First Make of 2015 - Meh

I sewed up this skirt and top 2-piece dress last weekend and while it's OK, it's not fabulous. Part of the "meh" is because the fabric is just not a nice ITY. I swear, Fabric.com labels everything ITY now and I'm starting to think they're on crack. It's an OK knit, but it's certainly not one of their better ones. It's a bit on the sueded/clingy side. Not *too* clingy, but more like collapsing on me, if you can understanding what I mean. Hard to explain. Still, it's better than the uber-clingy, pill-y, icky rayon crap I'm still trying to get out of the stash. ;-) I like the print, though, which is why I went ahead and used it, ignoring that little voice in my head.

The other part of the "meh" is because apparently *I* was on crack when I was sewing up the Jalie top. A top, mind you, that I have made 6 squillion times. Let me tell you, it makes a HUGE difference if you sew RS together where the gathers flip over instead of WS together. Heh. It took me nearly a whole day to figure out why the flip-over wasn't working and where I had gone wrong. (Note: When all else fails, READ the feckin' instructions!) Once I got out the seam ripper and re-sewed correctly, things worked out fine. But what an idiot moment I had.

Plus, the neckband, sewed on with my coverstitcher and a binder, isn't snug against my back neck, which never happens with my binders. Until now apparently. I'll fix that with some elastic thread threaded through the backside stitching, once I pick it up from Hancock's. I just covered it up with a cardi in the meantime. I won't tell if you won't.

Love the skirt though. I used the Simplicity KA pattern above, which is a semi-circle skirt for wovens and calls for a zipper. I omitted the zipper because knit. And I also took off 2" from each side seam of the smallest size in the envelope, 20 (for a total of 8", if you're counting), because, again, knit. I didn't just do this willy-nilly ... I have a couple of semi-circle RTW knit skirts I was copying inspired by and so I could use them as eyeballing/measurement guides. I used the contoured waistband pattern pieces (also cut down 2" per side seam to match the skirt waist) and sewed all the units together, leaving an opening in the facing for inserting elastic, and serged 1:1 onto the skirt waist. Once it was attached, I inserted the 1-1/4" wide elastic, which was cut to about 4" less than my actual waist measurement. The result is an elastic-waist pull-on skirt with a waistband that sits flat both on and off me. I didn't even stitch the opening closed on the inside because I had the seam allowances from the opening folded/flipped in such a way that the opening and elastic is invisible from the inside. I know that's hard to visualize from my words, so you'll just have to trust me on that.

I know the skirt will get lots of wear since I love the shape and black/white is almost a neutral. I think I'll make it again in another knit too because it's fun to wear flippy, girly skirts. I also think I'll like the top better after a few small adjustments ... namely, the back neckband, and maybe shortening it another inch and also sewing the sideseams a little tighter.

I've also sewed up a "muslin" of the Burda WOF casual pants I showed a couple of posts back, and am now trying to decide what fabric to get for a final pair, plus matching jacket. I thought a nice ponte would work, but now I'm second-guessing. My "muslin" was a NOT-nice ponte (also from crack-tastic Fabric.com in the same shipment) which was not supposed to be muslin fabric but it was way too polyestery/shiny to be taken seriously. I could have sent it back but I decided I did need to muslin since I haven't sewn pants in years (yikes) and it's probably a good thing I did because I do need to make a few adjustments. All of that was just a long-winded way to say that while the project is definitely still in the queue, it's stalled at the moment.

I'll get into the sewing room this weekend around football playoffs, but I may encounter analysis paralysis since I have a lot of things I want to make and no idea where to start. Hopefully, I'll come out with something. I just don't know what that something is yet.

Reappearing briefly ... and a Giveaway

First, before we get into this post click this link and enter the CSC giveaway running in connection with my review there of the Hot Patterns Uptown/Downtown Knit dress. It ends at midnight EST tonight. HURRY!

