville

Third time lucky ... well so the saying goes anyway.

This is my third Granville Shirt. The first was HERE and the second HERE.  But even though this was the third I felt that there were still further adjustments I needed to make to refine the fit.

For this version I left all the previous adjustments in place, you can get that list here, and then made the following tweaks

• Added 1/4" to front side seams
• Added 1/4" to the side back side seam - both these adjustments were so I could get more room around the body.
• Added 1/4" to each side of the sleeve under arm seam, tapered to existing wrist edge - again giving me more room around my arm.
• Added 1/2" to the length above the waist.
• this time I added 1" to the original pattern length of the sleeve.

Although minor, the fits feels better and I'm much happier with the length of the shirt.

For this version I included the pocket flaps - although this is the only tell tale sign that there is actually pockets there.  They are lost amongst this lovely cotton poplin I got from Blackbird Fabrics. Including postage it worked out to be NZ$18 p/m which I thought was very reasonable.

Sadly I didn't take any photos of the inside, but I finished all the seams with a french seam finish, except for the armscye, which I finished with some Hug Snug binding.  I also applied Hug Snug to the hem and then turned it up and sewed it down.  It provided a much nicer finish to the hem rather than turning it up twice, especially around the curve.  It makes the inside look interesting as well.

I'm really lovin this shirt and it works well with my Ginger Jeans.

More photos available on my Flickr -->

The Knit Shift Dress

I've never really thought about where I fit into the style spectrum, I just make and wear what appeals. Oh yes, I've done the whole "what's in fashion now" thing, then look back at old photos and wonder what on earth I was thinking at the time?!

Now that I've done 2.5 years of ready to wear fasting I look at my wardrobe and realise that the shift dress, or variations of it, is a 'thing' for me. This probably explains why I've made two knit shift dresses in a month.

This is Mesa, one of the patterns issued with the June 2015 edition of Seamwork. It is described as "The flirty knit shift that's as stylish as it is comfortable", and I agreed 100%. Apparently it should only take 1 hour to make. It took me longer than that but that probably because I decided to line it.

I picked up 1.5 metres of this medium weight jersey double knit from Fabric Barn specifically for this dress.  The pattern suggested light to medium weight knit fabrics with at least a 25% 4-way stretch. Personally, I think that a light weight jersey would show all the 'lumps and bumps' underneath - No Thanks!

Because it's winter and I wanted to wear stockings for warmth but didn't want it cling, so I picked up some knit tricot to line the body. This stuff is so light weight that you barely notice its there but the difference it makes is incredible. In my opinion, so much better than having to wear a slip underneath that constantly keeps riding up.  After I sewed up the side and shoulder seams of the tricot I pinned it to the shell at the neck before attaching the neck band. I attached it to the armscye with a simple running stitch.

I didn't clearly fit into one size on the body measurement chart so decided to select my size based on my waist/hip measurement and made a size M (8-10).  Looking at the sample photos on the Seamwork site the dressed looked to be quite short and I'm taller than the average so went ahead and cut the length to the 3XL pattern length, 2" longer than the size M. This is the perfect length for me, falling just above my knee.

The hem, I just overlocked the raw edge, folded it up by 3/4" and stitched it down with two rows of straight stitch.  I also added 1" to the length of the sleeve - a short sleeve just didn't seam right.

There's a couple of things I noticed after wearing it a few times. The neckline at the front is a bit loose, so the neck band could be a little bit more snug, I could really do with an additional 1/2" around the hips and a bit more room across the shoulder blades.

I wasn't planning on making another Mesa immediately but my WSBN friends spotted this fabulous panel print at The Fabric Warehouse and as all good sewing friends do, sent me a picture and said "this has your name all over it". Having been fabric enabled I was down at the shop within the next 24 hours buying 1.5 metres of it.

After looking at the print for a while I decided that it best that the tall part of the tree should go up to the neckline at the front and back. I had just enough fabric to pattern match and get just the right part of the panel placed where I want.

I cut the reflection off the panel so the dry grass ended at the hem, so I could successfully wear some dark stockings with the dress without it looking odd.

