Taking the "U" out of a couple UFOs

The dreaded UFO.  The UnFinished Object.  I try not to have them hanging around, but sometimes a project just loses its steam or hits a wall, and I put it away for a bit.  And then they sit in the dark recesses of the sewing closet, quietly laying a big guilt trip on me.

So, last week I pulled out two UFOs and got them finished up.  The first project was cut out last May and I'm not sure why I never stitched it up, because I was really looking forward to having the top to wear.  I suspect that I didn't have black thread on the serger at the time, so I went to another project that used whatever color was on the serger and then the weather warmed up too much for a long-sleeved shirt.  Hmm.  Anyway, this is another Sewing Workshop Liberty Shirt as a knit top.  The fabric is a wonderful black and white print rayon/lycra knit from EmmaOneSock.  I love this pattern and I love this top!

Next, I moved on to a jacket that has been in the works for at least a year and a half, if not more.  The background--About 18 years ago, I made myself a jacket out of OOP Vogue 2461, a Vogue American Designer pattern by Calvin Klein (copyright of 1990).  I used a beautiful dark green tone-on-tone printed poly raincoat fabric and lined it with an acetate/rayon blend faille.  That jacket turned out to be a workhorse for me--it was light enough to wear through both spring and autumn, but had enough heft to be warm enough for much of the winter season except for the coldest of days, even here in Montana.  Sadly, several years ago it was to the point of showing so much wear--the folds of the sleeve pleats and edges of the cuffs were wearing through--that I knew I needed to replace it.  Basically, I wanted the same coat again.  Luckily, my Mom still had the original pattern that I used, so I stole borrowed the pattern from her one time while over visiting.  Then it sat for a year while I tried to find the perfect fabric.

Eventually, I found a lovely black crinkled texture poly from Marcy Tilton that I just loved, and it even was on sale!  Then I puzzled over what to use as a lining.  I really liked the rayon/acetate faille I had used previously, but that fabric has become extremely difficult to locate anymore.  I finally found some, in black even, I think on the Fashion Fabrics Club website (but I'm not positive about that).  I proceeded to cut everything out (well almost everything--I had to order another piece of the crinkle poly from Marcy Tilton in order to have enough for the hood, so that created some delay) and started to sew it up.  Then, I got to the point of needing to set the grommets for the drawstrings and I froze.  Now, I have set grommets before and had no problems, but the process always has the potential of going badly.  I was so worried about having the grommets not set properly and ruining my project, that I folded everything up and put it in the closet.  Fast forward to at least 18 months later, when autumn is quickly turning to winter, and I realize I just have to bite the bullet because I need a coat to wear.  So I finished it.  The grommets are not the best looking, but they are sturdily attached and the drawcord stops pretty much cover any ugliness in their application. The coat feels like it is going to be very warm, even warmer than my old green one.  I am very happy.  Here's a photo of the pattern cover:

Yes, it is very early 1990's styling, with the dropped shoulder and sleeves, but I actually like this in a coat, because it is easy to wear over bulky sweaters or work jackets.  And I love the upper and lower cargo pockets with the flaps!

Here's the finished product, front and back:

Oh, yes, I also lengthened the pattern by 8 inches because I like coverage over my upper legs when the cold is biting.  Here's a closer look at the upper body:

And the oversized 1990's sleeve:

The lining:

And, finally, a detail of the sleeve cuff.  This pattern has an interesting sleeve placket design which results in a kind of flange behind the placket that encloses the opening to keep out snow and rain.  It works nicely.

I'm very happy to finally have this project done and I know I am going to enjoy wearing this jacket.

My sewing mojo has been really revved up lately, so I have several new garments completed that I am excited to blog about.  New entries coming shortly, I hope!

One Last Vogue 1261 (maybe . . . )

After whipping up four versions of my Vogue 1261/SA Adele morph top in one weekend, I thought I should put the pattern away for awhile.  The other day, however, I was in JoAnns Fabrics to get buttons for another project and realized the red tag clearance section was an additional 50 percent off.  So I took a little look-see through the clearance racks, not really expecting to find anything.  Lo and behold, a bolt of kinda cool knit surfaced.  It is a double layer poly knit--gray opaque layered over a black sheer, then the gray is slashed to show the black.  The gray also is printed with a design of concentric circles.  I couldn't resist, so 2 yards came home with me.  The fabric went straight into the washer and dryer with the length of flannel I also bought (for new pajama pants).  As I pulled the knit out of the dryer and began to fold it up, it started telling me loudly that it wanted to be a Vogue 1261 tunic.  By the next day, I had granted its wish.  I'm really enjoying these tunic tops and think I will get a lot of use out of this one.  The black sections are sheer, so I will need to wear another top or tank underneath.