Then, leave a comment on this post to double your chances because Trudy and Jeremy have also generously gifted a second copy of this great pattern for a giveaway here. I will do the drawing sometime this weekend. Probably Saturday, but with Christmas and all, I'm not promising. As long as the comments are still open on this post, the giveaway is still open.

OK, back to this post.

I am SO behind on everything. The Marine (Tyler) arrived last week, unexpectedly, and I kind of just threw my hands up and decided to have fun with him instead of honoring obligations. He changed bases and is now 8 hours closer for the next 3 years. Yay! He left Thursday but he'll be here again this Wednesday for the long Christmas weekend. Double yay! It had been 9 months since I had seen him and it was such a treat to have so many days with him. Plus, Alex was at his dad's in Virginia last weekend which gave Tyler and I some alone time. We did lots of stuff, none of which involved my sewing room. Hah.

But I did reacquaint myself in there this weekend and with my old BWOFs, and traced a couple of patterns to make a "track suit" for weekend wear. I'm sorely lacking in casual clothes at the moment.

Even before starting, I didn't forget what a Royal PITA it is to trace BWOFs, which made me procrastinate throughout the whole process, but both patterns are now traced. And that's all the "sewing" I've done lately. I would MUCH RATHER tape together a hundred PDFs. But, as I was looking through the magazine inserts, I saw so many patterns I want to make. Even TEN YEARS later, many of these BWOFs are fashionable and so much more interesting than most of what's out there in printed or PDF patterns. Sigh. No pain, no gain, right? Looks like I'll need to invest in some Swedish Tracing Paper.

Here's what I'm making, hopefully.

And proof that BWOF/BS loves to recycle ... does this one look familiar? Actually, I think this pattern is older and the one I did trace is the "newer" version. I may get some motivation to lay out my tracing over this pattern sheet and really compare.

Now, go enter the giveaways! I'm hoping to be back here briefly before Christmas, but if not, Merry Merry to everyone!!

Starting B5566

So here's how my thought process went last night, through this morning.

1. I want to make a different pattern for the houndstooth skirt. Maybe princess seams with a contoured waistband.
2. I'm pretty sure I know what I have on hand from the Big 3/4 and I don't think there's anything there.
3. I haven't looked at my Burda WOFs in a while, so I'll pull them out.
4. Hmm. I'm guessing I'm a 48 in Burda WOF.
5. Thumb, thumb, thumb through the patterns.
6. Oh, I like that one. Drat. It only goes up to a 42. At this point tracing is enough. I don't want to grade it too.
7. Thumb, thumb, thumb.
8. Another possibility.
9. Another 42.
10. And so on.
11. An hour later, it's 3 AM and I need to go to sleep.
12. Wake up this morning and realize that I really do NOT want to do princess seams on a houndstooth check, esp since I only have 1 yard of it and can't do a bias panel cheat. What was I thinking??
13. I don't feel like going through all the Burdas again.
14. So I'll start thumbing through my Big 3/4s, this time looking for a very plain darted pencil skirt.
15. Nothing. Really, nothing?
16. How can I NOT have a plain pencil skirt pattern?
17. Changing gears again and narrowing it down to 2 or 3 not-quite-plain possibilities.
18. Butterick 5566 it is.
19. This one in brown with the pattern weight next to it, View B.

20. I figure I can do the pieced waist without too much fabric, and worst case, maybe use some faux leather from the stash.
21. Look at the pattern envelope to decide on a size.
22. Measure myself.
24. Realize I had TOTALLY guessed too big for my Burda WOF sizing. Slap forehead. Oh well, don't feel like backtracking.
25. Press and cut out pattern pieces for View  B.

Only then do I really look at the pattern instructions and realize that View A (lower left and right corners) is actually just a plain darted pencil skirt with AN OVERLAY. But I'm already mentally committed to View B, so I cut a muslin and sewed it. And here I am, channeling my inner Peter Lappin with a sheet skirt.

