Studio Calicot Boreale windbreaker, the tragic review

 WELLLL I think we could say this pattern is a total fail.  Too bad, I was looking forward to my oversized windbreaking jacket with cozy pockets...noticed there are really not many pictures of this online and I was hoping to triple the number haha.  

 I used a fleece lined softshell from Ansje Handmade. It made the pattern more stiff than it would be otherwise, but worked out fine overall. 

I did a lot of reviewing of my implementation once I got halfway through the pattern and realised it was miniaturised.  Sadly I did NOT notice until I was halfway through sewing it up - which has been a real lesson to me.

My pattern: printed on A0 by my local pattern shop.  I print a lot of patterns with them, and this one was in the middle of a pile that were printed all at once...

So why did my resulting product end up sized to fit an 8 year old?  LITERALLY? 

The seam allowance is 4/8".  This offered me the first hint of something being off, because this pattern had a really LOT of notches, and many seemed to be SA notches at 3/8".  But the pattern instructions said 1/2", and I did follow the instructions.  I didn't have problems with things lining up, there were too many notches, but in places you need them, they were there. In retrospect the alarm bells going off about the discrepancy were reasonable!

Yeah you guessed it. My print shop did a fail.  And I did too, because I assumed it would be great and I didn't check the size box for scale prior to cutting it out.  In fact, it took me *3* messed up patterns to realise that my print shop was at fault. 

Here she is: she loves her new jacket. 

Summary: 

I made a cute but tiny jacket, left off the ties because at that point I just wanted to finish it for its future 8-yr old owner.  It's a straightforward, simple pattern.  Obviously check the sizing square when you make your patterns!  I used my dream fabric for this and it's sort of burst my bubble regarding this jacket.  I have 2 more jackets to make this winter so hopefully I'll have better luck with them! 

Named Minttu swing top & some stars

Initially, and for quite awhile, I've been really excited about this pattern- the facings and the shape made it seem like a substantial, interesting tank top that could be done in a variety of fabrics.  There are not very many review out there but the few I found (here and here) were inspiring.  

Fabric: Spotlight.  Exciting sparkly stuff again, because my brain suddenly wants shiny.  It is a rayon jersey with a nice drape.

I cut this out in a size 36,  (I am 33-27-37) and being all smart I removed 3 inches from the length.  I did so in the middle and I believe there were no shorten lines, I just picked a spot and made sure to keep things horizontal.  By doing this instead of shortening at the bottom, I could keep the same amount of swing in the top.

I do vary in Named pattern sizing and have cut everything from 34-38 in Named patterns, but in 36 this top was too small.  The fact of having interfaced facings means the top part of it is not very stretchy. The neck hole is tiny - uncomfortably so.

The facings I hate hate hate hate.  They pull every which way.  I have to admit once the top is on, it's not visible. But I already dislike facings and ones that refuse to sit flat just don't make me happy.

And of course I shortened it too much!  I could have kept all of those three inches.  By shortening in the middle instead of the bottom I overdid the 'swing' effect, in my opinion.

As it is, it's like a top for a 12-year old.
The shape, however, I like.
What I plan to do is make this as a super simple, single layer, no binding tank top (once I have figured out how to lengthen it without printing the pattern again, hisss.)  Then I think you get the benefit of the cool shape without all the mess of those bindings and I will be able to adjust the size of the neck hole too! 

Simplicity 7715 Rainjacket (and a bonus Grainline Scout!)

This is one of those creative projects that was so wrong in loads of educational ways...I had the idea of a little hooded rainjacket.  I found this pattern based on my idea (there is this one review of it.)  I knew I would shorten the hem and raise the pockets, but I planned to basically follow the pattern other than that.  However because it's quite loose, I figured I should muslin it, and I did, using a bedsheet.  That wasn't helpful at all.  The real question was whether to line it, and how it would look in coated fabric, and a bedsheet couldn't approximate that. 

I got the idea to make it for a friend as a muslin.  She's smaller than me by about one size, and said she could find a use for a baggy rainjacket.  I got pink Gore-tex-like fabric and wasn't sure what to use as the lining (it ended up being part of another bedsheet.)  When I was browsing blogs ages ago, I came across a post discussing the different types of Gore-tex-like fabric.  I can't find the original post, but the gist was that there is 2-layer and 3-layer.  Two-layer is a layer of nylon on the outside, and a Teflon inner side, which is white and gummy.  Three layer does not have that gummy feel, because the inside has also been treated (or there is a membrane sandwiched between two layers of nylon.)  The 2-layeris what I had, and was reported as being notoriously difficult to work with, because the Teflon sticks to everything and since it is rubber, it also stretches and will lose its shape.  Therefore I can admit I was warned.  

