silk-cotton Papercut Sigma

I spent all winter making summer dresses.  Hm, deja vu?  My excuse is that when I cut this out it was summer!  Stupid northern hemisphere.

This wasn't my first project to jump into this past week.  However, Necchi and velvet didn't get along so I moved onto this.  My mother finally dragged the Singer/not a Singer out of the closet and after some initial noise that sounded like a lawn mower, it is working pretty smoothly.  I don't know whether to blame the Necchi or my materials for my agony over the latest project, but more on that later.

Yeah...those are my awesome backward pockets...

This sewed up really quickly!  I was sooo excited for it and it's cute and of course will make a delightful spring or summer dress (arggg!  I'm NOT happy about winter!  It snowed today!  It never snows in Seattle!)  However I had some issues.  The first was about the pockets.  The instructions have you put some interfacing on the front of the skirt and attach the front pockets.  They then blithely tell you to attach the back of the skirt.  Um...what about the rest of the pockets?  Since this method was new to me and seemed really fiddly and stupid, I did the second pocket in a more intuitive way (I hear Lizzy saying now that intuition always wins over instructions!) which was to apply the front and the back pockets to their respective skirt pieces, and then sew one single seam from the top of the pocket to the bottom of the skirt.  The only thing that I totally missed in my irritation was regarding the floppy pocket tops, which have to be sewn into the waist seam...um, the front part of the waist seam...so yeah, I have two backward facing pockets.  And I'm not moving them!!


I also feel like the skirt poofs out a lot, it ends up reminding me of the Elisalex skirt.  Other people's don't look that way.  I am not sure if the version without gathers is the same, or if I did something to make it particularly puffy.  I only hemmed it about 1/2".  It feels a little silly but everyone else has said it looks good so I'm not sure.  Overall this dress is easy to wear and comfortable but it does seem a bit loose.  Next time I also might shorten the upper bust darts slightly. 

The silk-cotton was a joy to work with.  The sewing machine got quieter as I worked (oiling itself?) and after my struggles on the previous project it was quite a relief to be doing something trouble free.

Details:

Papercut Patterns Sigma from the Constellation collection.
Size XS, no alterations, view 2
Fabric: silk-cotton blend from global fabrics in Wellington.
outcome: I'll do it again, with some changes

Papercut Peter & the Wolf, take 2 & unfinished...

After my muslin version of these pants, I knew that they would fit in this incredible stretchy Marc Jacobs wool.  Very unseasonal, until I land in Seattle in two months...So, I knew they would fit but I didn't realise at all just how much more stretchy the wool is compared to that totally zero stretch hemp/tencel.  In the hemp pants, the bagginess at the butt was a positive thing because it made it possible to fit in the pants.  In these, hm. 

I left these at full length (hits perfectly at my ankle as a full length pant.) and cut an XS.  Construction was good, although it's the first time I've worked with such a loose weave.  Not easy to get stitches out of!  I didn't quite get my seams lined up for the zip....but then I noticed that I could get the pants on without the zip.  Oops.  Then I realised I had exactly 6 hours until I needed to pack up my sewing machine to go.  There went my concentration.

So lovely people, is there any way to fix this problem that you see below at this stage of sewing???  Otherwise I could call these my lounge sweatpants...I did manage to fit another scrap of this fabric into my luggage but I'm not sure it's enough to cut another leg (for example.)

Without the waistband, a problem is found

The front isn't too too terrible

With waistband - so much room that I could pull them on without the zip!

HELLLPP!  I'm DROWNING!

By Hand London Polly 2

For my second Polly top I had so many awesome scraps I wanted to use that it was hard to choose the best ones.  Finally I settled for the silk-linen that was leftover from my Lisette Jacket as I adored the drape of it, and I paired it with the never-ending silk that was my Victoria Blazer lining (and my Papercut Saiph!)

I used a size US 6.  I took 1 inch from the centre front and about 1 inch from the top of the shoulders.  I cut about 2 inches off the bottom.  French seamed, and in order to show off the very cool selvedges I left the back open at the bottom since I didn't have enough fabric to cut it on the fold.  That also helps get it on without a zip.

I adore my new Polly top!  The fit is magical and actually the horseshoe front went in more easily this time as both my fabrics had just enough give.  Unfortunately this was the project that got shunted to the very end so I was sewing my bindings with the wrong coloured thread and it shows some on the front...

Photo update!  Thanks Mum!

Sewaholic Cambie

I cut this project ahead of time, but started it just upon returning from my Christmas holiday.  With one week left to go before I move, I was feeling pretty stressed and wanted Cambie to go really well, not cause trouble, and to look awesome at the end.  I have a beautiful second Cambie waiting...if if if this pattern didn't cause trouble.

The fabric is a silk-cotton jacquard that I got from ramie and linen on etsy.  They are a wonderful resource and I have bought many other fabrics there (notably my incredible to-die-for stretch silk.)  The outside has an incredible shimmer to it, and with the lining this is a really warm dress...too warm for summer...

I cut a size 4.  I didn't make any alterations to the pattern, and quickly realised I should have gone down to a size 0 at the hips.  I don't like how much the hips stick out.  For the lining I used Japanese cotton batiste for the bodice and black bemberg for the skirt.  That way it will be a good winter dress.