It fits perfectly with no alterations in the sheet (except I need to add more length to turn a hem), but my real fabric is thicker and I want to line it, so I'm going to add 3/8" to each sideseam to account for the extra bulk. I'm also going to sew it so that I can easily take apart the sideseams when I need to take it in. I don't want this to be a short-term disposable. And since it fits so well, the other views are sparking my interest again too. (My mojo always sparks in December, when I have a zillion other things to do.)

I don't think I'll be using a contrast at the waist but instead will cut those pieces on the bias and interface them for stability. Of course, I haven't even measured the actual fabric cut yet so that plan (like all my others) could change.

But first I have to get publicly presentable and head off to Joann's for a zipper (or 20). I will not buy fabric. I will not buy fabric. I. WILL. NOT. BUY. FABRIC.

Burda Plus Magazine 02-2008 #404, and more

I'm feeling productive this morning as I actually did everything I had planned for the sewing room this weekend. That doesn't happen too often.

First, I finished up the fiddly tasks, which included hemming the sleeves of the Vogue cardigan, adding hem facings to my brown pants to finally finish the edges, and adding back pockets to the green pants that match the Vogue cardigan.

Next up, I cut out and sewed this top:



The pattern is from the February 2008 issue of Burda Plus magazine, design #404. I've made this top two times before so it's a TNT, but this is my first one with long sleeves. The first time I made this, the final pattern was morphed between the Burda pattern and my TNT Ottobre 02/2007 tees. Ottobre fits me better in the armhole and has better knit sleeves drafts. Burda's sleevecaps for knits are always way too high.

You can't see much detail in my photo, but the neckline is shirred with elastic thread. The line drawing below shows that better.


Finally, last night I cut another Jalie 2806 (the scoopneck waterfall top), with sleeves borrowed from another Ottobre top. The fabric for this is a print which will go with my brown and green pants, plus a pair of RTW black velour pants I've decided I'm taking on the trip. I hope to work on this top in bits and pieces during the week.

Bad Pics

Here's some pics of recent makes. Sorry, the menfolk were off doing men things so I had to resort to the mirror shots as usual.

The recent BWOF seamed jeans, front:



Back:



The Hot Patterns Kyoto skirt:



The wallpaper shirt and BWOF jeans (aka S3684/B5300 morph):


I notice that I have 4-legged company in every single photo. ;-)

Weekday Sewing

Highly unusual these days, but I actually sewed on a weekday, and that's the proof above. I snuck away from work yesterday for a bit up to the sewing room where I cut out my jeans. Then, since I was on a roll and the bug was biting, I started to sew too. I had to force myself to go back to work. This work stuff really gets in the way of things. ;-)

I love making jeans. I know I'm probably weird but I find all the topstitching to be very relaxing, in that mindless, lose-yourself kind of way. Good thing, because there is a LOT of topstitching to be done on these.

I did add a fly front but kept the same pockets per the pattern. I knew I wouldn't want to spend the extra time to change out the pockets and I was right. I'm also adding traditional jeans back patch pockets. My rear needs something to break up the wide expanse. ;-)

I would've continued working on these last night but I had to go to the grocery store. The cupboards were nearly bare, which is not a good thing in this house. Then I threw some laundry into the washer, got caught up in the football game on TV, and slowly felt all the energy drain from my body. Not the best time to be in the sewing room trying to sew straight lines.

Work is a teeny bit slower this week so I'm going to try to put in some 10-20-30 minutes blocks of time to make more progress on these jeans. Of course, it's still about 900 degrees outside so I probably won't even want to wear them for another month.

Rambling Thoughts

I wasn't very productive in the sewing room today in terms of output, but I did make some decisions on what I'm making next and why.

However, there was a little bit of actual output as I did cut and sew a muslin for these Petite Plus jeans:



Overall, they fit very well straight out of the envelope. That's not to say no alterations are necessary, but really only some of my usual ones and not all of them. So, that's good.

