2024, Bring it on!

2023 was not one of the easiest years I've experienced. I am determined that 2024 will be better. I have lots planned with my sewing  and look so forward to sharing it with all of you. I haven't been blogging as much this year and lately but I've had a lot of life's interesting challenges intervening. That will change. Through it all, sewing has been my Northern Star. It all started with my middle of the night incident where my diaphragm was injured far more than I knew. What proceeded was a cascade of health issues that continues to this day. Throw in some surgeries, concussion, post concossion business, etc etc etc.  And of course, as soon as we are all over our humps, covid rears its ugly head. There was also tragic loss to deal but I am blessed with an amazing family, truly blessed. I am ready to be well and 2024 will be doing all I can to get back to gardening, and moving more and being my usual energetic self. The one thing I truly enjoyed, thru all this time, was my sewing.  I have numerous posts planned and some exciting sewing as well.  I'll share some teases here with you first. 

Another Imby top! No eye makeup. Blepharitis strikes!

I've invested in a couple of great PDF patterns and am excited to share all about those. Lord, I hate taping! But for a good design, something unique, I'll endure it. So, more to come there,  The two pattern companies are "Love Notions" and "Notches".  You know I am a thrifty type of a woman, so my pattern choices have to provide me with lots of opportunity for many makes to justify the price. I am up to my seventh "Eureka" pattern as of last week.  I've made two or three recently. 

Lady McElroy rayon challis

From patterns I jump to fabric. I did do a lot, for me, of on line shopping.  It is, by far, just a small amount compared to most, but I watched a lot of youtube and when vloggers start showing you their makes or start draping their purchases over their shoulders, it sells me better than any thumbnail out there. I had only one "off" experience but it was really a miscommunication x misunderstanding on both sides and was worked out beautifully in the end. So my fabric purchases online have been quite positive. I can't say enough about Stone Mountain and Daughter and there were a couple more as well. At this stage I definitely shop far far less and far more discriminately. I'd rather sew slowly, with thought, and with awesome fabrics.  I've discovered Lady McElroy. 

Harvested from a thrift shop find!!!

Recycling was on the agenda as well and there will be a post to show you a few of those. What fun! I think one in particular is fabulous, if I may say so myself. I have been very inspired by Vlogger "Catherine Sews", a textile professor who does really worthwhile recycling. Her methods quite surprised me and are not the "stick two shirts together' you see everywhere. She has great vision and the sewing skills to pull great results from old clothes.  I harvested this fabric above from one thrift opp and was quite pleased with the results. 

There were great notions purchased as well and I can't wait to share those. I am using them a lot.  At this point I have really culled my fabrics to some fine pieces. Many are just casual, like my favorite Essex Linen. You can never have too much of that hanging around. It can be made into almost anything! But there are other pieces that defy the touch of my hands. I have had this gorgeous piece of velvet for about 6-7 years now. It is a beautiful print.  My social life is good but it is different. I don't need a velvet suit, dress or blazer. But, damn, I sure could use a velvet Bomber Jacket. That is what I am working on now and what a challenge! With it's welt pockets, heavy rib knit cuffs and collar, I am definitely doing some slow sewing here. I can't wait to share with you all.  I can see it with some dark jeans and black cami or such.  It's been intense sewing. That velvet, however, has found it's place. I think I will get a lot of use out of it. 

I'll sign off for now. More posts coming and it's good to be back and sharing my passion.  Happy Sewing and a Happy and Healthy New Year to all of you, dear friends............Bunny

Butterick 5861 and I'm ready for Woodstock!

 

I really enjoyed making this top.  I know, the fabric is a bit crazy but I like it. I have always been a fan of Picasso and this print sucked me right in because of that.  The construction was unique and challenging, the fabric a delight to sew and the pattern a design that brought me back to 1968 and fantasies of bell bottom jeans with embroidered gussets and me and my friends with our thumbs out on the hiway hitch hiking. Yeah, we actually did things like that back then and survived.  

I have a lot to say about this top so grab a bev and have a seat. It was a fun ride, so much so that I've already started on tunic #2!

Pattern:

I saw this pattern, Butterick 5861,  made up in a FB group I frequent and just fell in love. I am generally not a tunic person but the style of this one, the options for embellishment, and the memories it brought back all came together to motivate me to search it out on the web. I kept waiting for it to go on sale and it just wasn't happening at that time.  Then one of my cyber sewing friends, una amiga Boricua, Ada Garcia, of Puerto Rico, messaged me and told me she had the pattern in my size, would never make it and would gladly GIVE it to me. What could I say? We talked, figured it out, and next thing I knew this lovely graced my mailbox. Thank you so so much, again, Ada. Besicos!

