The Hanbok Vest

 
I love this little vest. I thought about it for a long time. I am excited to tell you it's story. 

Pattern:

This is the Hanbok Vest by Sewing Therapy. Sara Kim is a Canadian pattern designer and while Canadian, she is Korean by ethnicity. This comes thru in her designs, which I love. They seem to work on all but as a petite woman, they really appeal to me. I find traditional Korean clothing, which these are not, very beautiful and enticing with their unique proportions. Sara's design aesthetic  is more contemporary. 

The pattern for the Hanbok Vest can be had here. It is a free pattern made in cooperation with Canadian Broadcasting. I believe you have to sign up for her site. To confuse things even more, the name of her company appears to be Two O Nine Fabric Studio. 

This vest is very simple. It is designed with very deep armscyes, the better to accommodate deeper, more billowy sleeves, per the designer. It is meant to be lined. I did not line mine as my fabric was quilted. There is an inner tie and an outer tie. No mention is made of fabric for either . Due to potential bulk, I made my inner tie of a simple cotton broadcloth and the outer tie  of the quilted fabric on one side and the broadcloth on the other. 

Sizing runs from 0 to 24, busts 30-52. It comes in the short as well as long version.  I flat pattern measured and did a size 4.  Seam allowances are 3/8 inch but I cut mine at 1/2 inch. 

Fabric:

This vest was made from a 40 year old bedspread purchased from TJ Maxx. We moved to a new home and each of my daughters got in their rooms new bed linens. One got yellow and the other got this aqua version. They went on the beds but turned out to be attractive but not very comfortable bedding. They were stiff, not cuddly, with all that quilting and the girls did not like them. I ended up folding them up and storing them away as I thought the quilting was amazing, all by machine and no shiny nylon thread! I sewed up the yellow version years ago in a jacket for myself and a little coat for a toddler.  The aqua was waiting for its moment and when I saw the Hanbok Vest I knew it would work out perfectly. 

I used some scrap 100% cotton batik for the Honk Kong seam finish. 

Construction:

I reduced the length 1 inch  midway between the apex and the shoulder seam, my usual "petiting" routine. In quite a few of the garments I saw there was a lot of gaping in the armholes, perhaps due to the large size of the armholes.  I think my length reduction helped eliminate  some of that. I emphasize some. That is because many of the vests seemed to fit pretty well but at the shoulder seam there was a big space between the garment and the shoulder. It looked odd. The shoulder seam would fit fine at the neck, then extend  straight out with the maker's shoulder dropping but not the vest. Hope that makes sense. My vest did it as well. I have sloping shoulders but not usually with this much of an issue. I reduced the armscye a half inch at the shoulder seam extending to nothing at the neck. It still gaped a lot in the back. I then raised the back shoulder seam only a half inch at the armscye and again, shaping to nothing at the neck. That finally did the trick. I noticed in my research that on less endowed wearers with broader shoulders this gaping was less pronounced. This garment is flat with no accomodation for shape. I feel we have to find it on  our own and figure out what might work. So as simple as it looks, there is some challenge here. 

All of the edges were bound with a one inch strip of bias binding made with the cotton broadcloth. This was also used to cut the ties. 1 inch by 6 3/4 was spec'd. 

The inner ties were made with ties half the width of the exterior tie and were tucked under the HK seams and binding. ( Some weird shadows in above pic, sorry.)

The exterior ties were cut at the directed length. Don't bother making points if you are dealing with a heavy fabric. It won't work or matter. Just round them off and be done with it. The next time I make this  vest I will make the exterior ties one inch longer than specified. This is just a bit too short for such bulk. 

To make the exterior tie I took one tie and stitched it in the ditch on the inside behind the binding. Snip the corners away to reduce bulk. 

Next, on the exterior, topstitch the outer edge on the binding next to the tie.  After that ditch stitch in the binding seam where the tie is attached as well. Look hard or expand the photo and you can see this. 

To cover the yuk on the inside of the exterior tie, I cut a circle of broadcloth, gathered the edges and pressed them down and then appliqued it over the yuk on  the inside of the vest. I think it hid things nicely. 