I know they are a tapered leg pant. And ugh to that. Easy enough to change though. But as I contemplated the fit alterations I'd have to do and the lack of time during the week to do them, I decided to put the pattern away for a bit longer and, instead, revisit a Burda WOF pattern I made and reviewed almost 2 years ago. (How can it be TWO years ago already?) These …



… 01/2008 #132, which are very similar to the PP jeans. The main difference is the Burdas are seamed in the front as well as the back, do not have a fly front, and have different pockets. But the best thing about the Burdas is the pattern is already altered — and they still fit (thanks to the semi-elastic waist!). Making these will be pretty much cut and sew. I say "pretty much" because I'm thinking of adding a fly front zip and possibly changing the front pockets. Adding the fly will be a no-brainer. The pockets will take a little more brain power. Knowing my schedule, I'll probably just wuss out and leave them as-is.

So during the week, I'm hoping to get the Burda pattern cut out in some stretch denim so they're ready to sew next weekend. When those are done, I'd like to revisit the PP pattern because (1) they're really close out of the envelope and (2) I think there should be more PP reviews on Pattern Review since I've had such good luck with these patterns so far.

The other reason I wasn't very productive today is because from 6:30-9:30 AM, I was glued to Youtube watching Trudy and Jeremy of Hot Patterns. I've been on/off the fence with this pattern line but Trudy is one heck of a saleswoman — and fun to watch. I ended up buying 3 Hot Patterns this morning. I expect them to be here Tuesday since Trudy and Jeremy live/work only an hour south of me. OK, just kidding T&J if by chance you're reading. Wednesday will be fine. :-)

So, what got me off the fence? Actually seeing Trudy wearing some of her designs (and her wicked sense of humor!). You see, like me, Trudy is decidedly not the same body type as her pattern illustrations. She's a curvy girl and I believe her pattern size is the size she starts with and then grades up/down from there. That gives me hope that these patterns are really better for curvy women than tall stick figures. I hope I'm right. The patterns are easy sew/easy wear so hopefully they won't languish too long before I get to them, especially since the finished pieces would be perfect for my Florida lifestyle.

What did I buy? (1) The Weekender Sunshine top, which I've wanted forever, (2) The Marrakesh drawstring pants which I could see myself living in, and (3) the Kyoto skirt, which is either going to look good on me or it's going to be so very wrong. LOL! There's a lot going on with that skirt, but I'm attracted to it just the same. Fingers crossed the attraction is not like a moth to a flame.

Not Loving It Yet

It's nice to be the boss of yourself. I declared a PSA (Personal Sewing Afternoon) and hid myself away in the sewing room. It felt so decadent, but also so good!

It's done, except for the lower hem and trimming the ties. Except it isn't done. It's too big. I forgot to take my own advice from the previous makes and take in the center front. So now I'm contemplating ripping out the front seam and sewing it again. Well, at least ripping the coverstitching. I'll probably just serge off the original serged edges. But before I do that, I'm making a Big Red Note on the pattern.

The neckline is trimmed with an organza-like pleated ruffle elastic trim, gifted to me by my dear Aussie friend Belinda (waving madly!). It appears almost metallic in the first photo, but it's not at all. It just doesn't like to be photographed as it really looks. This blurry shot was the best I could do.



I want to continue sewing this weekend, but I have no idea WHAT I want to sew. Huge mental block. I think I'll curl up with my pattern notebooks tonight while vegging in front of the tube. Hopefully, inspiration will strike. It had better, considering all the fabric I've been buying lately. Ahem.

Quickie Tee. Not.

Next up, a re-make that's been on my To Do list for a year. The next version will be the fabric above, which I'm not sure I even like anymore. The previous tee is below. Actually, it's on its way to the rag pile. I've worn the heck out of it and it shows. I'm sad. I loved this top (when it looked like this).