There are issues with the pattern so I will get those out of the way first. It is HUGE in the bodice. I made the smallest size, a size 8 for a 31 1/2 inch bust. The bodice for this size is 50 INCHES! What you see above takes out 4 of those fifty inches! Thank you, PR, for the heads up on that!  

Next the neckline, on a petite, goes lower than I am accustomed to. That's OK. Generally, I wear my necklines a little higher and have already cut version #2 without thinking but would cut it higher in the front. I also have two rather heavy beads on the front ties and I think they are pulling it down. So you may want to reduce volume if you make this unless you would like that extra ease. 

This is a pattern where you really have to pay attention. I will come right out and say this is not a beginner's pattern. You will quit sewing on those shoulder yokes. I will get into that further on. I love the shoulder yoke detail shape and placement.  They fit perfectly. 

This pattern is long as well.  I cut off 3 inches. I have a mini skirt on. It would have been as long as the skirt if I hadn't so watch that length!

Positives: The volume, while a lot, is comfy and gracious. I solved the volume issue with a thin belt. I prefer to emphasize my waist anyway. 

Much better proportion, don't you think? 

I also cut back my sleeve length two inches but that was a general petite thing. I love the sleeve fullness. 

This pattern has shirring in the back at the waist which I do like but it will get hidden by the belt. More on that in construction. 

The pattern offers 4 interesting views. Two button down the front with long tucks and one of those has a contrast band.  Then there are two that don't button down the front but have insets at center front. The CF insets have tie closures and surface embellishment that matches the surface embellishment also on the shoulder yokes. I love the shoulder yokes on this top. 

I did no surface embellishment or insets on my version. I wanted it very plain due to the vivid design of the print fabric.  I accomplished that by simply cutting the CF on the fold and adding a faced slit.  More on that in a bit. 

Fabric:

This is from Fabric.com and described as a "Telio rayon slub challis". It was a delight to sew. It had a tendency to shift and ravel like most rayons but this was tamed with spray starch. I cut out my pattern pieces and by the second piece saw this problem. I proceeded to cut and then  took them all to the ironing board where I sprayed each seam area lightly and ironed with a dry iron. Then I repeated the process. All seam edges got this double starching.  After that the pieces were put back on their pattern tissue and trimmed and recut as they had stretched out of shape in that process. You can see the distortion below. A lot of recutting and a lot of scraps to prove it! 

Starching kept the raveling to a minimum.  I would definitely sew this fabric again,

Construction:

I made changes to the construction due to my fabric and style choices. First change was making all seams into French seams. Next I decided to use the Burrito method for the faced shoulder yokes but let's start with the elimination of the embellished inset at upper center front bodice first. I decided to make a simple slit neckline at CF and even did a practice version on a scrap first just to be sure I could pull it off.  There was enough going on with my fabric choice and I felt no further embellishment was needed. 

A line was established down center front. A piece of the fashion fabric was fused to woven cotton fusible. It was cut into the shape I wanted for the facing, which was small, and the edges were serged. 

I simply sewed down the slit in a 1/4 inch seam and sewed across the bottom in a small curve. No fuss. 

Next come my changes to the shirring on the back of all the views. I went into this in detail in a previous post as I know a lot of people out there are making shirred garments right now and those elastic threads are failing. This method, which I detailed here, is stronger and I personally like the look of the triple zig zagged elastic better. It's a little fussier but you don't have to wrap any bobbins with elastic thread and I do detest doing that. 

Now it was time to deal with the shoulders. The pattern has you simply treat the two layers of the shoulder yoke, top and facing, as one and sew it into the sleeve and bodice with a simple seam.  I wanted something cleaner than that. I did a classic burrito method which was really simple here. 

I sandwiched the sleeve between the fashion fabric and the facing piece and stitched all three layers together. Seam was then graded, pressed away from the sleeve and voila!  This unit was then attached to the bodice front and back with French seams, all clean. Nothing on the inside of this garment is open other than the serged inset facing edge and bottom hem. 

A lot of attention has to be paid her to where the yoke piece fits in on the sleeve. One maker on Pattern Review inserted it upside down/backwards.  The longest edge, opposite the neckline is stitched to the gathered sleeve. Of the two remaining short edges, the longest edge of those two goes to the front bodice and the short edge goes to the back bodice. Follow the notches down on the sleeve if you are confused, The pattern instructions are very confusing on this. Just take your time and it will make sense. Here is how it all lays out.

Like I said, this is not a beginner pattern. 

After this it was smooth sailing with French seams easily accomplished on this fabric. The last challenge was the neckline. This requires a long bias strip that was first sewn into tubes/ties other than the neck area. That was left open to be sewn separately to the neckline and then finished with hand stitching on the inside. I did mine opposite. It just seemed to lay better when tied if I did and I fell stitched it on the front side with tiny stitches. You can get a better idea of how that came out on the close up above of the shoulder neckline area. Just click these to get them larger. 

