Verb for Keeping Warm Endless Summer tunic, round 2

When I got this textured dobby cotton fabric from Miss Matabi I knew I wanted to make this Verb tunic.  I thought the heavier weight of the fabric would make it into a dress or a great layering top.  I cut it out and then away it went into the black hole of travel!  I actually thought about it quite a bit in the intervening time and I was sad a few times not to have it.  So I expected it to be really amazing.

I made the smallest size.

This is pretty easy to put together and I used the overlocker a lot to get a nice finish.  The corners of the back yoke can be tricky to get lined up just right, but in general I think it's not something you see from very far away.

My previous version, here, was in cotton lawn and it was beautiful but so lightweight I just wasn't sure what to do with it.  I gave it to my cousin.

The pockets are a bit low for me, but the fit on this is otherwise good. I obviously didn't remember the bit about the pockets so as to fix it this time around. I think this is a nice way of using a pretty piece of cotton lawn for a summer top, but overall I'm not that convinced by it.  I passed it on to my sewing friend Tessa who is wider in the hips.  It looks great on her - might be better suited to people who are more full figured.

Style Arc Lorie jacket

This is the first pattern by Style Arc that I have done.  I knew ahead of time that the instructions are sparse but sufficient.  Many people don't like that you only get one size with Style Arc, so the first few patterns are needed to test out fit.  I have heard that the sizing is consistent, so once you do settle on a size, it generally fits well.  I used my measurements to order a size 8.

I expected this jacket to be quite an involved process.  It isn't a full Chanel style jacket with interlining or any hand stitching, but it does involve block fusing the pieces (which I learned is when you interface every single piece of the jacket except the sleeves!) and topstitching.  I also mitred my first corner - when you make a 90 degree turn while sewing two pieces together.  It went quite well, but does require a bit of preparation because you have to cut the corner right after you turn it, so that the second side will go smoothly.

Because the instructions are very sparse, it's important to cut every notch very well.  I had trouble adding the hem band to the jacket because no matter which way I flipped up, the notches didn't match.  I was concerned because it's supposed to be fitted at the waist with some flare, and I thought if I got it upside down, it might not have the desired shape.  Other than that, I did find the instructions sufficient.  The only other place that I had trouble was the final step - attaching the sleeves inside out.  I recalled from my Minoru that this can be tricky but I sewed them up with no problem...only after I tried to turn the jacket right side out it had become a Mobius strip...

I learned something about fusing in general during this process.  I had block fused my pieces following the instructions.  I was using a very stable double knit cotton twill, and the fusing is probably most important if the main jacket fabric is loosely woven, Chanel style.  My lining, however, was a very light silk-cotton.  I thought it was probably too light to be a lining, and so I used bemberg for the sleeves to make sure they could take the stress.  In retrospect, I would have done better to not fuse every piece of the jacket, and to fuse the silk-cotton pieces instead. 

The main stopping point was waiting for my special order lavender 19" zipper to arrive....what a pain! It still wasn't perfect but I was so sick of looking for zippers that I finally decided to go with it and see how the jacket would turn out.  I was considering this a muslin project and when trying it on without the lining I was suspicious of the fit - it seemed very boxy and not at all as fitted or shaped as I expected.  I didn't get to see the final fit until after I turned the jacket right side out with the lining in place.  It was better than before, but I found a few major fit issues that make me totally not interested in ever wearing it.  I guess this is where a muslin might have been a good idea, but without the lining I couldn't perceive how it would fit.

the lightweight lining actually is not an issue once it's in place

mitred corners!

Looks like it needs those shoulder pads!

...yet I have no shoulder room to move at all!

much nicer on Pam!

she's happy - she just got a new jacket!