It's not often that a piece of fabric goes into and out of the collection with a 24-hour turn around time!!

I also wanted to thank all those who commented on my last post about these tops.  I really appreciate the positive support!

Vogue 1261 (sort of)

When Vogue Patterns issued pattern 1261 (was it last winter?), I just had to have it.  It seemed right up my alley, stylewise.  I especially loved the views showing the seams stitched to the outside as a design element.  And I knew I had the perfect textured wool knit from FabricMart in my stash.

While dreaming of the fabulous tops I could make with this pattern, in the back of my mind was that little voice which said "Marcy, you only love the concept of this pattern, and its 'look,' and you know full well it isn't going to work for you."  The little voice said this because one pattern view was raglan sleeve, which never works for me, another view had dolman sleeves, which just adds extra pounds to my look that I don't need, and the third view (which seemed most likely to maybe work for me) appeared from the pattern photo to have too-wide shoulders and droopy armpits which translated to a lot of alterations to get a good result.  Of course, I ordered the pattern anyway.  Quick muslins of both views A and B proved my little voice correct and I just didn't have the wherewithal at the time to do the needed alterations.  I tossed the pattern over in the corner of the cutting table, where it has mocked me for the last year.

Fast forward to about a week and a half ago when I was doing a semi-marathon tracing session of some StyleArc patterns I recently received.  I was using my tracings of the Adele Top to analyze the potential fit of a couple of new SA top patterns because I just love the way the Adele fits through the shoulders, upper torso and armscye.  Suddenly, my little voice chirped up again (in a more helpful, less irritating way than usual) and said "you can use this pattern with that Vogue pattern to achieve what you want."  I pulled out my earlier tracings for view B of the Vogue top, laid them down over the Adele pattern pieces and re-traced the Adele shoulder/armscye portion gradually morphing into the original side seams of the Vogue.  Then I pulled out a gray and black tie-dye print rayon/lycra knit from Fabric.com to test my new Frankenstein ("it's pronounced Franken-STEEN").  I loved the result and the fit was much better:

My Guy was a real help during the photo shoot of this garment, as you can see by the uncropped version of the picture:  (any guesses as to his favorite part of the female figure?)

I then proceeded to go a little crazy, making up three more versions over that weekend.  Next was a version with a collar in a black with white spotted rayon/lycra from Marcy Tilton:

Then another version with a plain neck in a fabulous swirly print rayon/lycra from EmmaOneSock:

Finally, I pulled out that textured wool knit from FabricMart which I had always envisioned in this pattern.  I added center front and back seams and stitched those, as well as the shoulder/armscye seams, to the outside.  I also turned the sleeve hems to the outside and stitched the neck binding on in the reverse.  I think this treatment will look even more effective once I wet the garment and run it through the dryer.

I stitched 3/8 inch away from the lower edge, instead of a regular hem.  Hopefully, this will help keep the edge from stretching out of shape.

I really had to be careful with the cutting process to make sure all the exposed edges were smooth and even.

The above photo shows the sleeve hem and a better visual of the fabric's texture.  The sleeve hem was turned to the outside, stitched at about 1/2 inch, and then the extra hem allowance was pressed down.  I am hoping that, over time, the exposed edges will curl more than just sit flat.  The knit fabric had a smooth knit surface on one side, with a texture on the reverse--I used the textured side as the "right" side.  This photo also shows the closest to accurate color of the fabric--kind of a dark taupe, but with green overtones.

I am now really happy with this pattern and expect that it will become a regular in the TNT rotation.

(**worthless bonus points to anyone who knows the movie from which I quoted above--although I'm not sure I have the quote exactly correct)

 

StyleArc Abby Cardi

Last week I finally got around to testing out the Abby Cardigan from StyleArc patterns.

I love this pattern!  I ordered it in a size 18, corresponding to my full bust measurement.  The only alteration I made when tracing the pattern was my standard increase to the width of the sleeve.  This garment sews up quickly and easily--I can see whipping up one or two more of these for the winter.  While the instructions in StyleArc patterns are typically, um, let's say "concise," and assume some familiarity with the process of putting a garment together, this cardi is not difficult to figure out.  The only spot where someone might have any problems is with the back collar area, but if you've ever made a garment with a shawl collar, you should be good to go.

For the fabric, I used a charcoal gray with black pinstripe rayon/nylon/lycra knit by Eileen Fisher which I purchased from EmmaOneSock.  Beautiful fabric with a lovely soft hand.  I thought it was very effective in this pattern and am more than happy with the results:

The pattern suggests several options for finishing the front edges and bottom hem.  I chose to do a serged finish on these edges, single fold over and topstitch for a 5/8 inch hem.  I also mitered the corners where the front edges meet the bottom hem:

I highly recommend this pattern if you are a cardigan type of gal.  I know I will be making it again!

