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.

Vogue 8792

So, as I mentioned before, I struggle with creating comfortable, wearable clothing appropriate for the hotter temperatures during our summer months.  I'm just not that in to summer.  I've also found that I keep making the same two TNT patterns for basic knit tops and decided I need to expand my repertoire.  I went through my pattern stash (not a quick process) and pulled several patterns for simple tops that I have not previously made.  One of these was Vogue 8792, which I picked up a few months back when Vogue released their summer patterns.  I thought the angular seam lines were interesting.  I decided to make a version of view A-B-C.

I also had this piece of rayon/lycra knit from Fabric.com for which I was having difficulty finding an appropriate pattern.  I ordered 1 1/2 yards of the fabric and when it arrived I discovered it was pulled off grain.  Washing the fabric helped straighten out the grain, but resulted in losing several inches on each end because the cut edges were now uneven.  With less fabric than expected, and a lot of body to cover, none of my regular patterns would work.  View A-B-C of this pattern has only two pieces--a front and a back.  Additionally, these pieces are placed on the cross-grain, rather than lengthwise.  This worked perfectly for my limited fabric.

The one fitting issue I anticipated when looking over the pattern was the sleeves.  This top has cut-on cap sleeves.  These type of sleeves often are cut too narrowly to fit around by biceps comfortably and also usually hit just at the widest part of my biceps, which just makes me look even heavier than I am.  A little flat-pattern measuring indicated I would not be happy with the sleeves as drafted.  Now, this pattern does not have a normal shoulder seam.  Rather, the right shoulder of the front wraps around to the back, and the opposite shoulder on the back wraps up and over to the front.  To make my sleeve alteration, I sort of eyeballed where the shoulder line would be, sliced from the sleeve hem to the neckline and spread the pattern to add approximately an inch in width to the sleeve at the hemline narrowing to nothing at the neckline.  I also added about 2 inches in length to the sleeve hem.  Below is a photo of my rather down and dirty alteration.

I then cut my fabric and stitched it up.  This is one of the easiest sews ever.  Two short seams, two longer seams, a neckline finish and a couple of hems.  Here is the result:

I did cut the pattern out one size larger than I would normally choose for a Vogue pattern.  I wanted this to be rather loose-fitting for summer.  When the temperatures get up to around 90F or better (it was 98F when I was driving home from work today), anything close-fitting or at all constricting makes me feel like I'm suffocating.  I need some air flow!  All in all, a quick and easy pattern with fairly good results, but I'm not sure I'm that enamoured of it that I would sew it again.  I wore it to work today with a pair of ivory linen slacks and turquoise strappy flat sandals.  It made a nice summer outfit and was very comfortable.

Finally, I noticed on my last post that Kelley posted a comment in which she requested info on my method for binding necklines on knit tops.  My method is a fairly common one using a stitch-flip-topstitch process which is shown in many sewing books, blogs and probably Youtube videos, but I still thought I would try to take photos of the process when I sew my next top and blog a little mini-tutorial of the method.  Is it worth doing?

Dipping My Toes in the StyleArc Pool

So, I've spent a lot of time recently observing the fabulous garments being made by others in the internet sewing world using patterns from the Australian company StyleArc.  After reading so many comments and blog posts touting the superior fit and style of these patterns, I decided I must give them a try.  First up on the block was the Adele Top, a basic-looking knit top with an asymmetrical hemline and side slit.  Per the sizing guide on the StyleArc website, I ordered a size 18, based on my bust measurement.  After some flat pattern measuring and comparison to another TNT knit top pattern, I decided not to do any alteration to the bodice front or back so that I could test the general fit and draft of the pattern as designed.  This comparison clearly showed, however, that the sleeve was much too narrow for my hefty arms.  I traced the pattern and did a simple slash and spread alteration to the sleeve to achieve the width through the bicep area that I needed.  A side result of this alteration was that it significantly flattened the sleeve cap, so I added back some height to the cap, double checked the armscye measurement and decided it didn't change the length of the armscye to a degree which couldn't still be easily eased in, especially considering I would be using a knit for this garment.  Here is the sleeve pattern with my alterations.  (It's not really purty, but it gets the job done.)

For my test garment, I selected a black and camel poly ITY knit from Fabric.com that I wasn't so in love with that it would bother me if it turned into a wadder.  I was very pleased with the result.  The fit through the body of the top was near perfect, the shoulders were a good width (I often have to narrow the shoulder line of tops), it didn't look like I needed to do a FBA, and my sleeve alteration seemed to have worked well.  The only issue I had was one that a number of others who have made this pattern observed as well--the top is a little too long.  I thought it would be more flattering if shortened a bit (and this is from someone who loves herself a good tunic top!), so for the second iteration, I folded out about 2-1/4 inches in length between the top of the side slit and the bottom of the armscye.  Here's the test garment:

Oh, just remembered that I also nixed the neckline method set out in the instructions and opted for my standard bound neckline.

Now happy with the fit of the pattern, I selected a lovely rayon/lycra knit I recently acquired from EmmaOneSock for the real deal:

I love it!  I wore this top to work a couple days ago and it completely passed the wearability test.  I may have to try another one with short sleeves for summer.

Today starts the Memorial Day holiday weekend, so I have three days in which I hope to get a lot of sewing done.  Summer supposedly is coming soon (although we have been having a lot of rain, and even snow, during the last week or more) and I always have a difficult time figuring out what to wear during the warmer months.  I just am not a summer person when it comes to clothes.  Give me wool weather any day!  As a result, my summer wardrobe is severely lacking and I need to crank out a few lighter weight basics to get me started.  Hopefully included in there will be a try at another StyleArc pattern.  Most likely the Peta Pants.