New Look 6097: Modeled

Here's the one I made this past Sunday. (And I really need a haircut - appointment for Saturday yay!)

And the first one I made back in July. I took this pic back then but don't think I actually shared it here.

I made the belt but I never actually wear it. I just wear a chain belt with it, or no belt at all. But since the dress has been in the wardrobe rotation a lot in the last couple of months, I knew I wanted another one. Bonus that it's such a fast project to cut and sew. I'll probably make another with 3/4 sleeves for "winter."

But my next projects will be skirts, since I joined Faye's Carnival of Skirts. Hope to see y'all join in too!

The Two-Month Dress

New Look 6802, finally finished.

A close-up of the twist overlay, which gets lost in the print unfortunately, and so the dress looks kind of blah from a normal distance. Oh well, it's not going to be a wardrobe showstopper, but it will be perfectly fine in the office rotation. And it will move into winter with a cardi layered over it. So, the end result is a win overall, even if a boring win.

The reason it was a two-month dress is this pattern piece right here. I KNEW when I saw it that it looked too skinny for my body but I foolishly plowed on ahead anyway. (Why do I do that?)

I got this far at the end of July. From the front, not so bad.

From the back, sausage casing to the max.

This is where it, and my sewing mojo, sat for the last two months:

To be fair, I haven't been missing because this dress beat me. I've just been involved in some other things, and with a pretty full closet, hadn't felt an overwhelming need to sew and the desire to sew went with that.

But the desire is back and not only did I cut out and sew a new version of NL6802 this weekend, I also cut and sewed another NL6097. So now I have TWO new dresses to wear this week.

And I've also been eyeing the fall fabrics in the stash and inspiration is setting in. I think the mojo may be back for a while.

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The fix for the sausage casing was to move the back skirt piece away from the fold 1" and then add a matching 1" to each side of the back bodice:

For completeness, these are the patterns for this weekend's makes:

Back in the Saddle

Stay tuned. There might even be a completed dress photo and blog post tomorrow.

New Look 6097: Almost Done

I don't know why it's so hard to get myself into the sewing room on work nights because once I'm there, I'm re-energized and I actually make progress.

The dress is almost done. All it needs is hems and a belt of some sort. I don't think I have enough fabric left for a tie/belt. I've just got some scraps loosely tied around me. Maybe I can do some creative piecing. Or I can look through the stash for a suitable solid brown.

Or I will buy one. This brown belt has seen better days and is too big anyway. I only put it on for an idea of a contrast belt.

Here's no belt and hands in the pockets. I still have a trail of elastic hanging down since I haven't trimmed it off yet. Attractive, no?

I probably won't finish this until next week. Tomorrow night I need to do some housecleaning in anticipation of my sister's Friday arrival. But there WILL be sewing next week because my new bright knit prints arrived today and the mojo is screaming.

New Look 6097: Wearable Muslin

My Simplicity/New Look patterns arrived in Saturday's mail. You should've seen the HUGE box that 6 patterns arrived in. Sheesh. But I digress.

I don't usually make wearable muslins. But since this pattern is straightforward enough, and I used my TNT Ottobre tee and Magic Pencil skirt as comparisons for sizing, AND I have brown/white and/or brown/ivory prints up the wazoo, I'm plunging ahead with real fabric. So this will either be wearable or it will be a wadder. And one piece of the brown prints will be out of the stash.

Even though the envelope has sizes 6-22 in the same envelope, the pattern pieces are not grouped all together so you can easily blend between neighboring sizes. What that means is I had to rough-cut the 3 groupings for each bodice piece (left and right are separate) and lay them over each other so I could have all the size lines visible through the tissue to blend between sizes. The waist edge at the front overlay was a little fiddly since it's pleated. I had to fold the pleats in place and then blend outward, make my blended-size cut, and unfold the pleats so the cut would include the extensions into the seam allowance. So, thumbs down to New Look for the non-consecutive groupings.

I had hoped to be further along but I had to re-do the neckline. Twice. Grrr. First I didn't stretch the clear elastic enough. Then too much. Then I was out of clear elastic so I just used regular 3/8" elastic and called it done.

Hopefully more progress will happen during the week after work since there won't be any sewing next weekend with my sister her visiting.

Progress on Butterick 4818

Slow progress, but progress. Although the alterations were simple, I just kept dragging my feet around other weekend activities. Now that the pattern is altered, a muslin tested, and everything is cut out, the mojo is back and I'm moving along.

Here's the front pattern piece. As you can hopefully see, the FBA is not huge — only about 3/4". I did have to move the entire dart down about 3/4" though. Even with the 1/2" shoulder pads per the pattern, the dart was still pointing to my chin. ;-)



I started with the 18 for chest and did NOT have to narrow the shoulders, which is unusual since that's a very regular alteration for me. I did scoop the armhole just a bit but that's more personal comfort preference than anything.