I made a few changes to the pattern before I cut this version:

• moved the shoulder seam forward 1/2"
• dropped the front neckline 3/8"
• widen the back at the shoulders by moving the armscye out by 1/8" on the back pattern piece
• widen the hip by 1/4" on each pattern piece, blended down to top the top of the split and up to the armhole.

Two super comfy dresses that I've been wearing non-stop for the last couple of months :-)

More photos on my Flickr -->

Channelling my inner Olivia Pope!

I'm not gonna lie, I was completely inspired by a winter white coat worn by Olivia Pope, while I was engrossed in a Scandal watching marathon!  Would it fit in my wardrobe and would I have anything to wear with it - who cared, I was making it anyway :-)

The coat itself has been a bit of a marathon make.  I already had the Robson Coat by Sewaholic Patterns in my stash. My first attempt at this pattern had been a complete disaster, for a couple of reasons but anyway if I was going to make this one work I needed to get a muslin sewn up and work out the fit issues. So that happened in February 2015.

Sorting out my fit issues took a while - I couldn't work out why I was getting putting on the front armscye where it joined the side front.  I tried adjusting the armscye itself, but to no avail. So I let it smoulder for a few months.  Then in May I had a brain wave and went back to the muslin to adjust the bust curve on the princes seam - letting it out to provide more room. That combined with a slight change in the armseye shape on the side front so it was less of a curve, provided that extra room that allowed freedom of movement.  Here is the list of adjustments I made in the order I made them:

• I started with a size 10 (upper body through to waist), then tappered into a size 6 at the hips and the length of a size 0.
• Lengthened the bodice by 1/2" at the high bust. This lowered the apex of the bust and the armpit, both which I need as I am much taller than the woman the pattern is designed for.
• Removed 1" from the length of the coat - I did this 5" above the hem.
• Added 1/4" to the armscye on the side back to provide more room for my broad back. I also had to make this adjustment to the back flap to ensure it would sit across the back and match the new cutting line of the side back.
• Removed 5/8" from the front flap at the centre front side. I wanted the front flaps to sit under the collar - something I had noticed from the first disaster attempt!

• Added 1/2" to the base of the armscye curve on the sleeve piece to provide for the extra length I had given to the bodice.
• Added 1/2" to the cap of the sleeve to add more fullness.

• Omitted the epaulets on the shoulder to reduce the bulk.

So with the fitting solved, I set to and cut into my fashion fabric. Back in February (I think), or it could have been back in later 2014 when I got the inspiration for this project, I picked-up this beautiful winter white cotton jacquard from The Fabric Store. It was $28 p/m but well worth it. I hummed and harred over the binding, debating over all kinds of options, but in the end I went with this subtle neutral toned cotton, also from The Fabric Store - a little more pricey at $32 p/m but I only needed one metre.

The cotton jacquard was really opaque, but I still thought it needed to be interlined - well for a couple of reasons really: one, to ensure that any dark colours I wore under the coat wouldn't taint the collar of the coat from the outside; and two, that the inside would be lined making it easy to put on over other clothing fabrics.  So on another one of my visits to The Fabric Warehouse I got this really lovely, light weight, shinny, polyester lining - oh yes I did say polyester, but it is just lovely and I figured that it would help keep the warmth of the coat in.

I hand basted all the lining pieces to the shell fabric pieces by hand, then sewed them as one. To avoid an additional row of stitching rather than binding the seams closed I used a hong kong finish, the raw edge of the bias tape was closed in when I top stitched the seam down.

The exception was around the edges of the pocket.

Overall, the inside of the coat looks soo nice. But attaching all that bias tape took forever, and I'd get fed-up with the process, so I'd treat myself by taking a break and sewing something completely different.

At first I wasn't quite sure what to wear with it, and because it's such a statement piece, the first few times I worn it I felt like the clown at the party. Now I've worn it with dresses and pants and am feeling a lot more comfortable.

I finished the look by added some mottle light brown buttons. I am totally happy with the final fit of the coat. I can comfortably wear two layers underneath without it feeling tight or uncomfortable. It is exactly as I imagined it would be!

More photos on my Flickr -->