The pattern is Burda WOF 08-2006 #130.

I cut it out yesterday (Saturday), thinking I would have it done before the weekend was over and then I never made it back into the sewing room. But it is cut out, so hopefully I can sew it in spurts during the week and end up with a finished tee by next weekend. And maybe it will be warm again by then. That cold air you Northern folks sent down our way is most definitely Not Welcome. ;-)

Finished (and it's still early in the week!)

The top is done! And even better, I like it. Here it is with the brown capris I recently made. This will be tomorrow's outfit.

Here's just the top:



And a close-up of the front:



I can't take any credit for putting the fabrics together. They are both from the same piece of border-edged fabric.

I used an Ottobre sleeve, which is gathered top and bottom, and then added a band from the contrast fabric.



Here's the final back view:



And what it looked like before I realized my cutting goof. I really should look out for these things more carefully. This was completely accidental, but glaring once I saw the pics I took on Sunday.



It didn't take too long to rip out the old bottom, cut a new one and sew everything back together. It would've been a lot worse if I had noticed *after* I had sewn the sideseams.

A Little Sunday Sewing

My sewing weekend was shorter than I had planned since the construction workers putting in a new sidewalk on our road cut my telephone and internet lines Friday morning and I wasn't back up and running until late Friday afternoon. Grrr.

The telephone company had to run brand new lines from the street to our house, which is more than 1,000 feet of line. Apparently the construction workers have been doing this all week up and down my road but the bright side of their incompetence is at least they now have a direct line to who to call to get it fixed fast and the technician was at my house within an hour. No internet gave me a chance to catch up on some non-crucial paperwork for work but it also put me a day behind on the more important stuff, which meant working Saturday too.

The telephone company still has to come back out and bury the new line and the construction company owes me a new mailbox since they totalled that too. More fun stuff to deal with tomorrow.

But I did finally get into the sewing room this afternoon. I putzed around with the Vogue Betzina jeans pattern, comparing it to a TNT BWOF pattern and sorting out pieces from the Vogue pattern that I want to morph onto the BWOF pattern. But then I decided I really wanted to actually finish something so I rolled those patterns up, stuck them on a shelf on my cutting table, and decided to return to them later in the week.

Unfortunately, I didn't actually finish this top either. I couldn't let well enough alone and had to make design changes to my TNT pattern (BWOF 05-2006-111) by adding the pieced-in waistband front and back, and then I fought with neck binding for probably an hour. The binding strip kept wanting to curl off the edge of the neckline and also twist as it fed into the binder. I really needed 3 hands for this one, but settled for 2 hands and a mouth. It was quite a sight to see, I'm sure, but I did finally get it done evenly and to my satisfaction. I really didn't want to have to settle for "almost" so I kept re-doing it.

I haven't pressed the waistband so it's looking very puckery in this pic, the sleeves aren't in yet, and the sideseams are just pinned to Zillie. But I'll do all of that in the morning, plus hems, and then it will be done. This is one of my favorite patterns and I've been meaning to make it again all summer long. Today being the official last day of summer means nothing here in Florida. It will still be summer for at least 2 more months, although thankfully the humidity is starting to subside a little.

BTW, the crotch towels were a big hit, although DS' team still lost the game. The comments some of you left just cracked me up. But then how often do you get to comment on crotch towels? ;-)

Have a good week! Hopefully, I'll check in before next weekend to show you the finished top.

Happy Mother's Day

Being a mother is the best thing that ever happened to me, and I love my wonderful sons so very much! But today will be a low-key Mother's Day for us as I really just want to be a homebody as long as possible before I'm out in the big, mean working world. ;-) We'll do a raincheck dinner on a less busy restaurant day and I'll enjoy it more then. But don't let that stop YOU! Best wishes for a wonderful day with your own moms and/or kids.

