Elbe Textiles Weiland tank in rainbows

 I saw this tank top on enough people to know that I wanted to make it.  The graceful low back, the V.  It's a beautiful design.  Despite that I really didn't want the process of making it.  No idea why, but this was not a project I reached for with excitement, more like dread.  I tried to spice it up by allocating a beautiful scrap of rainbow fabric, but I still didn't love the process.  I made size B - as always high bust is a useless measure for me, but my bust at 33 is accurate.  I didn't make any modifications. It's quick and easy and the gentle V neck is really lovely looking.  I didn't pay a lot of attention to the pattern instructions for finishing the sleeve holes as I am quite confident with burrito methods.  I didn't have any issues except that I put the shelf bra elastic on backwards so it shows the ugly side towards my skin.  (I am always puzzled which way is the correct way.  It does look good like this.  Maybe it's correct.)

 

 

The fit is fine, but rather snug.  I tried it on with a bra and it looks too tight.  Without a bra it is much better, and I think that's kind of the expected fit.  Nonetheless I think I need to make this from a rib fabric (or size up.)  I have lots of rib fabrics that need to get used so yet again, that should be a win, but I will have to overcome the inertia of not really being in love with the process.  This particular top is going to someone just a bit smaller than I am.  I also struggle with crop tops because I have no torso length, so they can kind of overcompress my chest and then balloon out below. 

Thus, I don't entirely know what I think of the length, but in summer some tops with this crop length are great to wear with linen pants, so it should go well enough with a number of things in my wardrobe as long as I choose the right colours and a more forgiving rib.  I'm thinking a bit more lately about sewing specifically to fit gaps in my wardrobe, and I do think a few more attempts at this would be worthwhile. 

Les Lubies de Cadia Cosmique Jacket

  

What a pattern company name!  I discovered this company thanks to Me Made May.  I immediately fell in love with 3 jacket patterns and couldn't decide where to start.  So many exciting pockets!  I don't have a hankering after any of this designer's other patterns but oh, these jackets...

I finally chose Cosmique and only bought one to start so I wouldn't get overwhelmed.  

Then I had to decide on the fabric, I had a number of contenders, some pink twill...grey denim long hoarded...corduroy...but I recently bought a number of exciting denim blends from Miss Maude, and the most precious of the lot was 2m of linen denim.  It is clearly unique - has a cool and crispy feel like linen, and is shifty as well.  Drapes very differently to a normal cotton denim.  When I unfurled it after washing I knew this fabric had to be a jacket.  I also knew if I waited too long it would turn into one of those stash fabrics I'm afraid to touch.  So I u-turned away from the corduroy and went with denim.  

Sized down to 34 

No pattern mods 

But suddenly I'm making a denim jacket, replete with topstitching I had not bargained for. This turned into a full week project.  I used Guterman Mara topstitching thread in off white. It is a lighter topstitching thread than standard and is easier to work with - my machine will backstitch with it.

I found that the pieces came together very nicely but that the instructions didn't provide details that could improve the final garment.  I used a lot of instincts from jeansmaking.  The first big hitch was when the instructions say to double topstitch the horizontal line created by the pocket piece.  This is impossible if you are genuinely stitching down the seam (since you aren't going to sew the pocket shut). A decorative double topstitch could be done by flipping the pocket out of the way, but then the point of the stitching (to strengthen a seam) would be lost.  I mulled this over for a day then decided to stitch up to the pockets and put rivets at that spot for support and to cover the end of the stitching.  I was sad how much of the pocket depth is lost by the hem.  I would preferentially shorten the jacket an inch above the pockets and put that inch at the bottom, so the pockets would be deeper.  They also are a bit far back - they are only the back half of the bottom piece.  It's not too bad when wearing the jacket but my instincts would like them a bit further forward. 

 

The funny cut out notch at the top of the placket was puzzling when I was reading the instructions, but easy to do and made it much easier to put on the collar.  I LOVED the tower placket for the sleeves.  But I sewed on the sleeve cuffs and the placket as though I were doing jeans - I folded the back side under and topstitched.  I did this on the collar as well, accepting that there would be stitching in the ditch that shows on the back of the neck when the collar is up - it is faint as my thread is a good match, and also thread sinks into this fabric.  Even the top stitching is relatively subtle.  I also cut the undercollar a tiny bit smaller, and I sewed the collars together from the middle out, which helps it to sit better.

