New Spring Top Success

Edited to add a photo of the now-hemmed and completed top.


Original photo:


It's nice to have a successful sewing day! All that's left to be done is the bottom hem (and trimming the ties), but I ran out of one thread on my coverstitch machine after hemming the second sleeve so I've got to wind another bobbin before continuing. I thought it was a good place to stop for the evening. I'll finish the top tomorrow morning when I get up and I'll be wearing it for the rest of the day. (Before anyone asks, the pattern is from the August 2006 issue of Burda WOF.)

Speaking of my coverstitch machine … until I sat down at it today, I had forgotten how long it's been since I used it. I've been sewing pants and a jacket which had no coverstitching in their construction, and the twist tops didn't quite make it to the hemming stage. It was fun to bond with that little machine again today.

This was one of those projects that just came together with hardly any effort. The fabric is from a recent coop purchase, the neckline trim I've had for eons now matched perfectly, and I had a spool of matching thread already on the rack which was surprising since I don't sew these colors very often. I even remembered that I needed to narrow the shoulders on this top before I sewed the sleeves on, and I managed to keep the big flowers from becoming boobie bullseyes. Good Karma all around.

Here's a close-up of the trim. It's plush elastic with little pom-poms knitted into one edge.


And a close-up of the coverstitched princess seaming.


This is great fabric (cotton with a bit of Lycra) and I know I'll be wearing this top lots all through the summer. It fits great and is ultra comfortable. And it's not striped! ;-)

Yep, I love a good sewing day.

* * * * *

Do you think he's comfortable with his new family? This is where Chili's been while I've been typing this entry. He really wants me to move upstairs to the bed, but he looks pretty content while he's waiting. ;-) We've had him exactly 1 month now.

Un-Twisting

I'm taking a little break from the latest twist top. Not because I'm sick of it (OK, just a little), but mostly because I haven't decided what fabric to use for a non-stripey version. No, I still don't like the last version and never will, but thank you for all the comments and suggestions. I can be OCD on getting something "just right" but this isn't going to be one of those times. (So Bev, email me!)

Today I'm going to make another version of this Burda WOF top:


I loved this one, but the interlock I used kept growing. I gave it to my sister when she was here in January since she has broader shoulders than I do and the stretchy upper width fits her much better than me. I have another lime top to wear with this favorite skirt so the give-away didn't affect the outfit.

Spring has definitely sprung here so my attention is on lighter colors, floral prints, and short sleeves. I'd like to get this top done and then move onto a pair of khaki capris. Maybe I'll do a final print version of the twist top in between since I really want a wearable top from that pattern.

Sorry Bev, Not Diggin' the Stripes

I'm tossing in the towel on this one too. I don't like it. It feels great, the way Slinky does, but I just do NOT like the stripes.

Especially in the back. Ugh.


The chevron effect is cool … when I'm not wearing it. When it's on me, all roads point to and emphasize The Big Butt. Granted, this is a twisted and most unflattering angle, but trust me, it doesn't get much better. The vertical stripes down my arms are not a good look either, since they curve out where my flab does and draw attention to their non-slimness.

On the bright side, I like the seaming detail on the front (which is what first inspired me to copy this top) and I think it actually reduces the bustal projection visual. Do you agree? I think if the seaming was actually below my bust, objects would be larger than they appear in the mirror (or something to that effect). I will try this top one more time in a non-stripe and without the back seaming. If that doesn't work, I'll give up once and for all.

So, Bev, free to a good home (plus shipping). :grin: You'll have to hem the sleeves and bottom edge, though, since I quit on this one.

A Sewing Room Challenge: At This Very Moment

Stacy Sews and Stephanie Sews laid down the challenge to take photos of your sewing room as it is, without straightening it up first. Sharon Sews accepted it and motivated me to do the same (although I broke the pattern of blog names). So, here are photos of my sewing room taken 10 minutes ago. It's not too bad because I can't stand to work in big clutter so I tend to keep things put away unless I'm using them. (Sorry ladies!)

Starting at the door into my sewing room and then going around the room:

This is what you see when you first walk in. Zillie (my dressform) is modeling my current WIP (work in progress), which you'll recognize if you're a regular reader. The machines are set up on my table, plastic bins on wheels hold most of my notions and other supplies, and my ironing board is against the adjacent wall. Zillie is blocking my coverstitch machine, which also sits on the table.


You also see my pattern cabinet when you first enter, but I couldn't fit it into the same photo as the shot above. On top are mostly things that belong and a few that don't. The blue looseleaf binders on the left are my pattern envelopes filed in sheet protectors by garment category. The envelope contents are in the cabinet below. Next to those are 3 sewing-themed stacking boxes. They are awaiting placement on the shelves that DH keeps promising me he'll hang up "real soon now." (Sigh.) Next to those is a rectangular basket with my "on deck" patterns and new patterns that I haven't yet entered in The System. In front of the basket is the leftover purple knit from muslin/tester #2 of the top I'm currently working on. I haven't yet put it back in the stash. In front of the pattern binders is a pile of miscellaneous which includes a pants muslin, a couple of magazines, and some pattern tracings. Between that pile and the purple knit is a stack of swatches I save to send to Belinda in Australia. (We exchange swatches from our sewing projects, which is fun because I get to really "feel" what she makes and vice versa.) Finally, on the floor in front of the pattern cabinet is a pile of folded denims that somehow haven't made it into the stash closet yet. I thought I would sew these faster than I have.