Sewing Workshop West End Top

Now that autumn is here, my sewing mojo seems to be flowing a little stronger and I'm excited to try out the plethora of new patterns I've received over the last few months.  I wanted to try the Sewing Workshop's new pattern for the West End Top first because I thought it would be a cute little top/jacket to throw on when the fall weather is cool, but still too warm for a regular long-sleeved jacket.

For the jacket, the pattern recommends using a knit or stretch woven.  I chose to ignore this and, instead, used a woven rayon I purchased from Fabric.com early this summer.  This fabric is a kind of a loose, rustic weave, reminiscent of a hopsack-type fabric.  This particular piece (I ordered several different ones from the grouping) is a natural color, woven with a diamond pattern.  I traced the pattern in a size extra-large, mostly because I wanted to be sure I had enough ease in the garment using a non-stretch fabric.  As I kind of expected, I easily could have gone down a size and been fine--the loose weave of this fabric did not cause any issues with ease and even may have added extra ease, as it has a tendency to grow when worked with and worn.

(ETA--I totally forgot to mention that, when I traced the size XL, I made no fitting alterations and the only change I made was to add 5/8 of an inch seam allowance to the bottom of the Front and Front Facing pattern pieces so that I could make a clean finished edge next to the zipper in front.)

I wish I had used a better-looking zipper for this project.  Something with metal teeth would have been a nicer look, but I was too impatient.  A better zipper would have meant ordering from an on-line source--I copped out and purchased a regular nylon coil separating zipper from the local JoAnn's.  It looks okay, but not as good as it could have.  Overall I am very happy with this project and am pretty sure I will make this pattern up again.  Well, the top/jacket at least.  I've never been as enamored of the pants in this one as they're just not a good style for me.  Here's my result for the top:

I paired this garment with a skirt from the Shapes Six Sense Skirt pattern.  For the skirt, I used another of the rayon "hopsack" fabrics from Fabric.com, this time in a natural and black stripe:

I guess it's not the best photo for seeing the design lines of the skirt, but take my word for it that this skirt pattern is especially effective in a stripe.

Next up is a pair of pants in a natural linen using my TNT basic pants pattern that I've used for years.  Then, I'm thinking of doing a small capsule wardrobe for autumn using some gold/brown fabrics I've collected.  As I said, the crisp autumn weather always turns on my sewing juices, so I'm definitely feeling the urge to get into the sewing room!

In Memoriam: Teller 1995-2012

1995

Sept. 21, 2012

She will be greatly missed.

StyleArc Ada Top

During my quest for comfortable warm weather tops earlier this summer, I pulled out my pattern for the Ada Knit Top from StyleArc.



I thought this looked perfect for my needs--a looser fit, but with unique design lines to add some interest and make it not be just another t-shirt.  My only concern was whether what appears to be a looser, comfortable fit in the design drawing would, in reality, simply be baggy and unattractive.

I ordered the pattern in size 18, which corresponds to my full bust measurement.  The only alteration I made to the pattern when tracing it was to slash the sleeve piece from hem to shoulder point and spread a bit to add about one inch extra width at the hem, tapering to nothing at the shoulder point.  I probably could have gotten away without this alteration, but I would rather have a sleeve on a summer top be a bit too loose than too constricting.

For my first attempt, I pulled out a rayon/lycra knit in a kind of tribal print which I recently obtained from www.fabric.com.  The cutting process was a little more difficult than usual with this fabric, because not only is it quite lightweight, the print is slightly off-grain.  Because of the off-grain print, I decided not to worry about any matching of the pattern across seam lines and just let the chips fall where they may.  Because of this and the busyness of the print itself, it is rather difficult to see the design lines in the finished top.  I am pleased with the outcome, however, and have worn the top a number of times this summer with enjoyment.  The fit is just what I had hoped for--loose, but not baggy.

Here's a bit better look at the pocket, which is a little droopy in this lightweight knit--

For my second attempt, I used another rayon/lycra knit, this one from EmmaOneSock.  This knit was even lighter in weight than the tribal print knit and the resulting garment is less successful than the first one.  This knit seemed almost to grow while I was sewing it up and I suspect that the pressing process during construction caused the knit to relax more than expected (even though I ironed the fabric prior to cutting).  As a result, the final top is a little looser (read "baggy") and less flattering over all, and the pockets droop a bit more than I would like.  But I do enjoy wearing this second version as well.

With the lighter colors of this print, it's a little easier to see the style lines of the pattern--

All in all, I would recommend this pattern.  The pattern is well drafted, the construction process is simple and quick, and the resulting garment is fun and flattering to wear.  I'll definitely be pulling this pattern out again next year when the warm weather hits again.