Back to the other tie on the other side. Open the side seam up about a 1/4 inch wider than the width of the tie in the opposite side seam. Slide the remaining tie in and zigzag it down to the seam allowance only. Trim it down and zigzag again. Close up the open section of side  seam and press open.  Do a trial  run here to make sure you attach the tie to the most logical seam allowance which should be the one closest to the binding.  Press the seam open again if needed. 

I really enjoyed making this little vest. It had just enough challenge to keep me interested and I loved the final results. The fabric and the pattern really came together into the vision I thought about for so long. Every fabric has its time and its season. I am actually  working on a Mersis top which I think will go nicely with those big arm holes. BTW,  do you believe the machine quilting in this? There is more left to sew, too!  Ca 1983 ...............Bunny

ETA: New computer, new editing software and the learning curve is still climbing. Please be patient with my photos. Thank you. 

The Mersis Dress, FINALLY!

 

                                                                         It gets better than this, what a journey!

Ahhh,,,,the Mersis Dress from Pattern Fantastique.....  This dress was not made for my body but eventually I think I got it to work. It all started with my seeing it online on a tall, lithe 30 something. Her fabric I recognized to be a Lady McElroy print that I had been pining for  but is now out of print. She looked stunning. The sleeves, the slit on her tall body, the casual sandals, I wanted to make this dress so badly. My journey began. I think this took me longer to finish than any thing I can remember in a long, long time. It is now done and I am glad it is!

Pattern:

I found the pattern itself extremely frustrating. I printed it off at home on a 2 month old printer and with a new laptop. I've had no issues printing other patterns and docs. This pattern has little blocks with half triangles to indicate  the placement of the pages. That was fine  but there was no page one or any other page that would match up with the pattern piece needed on the first sheet. Being the first sheet with those silly blocks, the page could have gone in any corner but it  didn't even  come close to matching it's neighbor pages. I did have a first page and it was a logo page with a tiny section of pattern  piece that did not match up  to anything anywhere on any of the pages. So frustrating. Luckily the flow of the design let me draft my own continuation of the abutting pieces, with crossed fingers for sure. Buyer beware. Other reviewers did not mention this issue. 

Look at the outline of this shift type dress. It is the exact opposite of my shape. Throw in my diminutive height and we have a recipe for challenge. 

                                                                         Much better with the belt. 

The pattern gives the following ease for sizes 6 to 26:

Bust:     5 7/8 inches
Waist:   13 3/4 inches !!!
Hips:     2 3/8 inches

Loosest where I am  slimmest, tightest where I am broadest. And I thought this would work..............who am I fooling?

This is the exact opposite of how the Lord made me but I proceeded. I made a muslin which revealed much, too much volume, too low front v neck, way too long  dress and maybe sleeves, I made the smallest size, 6 and did major adjustments some of which I increased as I went along. This design is one tricky little momma to adjust! I usually get away with using a pattern company's smallest size and a bit more petite adjustment.  That did not suffice.  I still loved the potential of the dress, my gorgeous Lady McElroy fabric and those amazing sleeves. 

Fabric:

                                                     This neckline shot is a good one of the fabric. 

The fabric is a Lady McElroy cotton lawn called "Pansy".  I used Fusi Knit tricot fusible interfacing to stabilize EVERY seam on this garment. In making it again I recommend interfacing the center front seam with the same lightweight fusible if you are using a lightweight,  floaty fabric. This pattern would also be great in a lightweight linen as the structure would really emphasize the sleeves, its best asset. 

                                                                     Such a difference that belt makes!

I also fused the two inch hem with the Fusi Knit. There are a couple of reasons this dress is so tricky besides the fit issues. To achieve that beautiful hang of the sleeves and the shape of the dress control is had by GUSSETS.  That is not unusual but we are talking a four part gusset here. It is made of very unusual shapes, one shaped like an apostrophe, no exaggeration, and the other  like a weird triangle. There are two for each side front and 2 for each side back, 4 in all. They are bias and curvy. the front apostrophe one,  IMO, serves as a princess seam for the bust. If you need bust alteration, this pattern may not be for you. The curve of the apostrophe could be enlarged along with the dress bodice to accommodate, just thinking out loud  here. Care has to be taken not to put these pieces together backwards. The directions warn of a lot of ease to get them  to fit. I eased my heart out then realized it did not look right at all. I rechecked my notches,  not all of which printed, and realized this was in backwards. Once that was resolved, the gusset pieces fit in exactly, with no big easing.