The things that were bad:

1. 70% fail: the fabric.  Sewing coated nylon when it was the pink side (not the Teflon side) up, and when it was against the lining, was not terrible.  Sewing two layers of coated nylon together was terrible.  I made no attempt to avoid all that shirring, because I didn't have the equipment for it, I had no teflon or walking foot.  I found that masking tape didn't help. I occasionally put pins in the seam allowance, which is also a pain because the fabric is rubbery and doesn't accept pins very willingly.

2. 30% fail: the pattern.  It's not a bad pattern, but it's a very oversized, kind of shapeless hooded jacket.  I probably needed to actually shrink the pattern about 6 sizes before it would have matched my hopes.  The finishing touches, which are always the most difficult for me, were done freehand and are particularly bad -- how do you attach the bottom of a separating zip, when the little lower panel of the zip is hard plastic?  My sewing machine needle won't go through it.

The only reason I continued:
I thought despite everything, my friend might still find it hilarious enough to wear.  For a little while, anyway.  The finishing is not very good, especially along the zipper bottom, and so I'm not sure whether the zip will pull loose.  

I lined the body but not the sleeves of the jacket, and folded elastic into the cuffs and hem - I just folded it over and sewed it down.  It's not a very neat job.  The pockets are lined with geometric rayon geometric scraps, which made them easier to sew down to the front of the jacket.  I was considering putting a string into the hood, but I left it out because the hood doesn't seem that deep (I am not sure it's very functional) and my string was too short...

Here, also for my friend, is a bonus Scout.  It's such a relief to make a really simple, easy project!  This is a size 0, and I used store-bought bias binding and french seams.  The only seam I left open is the sleeve attachment, although there is a Grainline tutorial that says you can french seam the armhole the same as the body.  The quilting cotton was easy to work with so I practiced my iron skills by actually using the steam - generally it scares me and I avoid it. 

Victory Chloe

This pattern got on my list while I was in Arizona and I was planning to make it in some rayon that I got from Anna Ka Bazaar.  However, when I left the States it hadn't happened yet and the fabric didn't make it.  I bought this yellow polyester in Germany with mixed feelings - it was cheap, and pretty, and spotted...but...polyester.  Ugh.  This is the first time I have ever sewn with polyester!  I lined it with cotton to balance out the yuck factor, but I am not sure whether that tilted the scales against me from the beginning.

I recalled that the size 4 Anouk had been just a touch small in the shoulders, and opted for the tank version of this dress.  With that same thought, when I chose the size to cut out, I went by the first set of measurements which pushed me toward a 6, instead of the finished measurements.  This was a huge error, and I'm kind of ashamed of it.  I recently discovered GOMI and feel like I'm one of those bloggers the older, serious sewists are complaining about (even though I have only 14 followers, and half of you are my best friends, and I love you all) because I am composing cheap fashion, and I am sure that I don't iron anything enough.

So, more about Chloe.  Construction is not challenging, including the fake welt pockets.  The instructions have you put the pieces together with the zip first, but I wanted to try the Cambie method so I put the zip in last.  With the Cambie method you really have to get the zipper against the seam allowance and then trim the extra seam allowance away, but I was pretty satisfied with how it came out.  I got lazy and just folded and sewed the armholes instead of using a facing, because at that point I knew the dress didn't fit and it was a challenge to finish it.

These pictures remind me that I need to start doing a swayback alteration.  I think I'm finally ready to take that step!  For some reason, although I have known for a long time that I need to do it, the swayback alteration has felt too difficult to actually attempt. 

Also, it's been awhile, somehow, since I've put in a non-invisible zipper.  It ends up that although I don't have trouble with the zip, I can't ever (and have never) escape the bubble at the bottom of the zip.  How to fix?

As you can see, the dress does not fit at all.  And I will admit that I am not going to try to size it down to fit (unfortunately I don't have any friends bigger than me that I can pass it on to!)  This has turned out disappointing as I was so very excited about Chloe, and in the end let down enough that it will be a long time until I try one again, but Chloe does have some features that make it interesting to try again - it has pockets!  And the panels provide some interesting opportunity to mix and match contrasting fabrics (I think many have done this.)  It's fully lined, which is now almost one of my criteria before making anything.   I am starting to push my summery projects (shock!) towards the spring, and I am slowly losing the need to sew every single pattern that my eye falls on.  Hopefully this means something crazy like a maturation of my sewing, but it's too early to tell.