* * * * *

Yesterday I worked on a couple of pieces to coordinate with items already made. First up is my "Inspired by Carolyn" top. She's been sewing a few tie-neck shells and after seeing the first one, I was hooked and knew I'd be stealing borrowing the idea.



After sewing the skirt, I had just enough of the paisley print left to eek out a simple top. I used my TNT Ottobre Woman tee pattern, #5, the one with the the shaped vee neckband. Instead of using the neckband/facing, I cut two 3" strips selvedge-to-selvedge (yes, the pleats really run horizontally) and seamed them together at what would be the center back, and attached the tie to the neckband. There's a few more steps than that, of course, but the end result is a pretty top that's as comfortable as a tee without looking like it *is* a tee.



I left the bottom and sleeve edges unfinished. This fabric is a knit — with no stretch — and doesn't ravel. Hemming this stuff makes for a wavy edge (see the skirt) and while I love it for the skirt, I didn't want that for the top. It's a good thing too, because I didn't have enough fabric left to cut with a bottom hem allowance anyway.



Next up was another fast BWOF skirt (04/2008 #131) from the same lime slinky as the BWOF shirred-neckline top.







On the horizon will be a jacket from this fabric. I don't know what or when yet, and this won't be an interview jacket, but I'd like to have it for summer. The fabric goes with various greens and corals which are already clothes in my closet and to-be-made clothes waiting in the stash.



Speaking of Carolyn (Hi Carolyn!), she asked in a recent comment if I had at least one suit (i.e., matching top and bottom) for interviews. I don't. And I won't, because I just haven't been stashing fabric in long enough lengths for an entire suit. I could probably buy something (and have to alter it!) but I don't think it's necessary. Looking professional, yes. Looking like a banker, not here in Florida. Unless you're a banker. I do have plans to make a solid brown skirt to wear with the taupe jacket; however, it won't match the brown jacket, so more conservative but still no suit. I wish I had more of either fabric. From now on, I'll know to buy twice as much. LOL!

Photos and Answers

The Burda blouse is done, laundered, pressed (arghhh!) and reviewed, here. As I mentioned in the review, the wind was really howling when I was taking these photos (which was a comedy in itself, try to snap pics between gusts) and the back view shows how it plastered the blouse against my butt. There is actually plenty of ease back there but you'd never know it by this pic.



The Jalie skirt was originally reviewed, here. My expression here looks rather odd, but at least it's a modeled pic, right? And no, Carolyn, I don't have a brown cardigan. But I'm thinking I should since it would blend into my wardrobe rather nicely.

Click on any of the photos to see larger versions.

* * * * *

Now to answer some questions from recent comments.

Nancy K, (re the Jalie skirt above): "This is view D?"

Yes, view D. The skirt with the 8 gores and non-godet flounce.

Laceflower (re the Burda blouse): "Debbie, you feeling OK? This is the tamest fabric I've seen you purchase."

LOL! Well, sometimes I do need some boring solid colors in the wardrobe. They can't all be wild prints.

Anna Szabo (re the Burda blouse): "Great blouse and I love the fabric I have a question. We appear to have similar shapes. I know you wrote me before that you draft up to the desired size using a similar increment that is used between the sizes of the existing pattern. I got the impression that you also used software to draft your pattern. I do not have the software but would like to do this shirt in my size. 16-18 in the big 4 patterns. Do you think this is possible without the software?"

Thank you! Yes, it's very possible to make this without software and without the pattern. You'll need a fitted blouse that has a side dart and you'll need to be willing to chop up a pattern and make a couple of muslins. The previous posts, here and here, show how to morph a regular fitted blouse into the shapes of the Burda pattern.

Nancy K: "I just looked at your jeans fly front zipper tutorial which is really excellent. How about a tutorial on that great waistband?"

When I make my next pair of jeans/capris, I'll try to remember to take photos. I'm not sure that it's tutorial-worthy though. ;-) Is there something specific you have a question about?