Next is the "pressing center" which kind of drives me crazy. I need to hang shelves or a pegboard or a slatboard on the wall to store my pressing notions. (I think I've decided on slatboard and now I need to buy one.) Right now, they're stacked in plastic baskets on the floor or laid on the flimsy shelf below the board. I also use the ironing board as a cutting table adjunct. IOW, when I'm using the cutting table to actually cut, all those things which I stacked on the table get moved to the ironing board. Right now, that includes a stack of patterns and WOFs, my big clear ruler, and a folded-up piece of cardboard that really needs to hit the trash can. There's also a blouse waiting to be ironed which is just laid across the bins to the right. (I hate ironing, so it's been there longer than it should.)

Under the ironing board is a paper bag of I-don't-remember-what, a cut of sherpa fleece for dog napping, and you can see my "basket" trashcan in the foreground. I love this for a trashcan because it has a handle which makes it easy to grab and move near me when I switch between machines.


Moving around, next is the cutting table. It's looking pretty good. The scraps on it are from the current WIP and also the nearly-complete purple knit test before that. Also visible are my reading glasses (ugh), the TV remote, the pattern I'm using, some pattern weights, and one of my magnetic pincushions (the other is on the machine table). Under the table is a rolling cart which used to be in the laundry room of my other house. The top shelf holds a bin with my cutting and writing implements, as well as my tape dispenser, and the pattern weights. The second shelf is rulers and curves (the ruler on the ironing board usually goes here but since I was just using it, it was still out — really!). The bottom shelf holds a couple old muslins I should toss, and hmm ... I forget what's in that plastic box. Whatever it is, I'm sure I need it. ;-)

There is another short shelf at the end of the cutting table. On top of it are various adhesive sprays, a bin with other most-used notions (Wonder Tape, tape measures, gluesticks, etc.). Next to it is a pile of home dec stuff I want to work on one of these days. (Yeah, right.) The bins on the second shelf are lingerie supplies, the bins on the bottom are buttons and large knit scraps for preemie sewing.


Behind the cutting table are the TV and big bookcase. The bookcase holds my sewing "library," DVDs, and magazines. You can see my Burda WOFs stacked up on the 4th shelf. The white binders on that shelf hold the WOF newsprint "At a Glance" inserts so I can look at styles without dragging out each magazine.


This door is just to the left of the big bookcase and leads to the bathroom. Next to that is my mirror corner. STP (tracing paper) rolls are in a basket (which you can't see) and in the corner next to the wicker trunk which holds my embroidery cards and CDs. That's a roll of poly batting that doesn't have a real home so there it sits.


Almost full circle. The entry door is just to the right of the thread. The stash closet speaks for itself. ;-)


This cabinet (which my father made BTW) actually sits at the top of the staircase and is just outside my sewing room. I included it here because right now it's a sewing room addition since it's holding (1) new fabric, (2) things I want to put on those shelves DH is promising, and (3) has the to-be-hung bulletin board leaning against it. The inside is actually not holding fabric. Yet.

OK, who's next??

Still diggin' the stripes, maybe?

Stripes isn't really what I had in mind for this top but I think maybe they're growing on me. (Ya think? This is the third stripe-y version, after all.) This latest fabric is the slinky that I bought about a month ago from www.fashionfabricsclub.com and the colors are much closer to the swatch below.



I don't know why I keep picking the stripes because it means every piece has to be cut single layer and very carefully so the stripes match up. Well, actually, I do know why. It's because I'm still not willing to cut into the more-loved stuff yet. I wasn't thrilled with this slinky when it arrived so I was willing to sacrifice it if necesssary instead of granting it space in the stash. It's great quality slinky (acetate not poly), but it's just not my usual colors or pattern. It reads much more black and dark than shows up in these pics and I never wear black. Except now I do have a couple of pairs of black knit pants and well, I was thinking this could go with them since nothing else I have really does. That's my thought process anyway. I'm still ambivalent about the stripes though. Yes, they look good geometrically. But I'm not usually a wearer of stripes. Hmm.

If I like how this third one fits, I think I'll go for #4 in a fabric/print I really like and I'll do short sleeves since we're slamming right into 80-degree temps and Spring this week after the much cooler temps just a couple of days ago. I doubt we'll be having any more truly cold weather again until next winter. But that's getting ahead of things. I need to finish this one first.

I can tell already that this one will fit much better, just with the difference in fabric and stretch factor. I'll work on it a bit more today but this afternoon, Pepper, Chili, DH and I have an "appointment" at the dog park. Can't let all this great weather go to waste. It will be sticky and humid before we know it.