I mulled over my closure plan, but truthfully there was no choice.  I have a great snap setter and horrible buttonhole makers.  I had no problems setting all my snaps - youtube provides amazing straightforward videos for each option the Kam snap press has.  I also have new adorable mini rivets and I used those for the pocket support.  Once I finished them and put the jacket on I realised that I had done the snaps backwards...but actually I don't mind for once.  

I spent a lot of time on each step of this project (days!) thinking through the instructions and my goals, and it shows.  I LOVE this jacket.  I think the instructions are threadbare, but I was very happy with the drafting itself.  I look forward to my second jacket pattern by this company (and I already know which deep stashed fabric I'm using...exciting!) 

While making the Cosmique I realised I absolutely must have a pair of high waisted summer shorts out of this fabric, as I have a heap of cropped tops and nothing to wear them with - luckily my leftovers were easily enough for shorts, and my machines were already threaded with all the right threads...so I had no excuse but to move onto that right away.   

Birgitta Helmersson ZW dress pattern review

 This has been on my list for so long, and the fabric has been allocated to it, which I believe is a Meet Milk viscose.  Recent success buoyed me onward. I hate making zero waste things.  I need a lot of prompting.  I just so dislike measuring fabric on the floor and cutting it without pattern pieces.  I also feel like the end results are often shapeless dresses that suit larger women with curves and are uncomfortably airy on me.  

I'm going to cut to the most important part here. My fabric was chosen long ago and the vision was deeply embedded in my brain.  The designer notes in passing that the width of the fabric matters, but mainly to say it should be 140 cm wide, not to comment closely on how much that matters.  I absolutely needed to make this from a 115 cm wide fabric.  I recommend doing so to anyone who is a size US 6 or below.  My fabric just happened to be 150 cm wide and it's devastating, because all the effort gone into sewing this project is wasted as I need to be about 6 sizes larger to suit my dress.  

I suffered through the cutting and indeed, I had no leftover scraps except those ridiculous side-hem triangles.  Those are a joke right?  Who is actually going to randomly sew on a triangle to the side seam?

I made the version with the button bodice but no buttons on the skirt. Can't be bothered with that. 

I lengthened the bodice by 1" which was totally silly.  I shortened the hem by 15 cm which was a good starting point - it was below knee/calf length but had a very high low hem when worn by me.  I ended up snipping off the hem until it hung more or less evenly.  

I made the bodice which was fine, forgot the interfacing for the front button band.  This is bad as it carries a lot of weight.  I recommend interfacing it quite heavily.  

The sleeve, when loosely pinned on, came to my wrist, no thanks!  I put the sleeves aside for later 

The pocket situation was also off-putting. I ended up using my leftover pieces from part of the sleeves to make Bardon pockets (still the best ever) and just applied them as to any skirt.  

I put on the dress to even the hem, then still did a deep 2" hem, which caused some headaches due to the curves.  I can call it a success: there is nothing visible on the outside!  And it gives it a bit more weight. 

For the sleeves I ended up just double folding in the seam allowance at the top of the bodice, and did not put any sleeves on.  It's so very wide on me it already is like having half length sleeves.  

 

Despite trying quite hard to personalise the fit on this dress, it needs to find a new owner who is a lot wider than I am.  I do think it's a beautiful concept and the gathered skirt hangs and swishes really nicely.  I don't even have a suitable person in my usual recipient group, so it may be off to the secondhand shop, sadly.  The people who have successfully made this and posted on Instagram have had a few things in their favour: they are very tall, so they can make a longer length to balance the width, and they have used narrow fabrics.     

This is the Dunya jacket.