On my next version I will interface the bias strip in hte neckline area just to help it lay a bit flatter. We'll see how that goes. 

In Conclusion:

I really enjoyed this pattern. Why? It was very challenging, the fabric, the design, the construction, my chosen changes and the pattern itself. I really enjoyed making it. It is definitely not for a beginner, IMO, and that is something I very very rarely say. I am happy with the outcome, WITH A BELT, and know I will wear this a lot. I wore it on Thanksgiving and it was a hit. Left a lot of room for turkey, too! I recommend if you are up to a challenge and looking for a top that is comfortable and feminine and will work on any woman's shape.  You just never know when the sixties will call and want you back. You'll be ready!

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

This is a peek at version #2. The fabric is far less cooperative, a rayon georgette crepe or what we used to call "crepon". The shoulder insets and CF inset, well, I did my own thing. I made bias tubes, tied them in knots and ran them down the pattern pieces instead of the turned tucks the pattern calls for. More on that later! Six hours making  tubes and knots!!! Happy Sewing!...............Bunny

A Tale of Two Simplicities!

Hello, sewing friends! I held off posting until both the pants and the top were complete for this outfit. While I fell in love with this rayon/lyocell blend for the top, little did I feel the Autumn vibe it would give off when I bought it. I had also planned and cut the long pants and later wished they were cropped but but hey, we can't avoid the change of the seasons and I am now one new outfit ahead of the seasonal game! 

Both patterns were fun to sew but provided challenges with my efforts to make them work for my petite frame, nothing related to the pattern itself. I liked the fresh look of the wrap scarf on the top and as for the pants, we are seeing those tulip hems all over Pinterest and I was brainwashed. I will review the top first and then move on to the pants. 

Top Pattern:

This is Simplicity 9143, a top that offers a simple, plain front bodice and mandarin collar.  View A is sleeveless with a breast pocket and View B, my choice, has elbow length sleeves with a one inch hem and a small slit. View B also sports a "wrap" that is inserted into the shoulder, armscye and side seam and has very long ties. The pattern shows it simply tied in front as you would a shawl, very pretty and quite unique. Here it is tied that way:

It is very pretty but on me it was an overwhelming bit of fabric volume, at least in my opinion.  We'll fix that later! But it is lovely this way too. 

Another issue with this pattern for petites are the sleeves. The shoulders are dropped on the model so I went with that and fell it contributes to the soft look. If you click on the link and look at the sleeves they are right at elbow length. I learned many years ago this is a very bad length for me--boobs and being short does not work well with sleeves that end at boob level. But, silly me, ever the hopeful one, thought, well, that model is tall and these patterns are made for much taller women so this will come past my short little elbows. Uh, no. We'll fix that later too. No way was that staying. But again, it is a lovely sleeve if you are not five feet tall with boobage and a volume type bodice. 

Other than those two issues I did my usual. I did an FBA for a C cup. I did my usual petiting of the pattern in the upper chest area and I looked at the details. I cut the mandarin collar down by a 1/4 of an inch. I love mandarin collars but again, many years ago I realized Big Four mandarin collars were really too high on my long neck and I cut out a quarter inch from the height of this collar. It is still the same length but not as deep and it worked out just right. 

These buttons are from my dear friends inheritance and vintage wooden balls. There have fine inscribed designs on them and were just perfect for the shirt. I am just concerned about washing. We shall see on that one. 

Top Fabric:

This is a rayon/lyocell blend. It is fairly lightweight and drapes beautifully. It was my first, out of covid visit to Joanns buy. They have really upped their game with their challis offerings. It's good to see something supplanting those shiny poly faux silks. I used SF 101 in the collar and that was about it for interfacing as the CF facing was folded in and the layers made for the needed stabilization. I washed this on gentle, warm wash and hung to dry. It did not shrink at all for me.  I have found the contribution of the lyocell to the rayon to have made it far less prone to wrinkling.

I did try something that Linda Lee of the Sewing Workshop swears by and that is sewing all wovens with cotton thread only. Not sure I am on that bandwagon but I am going to give it a try for a few garments and see what I think. It does make for a prettier topstitch,  and I often use cotton thread just that way.  I am learning lots of things from all these Vlogs I have been watching lately! My next garment will have a really interesting new technique as well. 

Fit Issues:

I will just bullet point these:

*Did an FBA for a Ccup

*I "petited" the area between bust and shoulder seam as you can see in this tutorial here.

*Removed a 1/4 inch from the height of the mandarin collar.

*Here's the biggy. I found the sleeves, as mentioned, at a visually bad length for my height. However, I had them completely made, slit, hem and all before I realized this. I added a 14x9 inch rectangle that I folded in half and seamed on the ends to get a finished "add-on"  to my sleeve. The short ends would provide the slit that would line up with the already hemmed and completed slit. Here's a pic that may make it more sense and it is very photoshopped for contrast so you can see it better. 