When I cut out the pattern I raised the length 2 inches on the lengthen/shorten line.  Then I cut off 4 more inches from the bottom hemline. I raised the CF slit 3 3/4 inches.  After the gussets were in  I raised the hem another 3 inches for a total of 9 inches of length removed. I made sure I did not remove length across the gussets. 

Above you can see what I thought was the trickiest pat of making the dress.  You need to connect the neckline facing to the  two inch wide seam  allowances at center front. You have a 1/4 inch seam to do so and some confusing dots to match up.  It worked if I ignored the dots. The illustrations are small and have the overlocking stitches which makes for an unclear view of what you need to do. Many reviewers complained of this step and I agree. Why a traditional vneck facing could not have worked here, I don't know. 

This is the most brilliant part of the construction. The hem is also 2 inches. Rather than make you figure out how to miter a perfect corner, the pattern comes precut with the corner cut off  in the perfect spot at the perfect angle and all you have to do is stitch a 1/4 inch seam and voila! a perfect miter, no fussing whatsoever! Why can't all  patterns do that?

Now for the glorious sleeves.  You run three rows of basting  in the flat at thesleeve hem.  You then  pull up and quarter the sleeves, spreading the gathers evenly . After you have pulled and basted your gathering threads you press them hard on  those gathers only, as you see above. I know, not the usual. Then you trim them to 1/8th inch from the basting. Now you will  bind them with your bias strip,  sewing to the inside  first,  wrapping around  to the topside and then topstitching. Your sleeve is all  still in the flat when you do all of this.  Your sleeve is then sewn together from hem  to cuff and pressed. I pressed to the side and hand stitched down the SA at the cuff. It gave a lumpy finish there but was easier than  sewing in the round.  I really like the sleeve gathering finish in the end. 

What I Like:

* The design is elegant, unique, and gorgeous.
* The sleeves are exquisite, both in effect and detail.
* The cut,  along with the curved 4 piece gussets was interesting and quite challenging.
* I wanted a sewing challenge and got it.
* The fabric was gorgeous, worth every penny and a delight to work with. 

What I did to make it work for me:

* Drafted a new neckline facing
* Drafted/raised the center front neckline 1 1/2 inches.
* Raised  the back neckline 1 1/2 inches
*Took  2  inches out at lengthen  shorten line
* Raised hem  8 inches.
* Went from 12 to 11 inches on cuff bias strip
* Reinforced all seam allowances  with fusible knit tricot. 
* Added 2 fisheye darts, each one inch wide, to back bodice 

Next time I would: 

* Acknowledge fit issues of sloping shoulders and slight rounded back. 
* Add tucks or darts to front bodice as well as back bodice
* Shape the side seam
* Make the cuff strip shorter
* Use topstitching thread or two threads in one needle for topstitching
* Interfacing, knit, in hem
* Cut underarm  area higher  up

A few final thoughts: I dreamed about this dress for quite some time. In my dream it would go together so easily as well as look  amazing. Sometimes our projects don't quite work out that way. I had a dear friend/mentor who was so gifted and he told me one day, "you wouldn't believe what I throw out and how much just isn't that good. " Now I found that hard to believe  because he was just an incredible portrait artist which he loved doing. That love came out in his work. But he taught me to never feel bad about the mistakes, to just persevere and move on and that the great things will come. Anyway,  after trying on the initial muslin, I was disappointed. I decided to continue. It happened that night I watched the summer Ralph Lauren runway show on youtube. It was utterly fabulous and so my dream wardrobe. He had dress after floaty dress with loads of volume wafting thru the sea air and so many of these dreamy garments had his big leather signature belts at the waistlines and it looked fabulous. When my bag of a dream dress disappointed me, I ran upstairs and grabbed my wide leather belt, a la Ralph. It made the difference. My friend Si would be proud I persevered but I also thank Ralph for giving me the idea to belt my dress and make it work. Happy Sewing!........Bunny