Major issues:

-extremely narrow through shoulders. I expected my shoulders to fit in the shoulder pad space.  But you see that is vertical space above the shoulders, which looks stupid. My shoulders fit in the sleeves and so I feel like I'm in a straitjacket.  For this to fit, I would have needed about a 1.5" shoulder widening.  Now I truly believe that Style Arc makes narrow patterns through the shoulders.  My lesson associated with this is more general - I think I need to watch what happens with sleeves on me.  I suspect I need some kind of sleeve adjustment but I haven't learned enough about them to know.  Almost any woven that I sew with sleeves has something funny in the sleeve area - enough that those are generally finished projects I pass on to friends. 

-second to the wide shoulder issue, total bust minimizing.  I thought this jacket would be shaping but it's totally shapeless.  My bust is hidden and there's no nice narrowing at the waist (which I expected from the pictures.)  This is improved on a person with narrower shoulders like Pam, and actually was a useful lesson to me about the shoulder widening.  I don't need FBAs, because a shoulder adjustment will add the room for my large upper chest (as I recently discovered, instead of having a high bust measurement that is less than my bust, I have a high bust measurement that is about 1.5" larger than my bust.  I haven't taken the next step of figuring out how much of this is frontal and how much is on the backside.)

-Length is ok, I could for once have preferred it a touch longer.  I'm very short waisted so this is unusual.

As you can see, I found a grateful recipient of this purple jacket at work.  Pam is happy!  She is slightly taller than me, with a larger bust and narrower shoulders.  She loves the jacket!

Batik Belladone

This is my second Belladone - quite awhile after the first one.  Luckily I have a good memory for all the things that went wrong the first time around and was determined to make this version as near to perfect as possible.

Size 38 again, in beautiful green batik cotton from www.emmaonesock.com.  It became important to note that it's really hard to tell which is the right side of this fabric!

On the darts: I shortened the bottom bust darts about 3/4" and lowered the upper bust darts by about 1/2".  I did this after assessing how my first Belladone fit. 

I could actually have lengthened the torso on this pattern - probably the only pattern on the planet that is short for a short-waisted person!  But it's not a big problem, and I didn't really notice it until it was too late. 

I made sure this time to improve on my bias binding.  In fact, I decided to do all invisible bias binding, to see how it changed the fit.  My bias tape was weird double fold, so the results are that everything bound lost about 3/4" - I cut off the extra layer when I folded it to the inside but it still was slightly wider than usual bias tape.  I was concerned this would take away too much fabric but it seems to be ok.  I can attest, however, that invisibly bias binding armholes is no fun.  All the bias-goodness of bias tape isn't enough to make that tape want to go around a tight corner.  I had to stop often, cut my curves, and iron as I went in order to get it not to bunch up.  Interestingly, on the first version where I left the bias tape bound on the outsides, I did not have the bunching up in the back that others have complained of.  On this version, I did, but only a tiny bit.

As before, I bound all my loose seams on the inside.  It took forever, but was worth it.  I still don't know how to bind the seams of the zipper though. I thought I could add some seam tape after I put the zip in, but when I tried it I had no success.  I will probably zigzag it eventually as it's the only open seam.

The only change I made to the pattern was that I lined the skirt.  I used bemberg in teal green that matched my invisible bias tape.  Now the insides are secretly gorgeous!  This is the first time that I've made a lining for something that didn't have one - isn't that crazy?  So I was actually nervous to get the pattern pieces right.  The back is the same as the main fabric but for the front I taped the pocket to the front pattern piece, and then cut that whole thing out, avoiding the seam allowance from the pocket.  I also didn't know how to deal with the zipper.  I treated the two layers as one when I installed the zip, but below it I had to separate them and seam them independently.  It is a little messy but is hidden between the layers. 

My close attention to detail meant that this dress - which could easily be done in an evening, actually took forever...in my parlance that means more than a week.  And one reason was because of that little problem with the fabric right and wrong sides.  I accidentally made the back skirt darts on the same side, so I didn't have two symmetrical backs.  I noticed it after I had sewn one side on, and already cut the seam down...then I realised the other panel needed to go on that side, because the sewn on one was definitely wrong-side out.  So I undid it and had to do a lot of shenanigans to figure out how to match up my uncut with cut seams.  Then I redid the one offending inside-out dart.  This ate up my sewing time and I had to leave for a weekend trip with the dress unfinished, grrrr.