When I picked this pattern, one of the reasons I liked it was because of the way the underbust fit snugly and flattered the model. Yeah, I know they use clips, pins, etc., but I decided I could get the same look with "S" darts (see Threads #107). It took a few tries with pinning, basting, and marking, but I think I've got it now. The waist darts end closer to the apex than "normal," but I've seen plenty of patterns and RTW tops that do the same thing so I'm fine with that. Plus the dart seam tends to get lost it the print when it's on me anyway.




Speaking of the print … I actually managed to catch myself before making an ugly mistake. Usually, I cut back pieces that have a CB seam from doubled fabric, like you would for an On the Fold layout. But when you have a print that is anything but subtle, you'll more likely than not get an unpleasing visual between the halves. Like this:



However, if you cut the two pieces single layer, you can decide where to divide the motifs. Luckily I had enough fabric to cut one more back piece (and before I sewed anything), making the entire back look much better. Don't you agree?



I'll continue working on this today and maybe I'll have a finished jacket to show you tomorrow. Although not if the dogs have anything to say about it. ;-)

New Patterns & Answers to Comments

The results of my "spree" at Joann's on Friday night:

Simp 3506 - Looks like a fast & comfortable dress and top to whip up. The jacket is too shapeless for me though. The pants will never fit in the size range I bought.

Simp 2923 - Princess lines and raglan sleeves. I like the combination.



Simp 4045 - This is the jacket (brown, bottom left) that I'm thinking of morphing into that JCP inspiration jacket, although it won't be an exact morph since this doesn't have raglan sleeves. I'm thinking more "essence of inspiration." I'll have to create a separate neck yoke since what you see on the jacket is just topstitching. I'll never make the skirts because they are too full for me, but the dress and top are cute. But that dress doen't fit the model very well, does it?



Simp 3631 - Or I could use this one that was recommended by Belinda and Carolyn. I do have the issue of Sew Stylish that shows narrowing the sleeve so I should be all set, right? ;-)



Simp 3678 - Likely that I'll never make this but you never know. I like all of the dresses and think the sleeveless jumper would be especially cute under a jacket.



New Look 6632 - I thought the angle of the jacket would be a flattering diagonal line for me. Sort of trendy but at the same time, not. I'd make the shorter version, but a bit longer than shown. If I make it at all.



New Look 6788 - I like the dress. The square neckline of the jacket might be a bit too fuddy-duddy. I bought this and then saw Carolyn's dress and was doubly inspired. Of course if I made this dress, I'd have to wear a jacket and never take it off. If Joann's had had two coordinating linen/blends, they would've come home with me too. But Joann's usually disappoints and was no exception that night.



And two which aren't on the website yet:

Simp 2899 - Another raglan sleeve/princess seams combination. I'm definitely making the jacket on the left. But I wouldn't wear it buttoned all the way up, if at all.



Simp 2896 - The dress I'm currently in the process of altering to use with the leftover lining fabric. The blouse is very much like my recent coral blouse but with a little bit lower neckline. I'll definitely morph them as that coral blouse is my newest favorite and I'm going to wear it out soon if I don't have another. If I have enough fabric, I might add sleeves to the dress so I have the option of taking off the jacket. (Sleeveless and me in an office don't mix.)





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Answers to some comments:

Carolyn asked, "Are you going to make a few other pieces - skirt, pants another top so that you can mix and match all of the pieces for interviews?"

I'm definitely making more pieces. Whether they all mix and match, probably not. I tend to sew as "outfits" and not a SWAP. And I'll be filling in with RTW because there's no way I can sew an entire office wardrobe in a matter of weeks. And, yes, I already thought about the 2nd interview scenario. ;-)

Nancy K asked, (About buttons) "There are some good places online. Have you tried any?"

I haven't yet. The problem is I don't *know* I need buttons until I know what the fabric will be and I'm well into the project and then I'm too impatient. I have a hard time picking out buttons for garments which don't yet exist. Not a problem with fabric, just with buttons. Which is why I don't have a good button stash.

CandyO asked, "This is your first lined jacket? Wow. That makes me feel a little better about my own abilities, since I just assumed you were awesome at all things sewing. ... Is that the McCall's Nanette Lepore knockoff?"

You're funny! I am most definitely NOT "awesome at all things sewing." Yes, this is my first lined jacket. And even with this, I haven't lined the sleeves so I still have that hump to jump at some later point. There just hasn't been much need for a lined jacket in my SAHM world. I know there's plenty of other sewing related things/skills I haven't done/mastered yet. That's one of the things I love/hate about sewing ... so much to learn and stay challenged, so much to screw up on. LOL!

And sort of. The jacket is actually KS 3368, with the waistbands and sleeves inspired by that McCall's pattern.

Myrna asked, "I know who Belinda is but who is Carolyn? Does she have a blog I'd like to read."

Carolyn is DiaryofASewingFanatic. I bet you already follow her blog and didn't realize they were one and the same.