 

Vogue 8877 vs The Mix it Up Tee

 

I enjoy watching sewing videos in my down moments. I particularly enjoy the British sewing videos. I watch them with envy. They have such a vibrant community and so many options to obtain gorgeous fabrics in person. It makes me quite  envious. Another aspect of their community are what they call "socials". I can't seem to pull from the videos too much about them other than they are a regular part of many sewist's lives. They meet maybe weekly or monthly in a communal space with their machines and projects and just sew and share lunch. They have swap tables and usually a few members with great experience. All share and I think they may pay a small fee to cover the space used. They go for an entire day and may cap it off with a bit of fabric shopping. It all sounds positively glorious. I'd be lucky to find one sewist in my town to commiserate with, of which makes me appreciate you, dear readers, even more!

 Anywho, one enterprising Brit woman has started the virtual Weekend Sewing Club, basically  a virtual social for those who can't make it to a real one. Popping up in other vlogs were examples of a free tee pattern that came along with her marketing. I wanted to joining but the timing just did not work and I found the content not quite in line with the  type of sewing I enjoy. I do applaud her. This would appeal to a new sewist in particular and is definitely worth investigating.  I was also very impressed with the tee pattern, given out for a limited time, that I saw made by other vloggers.  It looked simple, quick and a great scrap buster, inviting creativity. I downloaded my free pattern and started pulling together scraps. What fun! The plan was to cut it and sew it the next day.

 Well, I had one of those "in your sleep" Eureka moments that sewists often get! I woke up the next morning with a little voice telling me I had a pattern just like this. I did. It was Vogue 8877 © 2013. It is still a current pattern,  however. I didn't bother with the PDF from Weekend Sewing Club.  Who wants to put a PDF together when they don't have to? I proceeded with the Vogue.   This was a really fun make. 

The first top was the brown one. I used Kaufmann's Essex yarn dyed linen for the bottom bodice,  neck binding and cuffs.  It  is brown with black thread so a mud color which I really like. The top is a 100% linen print, maybe Stylemaker?  There are no closures on this top and it is so simple to make.  It is boxy and has cut on sleeves. I cut mine way shorter than the pattern, 19 inches length. I cut the sleeves the full "short" length.  I really wanted them  shorter but like them like this in the end. I found, as you will see, that the very short sleeve is too open and shows your bra. You can see piecing in the sleeves which looks fine.  The hem was interfaced, is an 1 1/4  inch deep and topstitched. The yoke was seamed at CF and CB to accommodate piecing the red linen. Again,  great scrapbuster! The binding on this red one is a French fold which really was too heavy, but ok. The cuffs were attached and folded up. 

This fabric "put together" really had me going. I was on to the next one. What fun! We always learn on the first one anyway, don't we? The bodice on this one is a black handkerchief linen. I will wear a black tank  with it next time as the photo reveals it to be rather sheer and with the short sleeved version there is bra show thru. Next time I will cut the sleeves so  that is not an issue.  

The yoke is a cotton sateen Retro design. I love that print and have saved every scrap of it for years. This is the last  of it! 

I added the more narrow neck binding, using a single fold 1 inch strip of bias linen that I interfaced with Fusi Knit fusible tricot. 

I used 1/4 inch seams and it made a nice trim finish. The little bow made a sweet addition to the retro print. The cuffs were straight of grain and simply folded up. 

I stitched a little box in the underarm seam to secure the seam allowance there and keep the cuff from turning out. 

All seams were stitched and serged on both tops. 

     ************************************

These two little tops were great fun to make. They were palate cleansers and stress relievers. I have been battling the Mersis Dress for nearly 2 months now and it is finally done. It is the only garment that has forced me to break my "one project at a time" rule. I just had to walk away. It was that frustrating and in the end it looked awful on me. BUT, I made it work into a beautiful dress with a nod from Ralph Lauren. Here is a sneak peak on the cuffs. The sleeves are the best part of the garment. I can't wait to share. We have to go out of state for a family double funeral this afternoon so as soon as I can get photos  I will get the Mersis review to you all.  It all ended up good. I highly recommend Vogue 8877 and Happy Sewing all!..............Bunny

It's All In The Details!