I definitely noticed the Dunya jacket when it came out. Fibremood have a lot of instagram influencers and they (when feeds still worked) overloaded my instagram feed.  Curiosity followed, and I had a look at a lot of patterns.  It wasn't enough to make me bite.  It's a different feel than other pattern companies.  You don't get the instructions when you buy the pattern.  You have to do a bunch of drama getting an account in order to access the online instructions.  I guess it's true about age, I'm getting grumpy, I want to not spend time on my computer making yet another infernal account for something I'll use once.  Just in time, instagram is so crappy I've tapered my usage way down.  A funny mental shift, to realise we once didn't think about life in terms of how it would look in a photo...and to go back to living life without documenting it.  Yet again I wondered about my blog's utility.  The act of sewing and the act of blogging about it can be very disconnected from one another, and it's easy to get behind when I'm inspired to sew a lot and not particularly keen to sit in front of the computer. 

Then I posted a lackadaisical post about the Zoey tank top and got over 2000 views (rare for me, as noted, I'm too obnoxious to have so many loyal readers and I'm definitely not influencer material.)  So I suppose for now I'll keep going.  It's reassuring to see that the few remaining blogs out there are still getting some love. 

 A friend told me this would suit my sudden desire for an oversized and cozy coat that would feel like wearing a sleeping bag.  For some reason, I was Inspired.  So much so that I actually bought fabric specifically for the pattern - expensive fabric!  I got Mind the Maker Thelma thermal quilted fabric in olive.  I got it from an Australian website but I don't recall which one.  I went specifically to The Fabric Store to pick out a lining and as invariably happens I didn't like anything.  I bought some silk.  It's pretty but, hm.  I bought the pattern and printed it and then winter got too busy!  I decided to move, I had so little time left and this kept being right on top of my queue while seeming like too much work to actually make.  I even actually bought snaps in the States for the kam snap press so I would be Ready. 

Hopeless.  It took another year to finish the move and get settled and actually buy the snap press.  I found a new lining fabric.  Still not totally convinced, it's Liberty tana lawn with feathers on it.  I just couldn't settle on anything I loved and this was good enough. 

I made size XS

I could have made S by the size chart but the instructions - which are very good - I don't recall too many specific gripes - they recommend going down if you don't want it massively oversized.  I had a moment of puzzlement looking at the pattern I had printed then realised you have options to have the seam allowance printed, or not, and you can have it included, or not.  I included the SA lines and the cut lines in my printed pattern. 

 I didn't rush this project out.  The fabric is a real pain to sew because the raw edges, once cut, leak the thermal midlayer and it's very hard to tell where the green actual fabric is.  The coat gets to be quite a LOT for my small sewing machine to manage.  

 I found to my shock that each step went very smoothly and things came together in a beautiful fashion.  I did have some drama with the corners of the hem facing at the side seams, whatever the instructions said to do was impossible, or maybe my fabric was just too much to wangle.  There is some visible stitching there where I tried to avoid leaving holes and just topstitched everything in place.  The end result is totally fine.  I didn't diverge from the pattern anywhere.  My snap press was magical.

 

 

And I love this jacket!  I wore it a lot this winter, though now it's too warm for such things.  It's completely oversized and ridiculous.  I do wish that the front hem were slightly shorter and the back hem slightly longer.  I do feel a bit silly out and about in town because there is coat everywhere around me but I trust that I actually look cooler than everyone else.  

She wears the pants no. 12: revisiting the draped dress

 I wanted to branch out and try some new Japanese patterns, but I was a bit scared. Last time I tried to make the grecian dress I literally couldn't figure out how to trace it and I gave up.  So, suddenly fired up with the idea of Japanese patterns, revisiting some previous ones seemed like a good way to stretch those muscles before I committed to the tracing.  The original version of this pattern is here. I made this version in the same size M. 

I had a large piece of very slinky viscose and recalled that it would be perfect for this dress which was a big part of my interest.  I made it longer this time, but no other changes.  It was a quick sew.  I added some seam tape for the shoulders since the weight of the dress is all on those seams.  It really is a lovely pattern as long as you want excellent chest access.  And in fact, I made this with the plan to give it to a breastfeeding friend.  

Truthfully I think my first version was more interesting.  I would use this pattern again for a heavyweight drapey knit.  I think a lightweight knit shows too much!  Also, a patterned fabric made it more visually interesting.