Well, here I am in Simplicity's version of indie Sew House Seven's much touted Toaster Sweater. It is Simplicity 8738. I don't think I've ever taken a sit down photo before for the blog but there's always a first, right? Truth is, I made this into the Toaster Sweater Dress. Thanks to the modern miracle of photography, I learned my hem is too long, way too long. You can't see my cute boots, which I love, for one thing. The length is very unflattering and will get chopped tomorrow. I would like to wear this on Easter. It is comfortable and soft. It's maybe not a breath of lilac and daffodil colored Spring but hey, we have piles of ice and snow still in the yard, big enough to prevent us from using the back door! Here's a little more info.
Pattern:
This is Simplicity 8738, their knockoff of the Toaster Sweater. It seems to carried on Ebay, Etsy, and other sites that carry vintage or OOP patterns. This is vintage???? Well, may be just Out Of Print, aka, OOP. Here are my thoughts.
I actually made this as a sweater, not a dress, initially in a pink jacquard knit that I really liked. It stretched way beyond the needed amount of stretch on the pattern so I was more than good to go. That top was OK except for one thing. I could not get it over my head. I sewed the neckline as specified. I used a zig zag stitch. The stretch of the fabric was more than needed per the pattern and that thing would not go over my my head. I literally took it off. It wasn't quite on, actually, as it was stuck on my head, and I cut the collar off and stitched the neckline in a bigger hole. That made the initial sweater wearable. When I went to make the dress, I, again, made sure I had more than enough stretch factor, per the pattern. I cut the neckline hole larger again and sewed it with stretching stitches. It is still snug but I can get this dress over my head. Who establishes the stretch factor? Did I do a wrong thing? My fabrics had more than enough stretch per the little stretch test on the pattern envelope. Ok, so that's my biatch about the pattern. I am the one who did the lengthening so all of that is on me.
I am going to shorten this substantially. Maxis do nothing for me, as you can tell, here. The red arrow line shows about where I want to cut it. The other issue with this pattern, which you can see a couple of pics up. is how the slit I put in just flows open in an unintentional way. I am thinking of adding a gusset/triangle at the top of the slit to control it a littl better. It is not flattering at all the way it is. I don't know why it swings apart like that in a curve. I will do the hem first and see what happens.
I did try a belt with this style and it looked frumpy. A shorter hem and no belt are the way to go, me thinks.
Fabric:
This is a French Terry that I bought at Fabric Place Basement in Natick, Massachusetts. Love that place! My sis and I try to go there twice a year to do some seasonal shopping. It's a huge shopping op for fabric, live and in person. You must take advantage if you are ever in the greater Boston area.
In Conclusion:
This pattern definitely had some issues for me, some by my own feeble design attempts. I am going to try and fix that. I can tell you it is a big mooshy sweater with the right fabric and is so comfortable and cozy. Don't hesitate to try this pattern, whether you use the Simplicity version or the original design from Sew House Seven, whose designs I really like. Just watch the size of that neckline and your stitching techniques as well.
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My husband and I, along with our daughter, her husband and our grandchildren, just came back from a fabulous vacation in Sedona, Arizona. We managed a very wild and exciting Pink Jeep tour and this pic is on the top of one of the many mountains we "jeeped" and hiked. Such beautiful, exquisite country. We loved it and did a lot of travelling, hiking eating, touring, etc. It was wonderful, all with family. Great to be back and bless you all. Happy Sewing.............Bunny
I actually think the dress is tres chic in the longer length, but I do know that sometimes pictures make things look not as they are, and in three dimensions may not look so sleek. It will look good mid-calf. I had a linen sheath that came to my ankles that made me look dumpy and shortening it 10" made a world of difference. Then I gained weight and couldn't wear it at all, lol.
ReplyDeleteI have had the same problem with turtleneck patterns...someone is not doing the math right at the pattern company....
Yeah, its a mystery to me why that neckline flunked. I really need to go check it out on Pattern Review. This is one of the rare times I didn't. I know the pattern has been so popular and is designed with so much ease so I assumed it would all be OK. You know what they say about assuming!
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