Alison: "… I believe you only want to baste one of them (the one that gets topstitched). This is because the placket is slipped in between the folded-in placket and the blouse and is caught in the topstitching. Now this can't be done if it's already been basted shut (Luckily I'm lazy and only basted one side)."

I did finally figure out what Burda meant, but thank you. I wanted to point out to you, though, that when Burda instructions state to "baste," they usually mean with pins. So, if you keep that in mind, you won't have a problem with something being unmoveable because it's been stitch-basted.

Joanne: "I copied a rtw blouse, got the "V" neckline perfect, but my sleeve doesn't fit my armhole, so I'll need to make another sleeve, that's my problem. Can you tell me how to draft a sleeve that will fit into an existing armhole?"

I've never drafted a sleeve from scratch in my life. But what I would do is to use a sleeve and armhole that I know work for me and then copy them onto the new pattern. Just substitute the good armhole by tracing over it onto the new pattern and then use the sleeve that goes with it. I'm all about doing things the easy way. ;-) HTH

Nancy K: "Thought you might be interested to know how your old posts are a great resource. I am making a welt pocket in pants and I referred back to this post to see where you put yours and what you used for stabilizer."

Thank you Nancy. I'm glad to know that what I write is helpful down the road.

Ann's Fashion Studio: "What pattern do you use for the boys boxers? They look great."
Thank you! I used a now-OOP Simplicity pattern, Simp 8150. I'm sure there must be a replacement pattern available or you can probably find this one on ebay.

Becky W (re the Button foot): "Looks way more functional than my Janome button sewing on foot. Mine does not have the elevation of the button on the garment. I end up getting the button in place and using a sharp pointed wooden skewer (spelling?) from the kitchen to give something to stitch over to give some thread shank to the button. Any ideas for a comperable generic?"

I wish I could be helpful on this but I tend to buy most feet directly from my Viking dealer. I do have some generics, but this isn't one of them. Maybe this one will work?

Before I Forget

I had meant to show this comparison earlier but then I started working on muslins and the pattern pieces were scattered all over. The white paper on the bottom is my PMB-ified pattern, the sheer pieces are the tracing (w/o seam allowances) of the size 42 from BWOF after I did that "mock" FBA on it, last month. They really aren't too far off in general shape. My pattern is wider, of course, because I am. I see now that I should've copied the angle from the bib section instead of guessing, but my second guess turned out very close so it's all good.

Thank you everyone for the nice comments about the blouse! It was fun having you along on the project, encouraging and motivating me. It will be nice to have this addition to my summer wardrobe.

Speaking of which … I've already moved on and have cut out a new summer skirt. I'll sew it up after dinner and will then have something to wear with the blouse when I take pics. It's my TNT Jalie 2681.



I'm using the same fabric I used for this Onion top.



But … I hacked off the long sleeves of that Onion top today. I wore it exactly twice over the winter because of those darn sleeves. The wrist/cuff area fits fine at my wrists, but it's too snug to push up my arms, which is what I usually do with long sleeves since our "winters" are not exactly frigid most days. I love the fabric and I hated to see it mocking me hanging in the closet, so it will now be a spring/summer top. And it will match the skirt, if I want a 2-piece dress look. I'll hold judgment on that until I see how they look together.

I eeked the skirt out of every last inch of that fabric. All 8 gores and 1 flounce piece were cut without a problem, but I had to chop the second flounce in the middle and add a seam. I'll make that the back flounce and no one, especially me, will ever notice it.

In the End, the Weather Won

The blouse is done. I need to wash it, though, to remove the marks and basting glue before I can give it a good pressing. Once that is done, I'll take a pic of me wearing it and write up my entry for the contest. (I think this will be the first PR contest for which I actually enter something!)

Overall, I like it and it fits very well. Yay muslins! But as Cidell mentioned in her blog today (BTW, awesome blouse Cidell!), it takes some getting re-used to wearing a blouse made from non-stretch fabric, as this one is. I feel very prim and proper. LOL!

