Vogue 1247 Top

During a cutting binge last week I suddenly put this fabric together with this pattern.  I have been planning to make the skirt, but the shirt gets surprising reviews (initially I wasn't interested at all...foreshadowing?)

The fabric is one of my favourites.  It is a light silk-cotton that I spotted in Wellington at The Fabric Store, but didn't buy it since I was about to move.  I was very sad about that and thought about it.  Aaaand!  One year later at the Fabric Store in LA I found it!  I only got a meter, another problem of mine...I managed to squeeze the pattern onto it by cutting a size 6.

Vogue size 6: I have never made a Vogue size 6 in my life and I suspect I never will again.  This top is so baggy that I thought I'd have enough room in it even in a size or two smaller than usual.  For reference, I generally fit into a Vogue 10 and occasionally into an 8.

I was hoping that by being exacting with the french seams, that things would magically fit together.  They didn't - from the very first piece.  When I sewed the first center front and side together, I was really puzzled why there was about 3 extra cm at the top of the side piece.  The answer is that there shouldn't be...and that got things slightly offset from the beginning.  I didn't find it exactly difficult to sew, but I think that once you have done one step slightly off, it's impossible to recover because there isn't a lot of adjustment room elsewhere.

That bust dart?  It's like, outside my shoulder.

But that's ok!  Because in the end, the top is COMPLETELY HIDEOUS. There is no fixing this problem.  I look like a pregnant linebacker.  Why do the bust darts end 3 inches out from the bust?  I can find nothing flattering about this top.  I had to force myself to hem it, since it was clearly a lost cause.  The silk-cotton is a good fabric for the pattern, so I don't think its lack of drape is to blame.  I can't imagine the shirt looking better if it were *bigger*.  Overall I am mystified how it suits other people so well!  

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!

Lisette 2059 -Continental blouse.

My second sewing attempt was in the wake of my excitement about project #1s success.  I was really thrilled with this blue spotted fabric from Global Fabrics in Wellington.  On this one I cut a size 12, assuming that I wanted more ease compared to the Lisette dress I had done, and also going by my measurements on the envelope.  This was a mistake!  The first shirt was big and even when I pulled in the side seams it was still floating all over me.  So I gave it to a friend and made a second one.  (I didn't take pictures of the first one before giving it away, but the spots were big at the bottom and graduated to small at the top.)

This seems to be possible because I hadn't learned about fabric width - most often in New Zealand it seems to be 150 cm. So I had huge amounts of leftover fabric for my two projects.  Enough, in fact, to squeeze two shirts out of the spots.  I had to move the spots around of course.

I cut a size 8 this time, as I had with the Passport dress.  It became increasingly evident that I may not ever need to make a bust adjustment but the Lisette patterns are not cut to accommodate my wide shoulders.  In the final version of the shirt I feel it pulling across my upper chest and if it had less overall ease it would be uncomfortable to pull my arms up.

In the end the shirt came out looking ok, but I don't think I would try to improve on this pattern in the future.  Trying it on again for our impromptu indoor photo session actually made me more fond of it!  Maybe I'll like it more in the summer since it's a very lightweight cotton fabric.