As has been my issue lately, I have no clue how to finish my seams.  I zigzagged the pockets and left everything else.  Eventually the skirt seams all got attacked by my pinking shears, but I suspect this is not a mature way to end things.  Probably it's another topic I'll have to tackle in a few month's time, but I do see that my sewing machine has some interesting stitches I could probably use to finish my seams.

But overall, this went exactly as I hoped!  I could have shortened the skirt by about 4 more inches, and I did go the lazy way out and just hemmed the skirt by machine.  I really don't like the hips sticking out so much, but by keeping this version of the dress a bit long it does balance out.  And the way the lining goes in, as everybody has mentioned so many times, is magical.  Utterly magical.  I'm in love with how beautifully this dress is finished and I want to do everything like this forever.  And my waist and neckline just about match up perfectly!

This dress fits exactly right, except for that 1 inch bodice shortening that I have not yet implemented.  Another fix for the next version...which won't be coming up soon, sadly. 

Colourblocked Papercut Coppelia

The patchwork idea was a last minute decision when the pattern I was planning to use for my scraps looked like it needed too many changes.

For this I cut one inch out of the centre back and I left the length alone.  I cut an XXS. I wasn't sure whether my colourblocking would look good or stupid...but I love it!  I actually like the fit a lot more than my blue one, which seems heavy because of the weight of the bamboo.  Taking the 2 inches out of the back seems to have improved the fit dramatically.

No surprises on construction - this took only a few hours to complete.  Thanks Leanne for the photos!  

Unexpected V-neck Sewaholic Renfrew

I was planning to do a patchwork Vogue top, view 3 of Vogue 8755 (and in fact on the model it doesn't look that long til you see it covers her butt and she's probably six feet tall) but when I pulled the pieces out of the envelope they looked suspiciously dresslength.  As I am in a total moving-induced panic, this was too much to handle.  The patchwork wool scraps got instantly relegated to a different project, leaving me a luscious pile of gray heathered merino...so I decided to make a long-sleeved Renfrew.

I used my v-neck pieces as I was too lazy to fix the lengths from my last round neck version, I'm afraid I've been cutting and folding my pattern pieces rather than copying them, because I ran out of tracing paper!  I cut and sewed this in a single-day frenzy and then put the finishing touches on it the following morning, prior to leaving for a 3-day tramp in the rainforest.  But...I hadn't tried it on and I couldn't just leave it, so I took it along and it became my most awesome rainforest top layer (except when it was raining.)  I was alone otherwise I'd have some action photos for you.

Fit was perfect, top is lovely, I just wished that I had cut all my threads before I left!

If I still had my Vogue 8755 I would totally use the rest of this incredible merino to make lounge pants.  Moving is hard!  I have to let go of projects, empty my scrap-stash...and the final things I'm working on are starting to make me stress with the feeling that I have to finish everything NOW!  Luckily I have a friend who's passing on allll my scraps and leftovers to a just-starting sewist friend of hers who can't afford fabrics and such, so I feel like everything is going to a great cause. 

Vogue Paris Original, V2323 - muslin

In love with this dress pattern!  Here is the cover of it.  It's my first seriously vintage pattern and I really had no idea how things would progress.  I decided to do a full muslin, underlined in silk, to see how (whether) it would fit and also to get the hang of using gelatin to make the silk easier to work with.  I made the muslin from a leftover piece of herringbone black wool with silver lurex threads in it.  The underlining was a silk chiffon.  I used this technique with gelatin prior to cutting and ironing the silk.

Because this was my first ever muslin, I mean an actual one, I did it in stages so it kind of felt like it took forever, although sewing the pieces together was easy.  I ignored a lot of the subtleties in the instructions and didn't do any gathering stitches except on the sleeves.

The pattern is slightly small for me according to the size chart, but came with all its pieces and they were in great shape.  It seemed like a relatively straightforward construction.  The puzzle piece on the front creates most of the three dimensional shape, and I love how clever it is (although after lots of pinning of Polly tops, I initially suspected it would be very tiresome to sew together!)  In actual fact you are supposed to gather the curves (which I didn't do on my muslin) and it is supposed to hang flat.  (Mine really doesn't since I didn't put much effort into that puzzle piece front.)  I had forgotten that in the 70's, dresses were shapeless sheaths.  Also I think it looks much better in 2 colours!

I was surprised how huge the dress ended up.  The silk underlining, which I sewed onto EVERY SINGLE piece, meant my pieces held their shape - the wool would have definitely started to stretch alone.  So there wasn't distortion increasing the size.  Seems that Vogue in 1970 already ran big!  I cut off 7 inches of the bottom (and I'm thinking of cutting off more), and I considered cutting a bit off the side seams but ended up leaving it.  On my final version I'll just cut my fabric shorter to start with.  Not sure what I will do with the side seams.

My final version is planned in silk velvet.  I was planning to underline as I did on my muslin, but my facings were really annoying and it has you hand sew down the wrist seams and such...so I think I'll just do a normal lining so I can have a neater inner finish.  I was also planning to use cotton voile for the underlining, and now I'm considering using silk or even bemberg, just to make sure it doesn't stick to me - since the velvet is quite heavy this won't be a summer dress!

I was really hoping that I wouldn't need to make any big modifications because I wasn't sure how I would face the puzzle front if I had to do an FBA, for instance.  Luckily I don't need to change anything.