 

A simple button down shirt, right? Oh, no. This shirt has a lot more substance than meets the eye and  is definitely worthy of discussion. 

There is a gentleman who I have the good fortune of knowing and he wears all of his shirts outside of his pants, dress shirts and casual. He will indicate exactly where the hem needs to be and bring them to me for conversion from classic shirttail hems to "untuck it" straight across, shorter type hems. In his case it is a physical issue and he likes nice clothing. He  is from the Western part of our country and this shirt above is a very nice shirt with a nod to that styling. It has no pearl buttons or pointed pocket flaps or yokes,  but has a tasteful, casual vibe and is made by a Western gear make, Noble Outfitters. They sell in boutiques out West. I was so impressed with the details on this shirt that I had to share. There was much all of us sewists could take away to elevate our own tops.  We'll start at the top. 

The pic above shows the inside of the collar band, made with a western themed cotton. Let's bullet this area:

*  Appropriately themed fabric for the collar band, nothing obvious but still referencing Western wear. 

*    Two rows of topstitching on the neck edge of the collar band. 

*    The collar band is interfaced with grosgrain ribbon with it's edge exposed, all the better to show it vibrant contrast. 

*    A grosgrain ribbon  for a loop to hang the shirt, ON  THE INSIDE. Love that, instead of on the outside. 

*     Plaids and manufacturer's label centered nicely. You will see this was made in Viet Nam and beautifully so. I can tell you this garment did not have one single short thread left from cutting that I could find anywhere. Everything was trimmed tightly and stitched to perfection. 

* Three eyelets embroidered on the collar stand  to allow for ventilation,  very cool,  IMO. 

Next on our journey is the inside of the upper chest area:

Each of the tiny buttons for the button down collar was backed with a tiny circle of thin felt to provide comfort for the wearer. 

On the outside of the back yoke the manufacturer has embroidered his logo over the pleat. He hasn't lost any opportunity to market his product on this shirt with embroidery as you will see.  I think he took a lesson from Guess jeans!

Let's move on to the sleeves:

Under each arm is a generous gusset, the better to lasso those cattle! Again, beautifully faux flat felled. 

The little black thread wisp was already on my ironing board from another project, not this one! The gusset is stitched with two rows of machine stitching and then serged over with a four thread serge. You will notice that it makes matching difficult for the side seams but CF matches beautifully. 

Check out the tower placket. It has double  "towers" and a bar tack at the corner. It is also extra long. I am thinking to accomate work gloves, maybe. There is a metal button halfway up the placket, again with logo and two buttons on the cuffs.  This way the cuff length can be adjusted for comfort by the wearer. On the outside of the opposite cuff is once again, another logo, just in case you forgot who made this great shirt. 

Here you can see the beautiful stitching on the button placket and the pocket. There is a pencil pocket inside the shirt pocket, all beautifully logo'd and topstitched. I dream of  topstitching and buttonholes like these. Sigh,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,,

**********************************

I hope you've enjoyed this tour of my friend's shirt. I found it pretty impressive and picked up some great details to try.  I will leave you with a pic of my beautiful, 8 foot tall Korean Lilac who just couldn't bloom enough! 5 years ago when we bought this house it was a scraggly dieing bunch of a couple of sticks which the owner suggested we pull out. But gardeners have faith and hope and give love. Look at her now!......Happy Sewing,,,Bunny

The Many Colors Blocked Shirt

 


Finally! Life has been so busy since we last spoke. Thank you for your patience, dear readers. I just got my last Prom Princess out the door and she was so beautiful, as they all were. There were some lovely Mother Of the Bride/Grooms as well, all beauties. Our time apart has also seen a vacation with my daughter all the way out to Colorado that was utterly fabulous and that filled me with memories, including the graduation and launch of my grandson from college, so proud. He has secured his dream job and we are just beaming for him. Lots of family business in between including mastering a new printer and computer. Syncing that with my camera and editing software took some time. You know how it is. Eventually I got back to sewing and finishing this shirt, McCalls 8001. That was a journey and eventually  a fun sew. It is so comfortable to wear and I really like it despite the rocky beginnings to our relationship!

