Fixing a gaping neck, after the fact

So you've just sewn your knit neckline/neckband carefully and correctly and STILL end up with The Gapes, like this:

And then you end up with a big case of The Mehs when you had such high hopes for a cute top/dress using that pretty fabric you just bought (or sacrificed from the stash).

Well first, stop beating yourself up. It happens to all of us and doesn't make you a sewing failure. Sometimes bad things just happen to good fabric and/or techniques. Next, get yourself some elastic thread, like this:

And a big-eyed, blunt-end needlepoint needle, like this (the blunt end is important so you don't snag the fabric and make a difficult task of threading the elastic through):

Cut a LONG piece of the elastic thread, roughly 2-1/2 times the length of the neckline area you need to fix, stretch it a couple of times, and thread your needle with it. Then, push the needle under the stitching that's holding down the neckline/neckband, starting at one shoulder seam.

Make sure you get the needle up into the space above the stitches, like threading elastic through a casing (which is pretty much exactly what this will end up as). Work the needle/elastic through the whole length of the gaping area and leave a long tail on the end you started from (this is why you need to use a long length of elastic).

Push the needle out at the back of the other shoulder seam and into/through the serger stitches (or seam allowances if you haven't serged) of the shoulder seam, and ...

... tie a knot. Make sure your knot is behind the shoulder seam, since you've pressed those to the back (right?) and want any elastic tension to pull toward the back.

Next, go back to that long elastic tail you left at the beginning and pull the elastic taut enough to cause rippling but not enough to create actual gathers. The neckline isn't going to lay flat now, but that's OK because it *will* lay flat on you.

And tie it off at the starting shoulder seam, again behind the actual seam. (If you leave your needle threaded while you do this, getting through the loops of the knot is easier.) Finally, unthread the needle and trim your thread tails.

Now be happy again because your new top/dress with that fabric you can't believe you just "wasted" is now a keeper! Look Ma! No gapes and ...

... no gathering.

I won't tell anyone if you won't. ;-)

This little fix works for front necklines/neckbands too. Just run your elastic through the front instead of the back and make your knots in front of the shoulder seams. If you need to fix back AND front, do it in two steps, using two lengths of elastic (or 3, if you have a vee or wrap neck) so you can keep the "drawing up" effect of the elastic separate, which will work better than one long piece of elastic thread doing all the work in different locations.

You're welcome. :-)

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.

2014 Top Fives (or Sixes)

As you probably already know, the lovely Gillian of Crafting a Rainbow is again hosting the Top 5 series, aka The Yearly Roundup. (Click on that link to Gillian's blog to see the other bloggers participating and don't forget to include a link to yourself if you recapped. I noticed more than a few blog links missing.) It took me a LOT of time last year to pull everything together so I almost didn't want to do it again this year but I always enjoy everyone else's round-ups/reflections, so ....

The good news is that compiling this 2014 recap was actually easier than I was anticipating. The bad news is that's because my sewing output for 2014 SUCKED. Hah. But I completely understand why and it's not really that big of a deal ... now.

Before I get to the sewing, my biggest "miss," as I'm sure you can all guess, was unexpectedly losing my job this past April and in the middle of a house move, and my biggest "hit" was finally becoming a permanent, salaried employee at my current job. This job and the last are, as they say, as different as night and day and it's so easy to see that everything happens for a reason, well, at least when you're viewing the reason from your rear-view mirror. :-) I like this job and my coworkers very much and the firm treats us all very well. Yay me for hanging in there through it all (and Yay! for your support), but I have to say that I HATE being poor (who doesn't?) and I'm so glad to be past that speed bump. I've learned that nothing is forever, and I really hope that I get to be the chooser of any job changes from now on. But since I have no crystal ball, I will be once again building up the savings account. Cuz you just never know.

So onto the sewing stuff. I went through my 2015 blog posts and pulled photos in no real order of what I made during the year. It's funny how the "misses" coincide with job/situational unhappiness and once I was settled in here at the new job, I made more keepers.

I still like this SBCC Mimosa top and hate to tag it as a "miss," but the truth is it doesn't get worn very often anymore because it has to be ironed, and even then, it wrinkles so much during wear so it looks like it needs to be ironed before I've even finished wearing it for the day. I would like to replace it with a wrinkle-free poly version or another less iron-needy fabric.

SBCC Mimosa - original blog post here

I hate this dress. But just THIS dress, not the pattern mix I did to come up with it. The fabric just isn't right. I've only kept it because I would like to try again with a better fabric. It also kind of reminds me of the Colette Dahlia, which is weird because I don't really like the Dahlia.

Pattern Mix/Hack - original blog post here

I've never worn this one. The print just isn't right for the style and the neckline doesn't want to cooperate so I know I'd be fussing with it constantly. Need to donate it and just move on.