Finally it's done, a testament to a great dress after aeons of effort.  I know it's good because I wore it to work, and had multiple patients pause while complaining about how sick they are to say, "Um Doc, maybe this is inappropriate but that's a beautiful dress!"  It seems like you can make a lot of easy dresses in less than a day, but if you want to finish a dress beautifully, a simple dress can take weeks.  A lesson to reflect on, as lately I'm getting stressed by how much sewing I plan into my life, and I'm not always sure I want to be doing all of it.  

Drape Drape 2, no 4

Similar to the first drape project, the onerous part was sitting on the floor tracing out these big rorschach-blot monster pieces and sticking them together.  The piece was easy to cut, and then again I sewed it in the order I liked.  Basically it just gets folded over and then all the loose parts are sewn.  I did not pay attention to how you are supposed to roll and sew the drape side sleeve opening, and mine was a bit messy.  The Singer really showed how it didn't like knits here - I had to constantly tug my stitches to get them straight, and my final seamlines are wavy.  I attached the neckline as I did on the first drape project - I sewed the inside like a bias binding and then folded it over with the raw edge out.  I did initially hem the opposite sleeve, but my hemming was too tight, and so I cut the sleeve edge off.  I left the bottom raw as well.

I cut the S/M again here.  
The fabric is a mostly-cotton, very very thin knit, from one of the shops in Milan.

This turned out to be an amazing tshirt that I loved right away.  Lizzy was right!  I already have about three more planned, most of them in stripes.  I am not sure how to finish the neck and the sleeves better, though. 

ok FINE, another Grainline Scout

Fair enough, I made a few weird Scouts.  One was a knit and I totally ignored any knit modifications.  The other was a size 0 and I couldn't lift my arms.  And it was short.  So it seemed fair to give it another try, especially since I had this incredible Nani Iro doubleweave gauze - a tiny piece.  And I couldn't think of anything else that would fit on it.  And it's about 30 degrees outside, and Australia next month will surely be even hotter, so woven gauze sounds like a perfect wardrobe choice right now.

 

I had to cut the back as two pieces.  Also I was following the Polly top technique for putting the bias binding on so I sewed it to the inside first, and then didn't have enough bias tape thickness to fold it over the front.  So I left the frayed edge around the neckline...that's an, erm, style point!  Not a mistake...

Other than that it was a straight size 2.  I should do a wide shoulder adjustment if I do this top again.  I still do not really like the pattern.  I know everyone else loves it, so not sure what's up with me - my need to be contrary?

I do have to say that the doubleweave gauze is the most awesome cotton fabric I have ever worn.  I adored this during the day I wore it at work, but found myself *really* wishing for that wide-shoulder adjustment.

I'll give this one a more intense test run during my month in Australia and see how it measures up!

Rainbow lined Colette Crepe

This sat around for awhile and I read about it online quite a bit before I got annoyed with the pile of fabric and dove in.  I wasn't sure what to expect - both with the vertical striping and with the pattern itself.  I didn't make any effort at stripe-matching.  I also didn't know whether my silk lining would be solid enough to function as facings.  I played with the idea of ironing on the facing pieces to the top and armholes of the dress but then decided that was too much effort. It was my first Colette pattern and I have read a lot about people having fit troubles so I wasn't anticipating a perfect dress on the first go round.  On the other hand, my Vogue wrap dress just feels too big and I do not love having it open all the way up to the waist every time the wind blows.  So I thought the back wrap might be a nice change.

I cut a size 4 which matched my dimensions exactly. I do not like facings so I decided to line this dress with some lime green silk.  Also, I treated the silk with gelatin so it would behave (an example of how to do that is here, and this certainly made it less shifty.  That's currently my favourite method for dealing with lightweight silk.  Less shifty does not = zero shifty, so it was still a bit off, but I just made some little folds along the shoulder and that was taken care of.  The shoulders are funny shaped anyway!