I thought it might be a little too Jimmy Buffet but with heirloom entredeux trim things really toned down and it brought it into a likeable space for me. 

Pattern:

This is McCalls 8001, a full, boxy button down with a wide hem band and sleeve options.

 I love wide hem bands, who knows why. Fabrics recommended are all  drapey, as the pics show, except for a recommendation of poplin. I'd say my beautiful quilting cotton was covered. The pattern is definitely not hard to sew, as is, but introducing my trim also introduced heirloom techniques to use it properly. There is tremendous ease in the pattern so would recommend flat pattern measuring before deciding which size to cut. I cut the smallest size, XS, 4-6,  which has a finished bust measurement of 41 3/4 inches. I did no width adjustments and when adding my trims I made sure they kept the garment at the intended widths and did not add any additional ease. I would definitely recommend the pattern. It is not hard to sew, particularly if you have sewn a button down shirt before. I did adjust the length by shortening  the bodice a couple inches, partly for length and party to accomodate how much fabric I had in the blue color for the hem band.  While the garment is large and has a lot of fabric, the wide hem band on the fold gives weight that keeps it from having a floating away effect. 

Fabric:

This was the interesting part, and what a challenge! 

There were beautiful, directional plants going north and south. Then,  there were graduating colors, shading from dark to light, navy to pale yellow, from East to West, the easiest way to explain this. My idea was to have the plants point north on my bodice and the colors mirror imaged across the garment. After three days of painstaking play, a night's sleep gave me the answer. I decided to totally ignore the direction of the plants, which you can see are very busy and just concern myself with balancing my colors. This worked to a point. The only place I had to "cheat" was in the upper front bodice. To win this argument, I cut those pieces on the bias and then got them to match, at least with color. The fact that it  is bias has not affected the hang or wear or look of the drape of the garment. You can read all about the fabric issues in the previous post. 

Construction:

This really was no different than any other button down shirt. It has a collar stand and a button band. The hem is folded and therefore a double layer, giving the shirt some nice weight at the bottom. The entredeux trim you see criss crossing the garment was originally part of a much wider piece of an eyelet batiste border. The entredeux strip was cut from the border keeping a half inch border with the entredeaux. It was then sewn to the seam  line of the shirt with  entredeux lining up with the seam and using a straight stitch and fine thread. I stitched right up to the entredeux. That was then trimmed down to an 1/8th inch seam which was zigzagged thru the holes and around the 1/8th inch of seam, basically rolling the seam to the trim, classic trim to fabric heirloom sewing. Size 60 weight thread was used. The rolled seam was pressed toward the garment. On the sleeves I kept the full batiste embroidered edge and did the same process making for a longer trim  finish. 

 I did not want the sleeve just being big and decided to pull it up into a couple of tucks for more interest.  I just stitched the tucks down with the machine. I didn't have any more green buttons and adding mother of pearl white just wouldn't work, at least for me. I like the interest of the tucked sleeve and the feminine touch it brings. 

The back has a yoke which was done Burrito style. 

Care had to be taken with the measurements for the back pleat and the trim. I might have gathered this area but I do try to follow the pattern on the first go round. 

In Conclusion:

I definitely would recommend this pattern. I have worn it and had a big surprise. I was not expecting the comfort this structured pattern nor this quilting cotton provided. One day was particularly warm and this top was very comfortable to wear. There was no clinging anywhere and no skin exposed either. When I am dressing for heat, I generally am  not a one who grabs for a tank top. Give me something loose and/or flowey any day. I like the arm  coverage here and yet still have comfort. It is an eye catcher and the comments flowed,  all from men, even young ones! It's one thing to garner a compliment from a fellow sewist but quite another to have a 17 year old boy ring up your grocery order and then tell you "I really like your shirt. It's very pretty." Made my day!  

Happy Sewing!................................Bunny