I ended up using peach (yes, the fabric is really peach, not pink) buttons from stash, which are actually and amazingly the same shade of peach, just darker. When I auditioned them last night, I wasn't thrilled. But they started looking much better the more it poured rain outside and now they've actually grown on me so I may just end up keeping them. That, and who the heck wants to remove six buttons only to sew on six more?

So, what should I be asking Carolyn to shop for in NYC for me? ;-)

Sneak Peek

The blouse is coming along. If the sewing continues to go well, I'll have it done this afternoon. Well, except for buttons which I have yet to buy. I'll bring a swatch of the fabric to the store with me, but I'm already thinking that I'll end up with very basic white-ish buttons because, again, the fabric is telling me to keep it simple. I'm also thinking of covering one button to see how that looks.

The next thing to do is to decide how long I want the blouse to be so I can incorporate the button placket/facing into the hem at the center front corners. Then it's on to the collar and stand.

Ah, the button placket … See anything weird going on there?



This is something I'd never point out in real life, but since you're all sewing with me, I'll come clean. ;-)

In hindsight I obviously wasn't thinking too clearly when I originally decided to cut the plackets on the bias, thinking how nice the stripes would look on the diagonal. Well, that was a good thought, except when the button placket is to be attached to bib sections that are already on the bias. With the placket and the bib on the bias, the whole front would look lopsided since the diagonals would chevron off-center. Oops. And double oops because by first cutting two plackets on the bias, I really limited what I had left for usable scraps.

Luckily, I had enough to cut one placket on the lengthwise grain and since only the outermost placket will be the visual focus (and the store was closed), I decided I could get away without buying more fabric. So I have one straight and one on the bias. We'll call it a Design Feature, and move on.

Letting the Fabric Speak

I started sewing the blouse yesterday, and this is my fabric (ETA: bought at Joann's last weekend). I stalled last night as I was contemplating the topstitching. I thought I wanted a thread that really stood out. But no matter what I tried, it just didn't look right. The darker tones were looking like they were trying too hard to be topstitching and contrasting in a bad way with the woven stripes of the fabric.

I decided to go with the lighter thread (the one at the top) to match the fabric. It won't stand out, but it doesn't need to. The stripes are enough. And, hey, it means no thread changes as I sew which is definitely A Good Thing. ;-)

Hopefully construction will continue smoothly and I'll finish the blouse over the weekend, with enough time to enter it into the Fitted Blouse Contest on PatternReview.com.

Final Muslin

Muslin #3, and the last one for this top. I'm ready to cut bait and fish. Er, I mean cut fabric and sew. ;-)

I traced the BWOF collar and stand for the size 42 and they fit the neckline (and my neck) perfectly without any alteration so that was easy enough. I also went ahead and cut the back with a center seam, which I've decided I like and I'm keeping for the final. I eased the back shoulder darts to the front piece and I'll stick with that method for the final since the dart is only 1/2" wide total. The last thing to tweak is those stupid back waist darts. I'll see if DH is willing to pin them for me as the last step for final blouse. Well, I know he'd be willing. It will be a matter of whether he's good at it or not. LOL!

Making muslins delays having the final garment to wear but once I start, I find that I actually enjoy sewing them in an oddball sort of relaxing way. Cutting out goes quickly, there's no interfacing to mess with and the sewing is fast and ugly. And then the end result is progress you can actually track. I guess that explains why it was really no big deal to cut and sew three separate muslins for this blouse. Plus the knowledge that I can now just cut and sew the real blouse without interruption.

(Carolyn, I'll send along this final muslin with the pattern. I'm pretty sure my shoulders are squarer than yours but at least it will give you a jumping off point.)

The real fabric is in the dryer. Fingers crossed that it doesn't come out in one big unwieldy pile of wrinkles.