McCall's 6752 - original blog post here

Another fabric fail. First, the fabric is that horrible cheap rayon knit from Fabric.com that so many of us fell for. Second, I'm not liking the weird "lines" of the print. Worn once and now collecting dust. Another donation candidate.

KS4026/Broke Woman's Myrtle - original blog post here

The cardi ultimately is a fail, even though I love the color. I don't like the length/width combo and the sweaterknit fabric is not cooperative with the back neckband. I was inspired by the Muse Jenna cardi and am much, MUCH happier with the real pattern. The skirt was a test for a pattern which I've never seen released. Hmmm. I like the skirt but it's another item which needs serious ironing.

Jalie cardi hack - original blog post here

Finally, some winners. Whew! I was getting worried there, and no wonder that on top of everything else in the beginning of the year, the sewjo took a hike.

This dress I wear. All. The. Time. Since these pics were taken, I shortened it to hit at my knee instead of below it. It works for both summer and winter. I need 10 more.Think anyone will notice?

Muse Gillian - original blog post here

Another Muse. You will see there is a theme starting here. Kat, hurry up with the next one. :-) I'm so glad to have my beloved teal skirt back in rotation since making the Muse cardi and KS tank twinset. The weather has been warm/cold/warm/cold even moreso than usual lately but we're heading into very cold this week and this set will definitely see an outing.

Muse Jenna #1 and KS 2759 - original blog post here

Another Muse cardi which is another hit, and the Butterick skirt I dubbed my Carolyn Corporate Skirt, also a hit. I need more of both of this and the above skirts.

Muse Jenna #2 and Carolyn Skirt (B4877) - original blog post here

My HotPatterns Uptown/Downtown sweaterknit dress.This dress is so comfortable and I like how it pairs with nearly anything, especially the matching Muse cardi above.

HP Uptown/Downtown - original blog post here

And the summer version here, which I also wore a LOT.

Original blog post here

Speaking of summer (and sunburns?), I also wore this dress often during the warmer months. It's funny how the interlock version was one of my biggest misses from 2013 yet a remake in other fabrics is a 2014 hit.

Vogue 8805, original blog post here

The skirt below is an unknown. I haven't worn it yet. Not because I don't like it but because I forgot about it. Hah. It inadvertently got buried in the sewing room. The mind is a terrible thing to ... er ...what was that? ;-)

Simplicy 1697 (skirt) - original blog post here

And last chronologically, but certainly not least ... my Muse Natalie dress. When I first saw the pattern lines I never would've guessed how much I would end up liking the dress. It gets worn at least every 10 days. I try NOT to wear the same dresses each week, but sometimes I sneak favorites in because I don't think anyone else is really keeping track.

Muse Natalie - original blog post here

Here's to kicking 2014 in the ass to the curb and welcoming 2015 with open arms! Happy New Year!

Winner Winner Chicken Dinner

I'm still here, I'm still here! December has flown, January is flying (Happy New Year!), and I'm still behind on life. I've got a couple of posts in the works, but I'm so overdue on picking the winner from the giveaway post that I'm just going to stop and do it.

Congrats to Nursebennett!!

Please email your shipping details to me at dcook100 at gmail dot com, so I can forward the info to Trudy and Jeremy at HotPatterns who will be shipping direct to you.

I don't think the Curvy Sewing Collective has drawn the winner yet either, so good luck to all who also entered there!

Thank you again Trudy and Jeremy! You're the best!

About Me

I'm Debbie Cook. Welcome to my blog. I live and work in Tampa, FL, and I'm Mom to 2 grown sons, one a U.S. Marine and one still living at home. I'm also adopted mom to 2 very cute and very spoiled pooches. I put up with the oppressive Florida humidity and ravenous mosquitos as a trade-off for sunshine and warmth nearly every day of the year.

I love to sew, but I didn't know it until I was more than grown up. My mom and grandmothers sewed my whole life and while I never had real lessons from them, I found out later that I had actually learned a lot just by watching and helping. With these "custom dressmakers" available, I never felt the need to sew for myself or sit in front of my own machine unless I was mending, hemming or sewing on Boy Scout badges.

Fast forward to my late-30s and the sewing bug finally bit and I haven't stopped since. I've sewn almost everything - home dec, quilting, gifts, lingerie & more, but sewing clothes for myself is what I really love and I sew most of my wardrobe because I have fun doing it and because it fits me better than anything I'd find in a store.

I stash fabric and patterns a LOT, and I seem to be collecting vintage sewing machines too. I use everything though, so it's all good, right?

I like to share what goes on in my sewing room and some of what goes on in my enjoyably-boring life. I've been blogging about it all for almost 10 years now.

I try to answer questions and comments when I can, but honestly, I'm pretty bad about it. I'd rather spend my free time in the sewing room or trying new-to-me restaurants. There are just never enough hours in the day to do everything I want to do!

email me at dcook100 at gmail dot com and find me on Instagram @stitchesandseamsdeb