 I followed this tutorial for the order to sew with a full lining.  What it neglects to point out is that the wrap belt also has to be done and attached prior to sewing the lining onto the bodice, but I remembered that from my Vogue wrap so it wasn't a problem.  Sewing a wrap dress is easy and the Vogue dress with lining had super instructions, so this time around felt a little bit like deja vu even though I was adding the lining myself.  I sewed it in by hand at the waist, and I have to say, this dress is gorgeous inside.  I did notice that my needle make little lines in the silk - even when I switched to a microtex needle.  I don't know what that's a sign of. 

As for fit...meh.  I don't actually like the loss of control that I get with the wrap in the back.  And I think wrap dresses just feel like too much fabric or something.  The bust of Colette patterns is bigger than in the big 4, and in this case it's too big for me.  The dress is cute and I really like the one piece sleeves.  It's possible that I would make it again, but I'm not totally sure. 

Papercut La Sylphide shirt

Oh, I wasn't sure about this.  But I had just discovered Papercut and wanted to support a local company.  I got the fabric as a remnant, and buttons came for free with another purchase.  I wanted to check that the fabric was enough, so I cut it out while I was sick in between other things (in August!!!) and then let it sit for awhile...and longer...and longer.  Just no true inspiration to learn how to buttonhole quite yet.

Then I got buttonholes figured out and I got tired of seeing something sit around, so it seemed time to get on with it!  Also after making a few undercover hoods, I am more used to the Papercut method of explaining, and now having seen it elsewhere I'm not so puzzled by sewing the underarm/side seams all in one go (which rather mystified me back in August, really!)  The sewalong also kicked me into gear!  I have a dress version planned, but wasn't sure I would like the style enough to also make a dress of it.

Sorry for my washed out and headless photos...the self timer and I are still not friends.  This was about as good as it gets.

Even up to the last minute I wasn't that excited, must say.  It's a style of shirt (ie button-up) that never fits me well, and frilly bits like bows irritate the hell out of me.  But it's looked good, and not irritating, on other people.  And it was my first Papercut pattern, to which I'm growing an undying loyalty.  Also I already have the fabric ready for my upcoming Saiph tunic so it was a sort of bribe to get this one done with.

I cut an XS.  As always going from Lauren at lladybird, I sized up one size from her to fit my square 34.5-27 measurements.  The instructions were super clear, my cotton-with-lycra was so easy to sew, and this came together almost magically in 2 stints at the sewing machine.  The curious bits were - figuring out how to sew the sleeves on, but after just doing what the instructions said, it was obvious - and the same with the neck tie.  It seemed totally weird, but once I just did what the instructions said, it was completely obvious.  I didn't finish the inside much since it wasn't shedding, and I continued to feel like this was a sort of complete muslin.  As lladybird also mentions, the use of interfacing to make the sleeves and the placket is really nice and easily lends itself to a clean finish.  The only place I couldn't finish cleanly was the annoying crotch between the top of the placket and the bottom of the neck tie.  There is a tiny no-man's-land that I didn't get sewn into anything. It's invisible when worn, but I guess a very very close attention to detail when sewing the neck tie might get rid of it - you have to sew absolutely up to the placket but without sewing over it.

In the end I adore the fit -it's great on my wide shoulders and skims comfortably down from there without any gapping at the bust.  The darts are perfectly placed.  I still quite hate the ties and feel really stupid when I'm wearing it because of them.  I'm not sure what to think of the peplum but it does seem to look good.  The sleeves hit awkwardly at my elbow - I'd prefer either 3" longer or 3" shorter!  I will definitely do my dress, but I also have visions of a longer shirt style without the peplum, and maybe just ending the neckline and not having long ties...I can see a lot of pattern modifications in this pattern's future.  And it was super fun to make!