It put the sleeve hem in a much more flattering spot and I liked the look of the long double slit. I make almost all my sleeves 3/4 length when I can. 

Things I would do if I made this again:

* For petites only, I would cut the wrap height down a little bit. By this I mean the bottom edge from where it leaves the side seam to the point where it becomes a tie. It just has a lot of volume and this reduction in height/length I think would work better for a shorter frame. 

What I did that was not in the pattern:

I  SELF-FACED my "wrap" pieces. On this pattern you will see both sides of that wrap when you tie it so keep this in mind. By facing it with the same fabric, it worked out beautifully and I think gave the wrap a better weight and drape. This is a challis, so quite lightweight. I highly recommend this move. 

I also backed each side of the collar with interfacing. This fabric is just too slithery and ravel-ly to do otherwise. I used SF101 because in my covid stash it was all I pretty much had. I block fused the fabric BEFORE cutting and also double checked the pattern before sewing. Yes, it had stretched, interfacing fused and all, and I did have to remark and re-trim . 

All the seams are serged and the side seams were serged before sewing, important, due to hemming the corners. 

I recommend mitering your corners for a "better" look. It's easy enough and there is loads out there telling you how to do it. 

I love this design but I think there is a bit much volume in it for me as shown. I was playing with the ties in my mirror and discovered that I really like to wear it like you see above. The sashes crisscross in the front, so less volume, and then wrap to the back where I tie them at center back. It gives me a bit of my shape back and yet I still have the fun of this lovely  design. It's great that you can try and wear it either way. You also can get a good view of how the sleeves worked out in this pic as well. Now for the pants!

Pattern:

Simplicity 8922. This is an elastic waist pull  on pant with 4 different cuff(?) variations. I chose the "tulip" cuff which consisted of a section that had curves instead of corners and they overlapped each other at the bottom of the legs. The legs go straight down, making for a very comfortable pant.Again, my challenge was the petiting of this pattern and it was trial and trial again. How long should the cuff be? Where should the pant leg end and the cuff begin? 

Since I used my sloper for the upper pant shape as it matched the width of the pattern perfectly, it was a matter of figuring out the length of the cuff but before I got into that I got into my usual inspection of the pattern details and asking myself, "do these need to be made smaller for a smaller person?" and they did. 

First, I altered the shape of the "tulip". The pants I had seen online had very pronounced tulips and these, as you can tell from the pattern, are nearly straight down. I took my hip curve and shaped them to turn in more sharply. The front and back pieces were stacked so they would have matching seams when I cut. 

Then I lined up the pieces and took an inch off the top of the tulip. I planned to sew a 3/8th in seam there. 

I sew/basted the pants together and they were too long, not to long to wear, but too long to show off the tulip detail. These needed to be shorter but I  definitely did not want a real cropped pant either. I took the seam in another inch deeper and it worked. You can see how deep they are. I suggest you baste in your stitching before you decide how the length works for you. It took quite a bit of play to get it right. 

I have started another pair of pants from this pattern, View A. I have come up with a very specific and easy way to get the right length on the pant and cuff for any height person and will publish that on Sunday, in three days. I think it will be a big help to any making these pants and to get a good proportion on them. It will work for any one super tall or super short like me and even a lot of in between. So come back Sunday for the next post and there will lots more specifics on getting these cuff proportions to look their best without the hassle I had on the first go round. 

Fabric: 

These pants are made with a rayon/linen blend. They are rather lightweight and despite their dark demeanor really nice on a hot summer's day. They are not lined but I DID face the tulips with self fabric. I am glad I did as I think that gives the nicest finish. The pattern recommends a tiny hem for the edge of the cuff. With the right fabric I think that would be OK but in this one I think it would have cheapened things. Also, by facing the cuff, weight was added and that helps the pants to hang better and not wrinkle as much. 

Construction:

This was pretty straightforward pull on pants construction, no pockets, so it went together quite quickly. Getting the cuff to pant leg ratio worked out took the most time. After that it was quickly done. I also found one other issue with the tulip cuff. Those I have seen online have the overlap of the tulip happening so the high point of the overlap is at the center of the foot. In this pattern it actually turns toward the inseam. All notches and seams matched perfectly. I made sure it overlapped and those notches were correct as well.  So the tulip effect is not very obvious when you look at these dark pants. I am planning to make them out of a khaki twill and play with the cuff to get the overlap to land at center foot.  They still look great and I think the details will show better in a lighter fabric. I highly recommend this pattern. I have been working off my sloper and all the pants have been wide leg but I really think I need to do a new pants sloper. I did this one before I lost weight  and today I faced the fact that it is a bit large and I know where it is large. I am going to make one more pair of pants with some simple adjustments and see if that will do the deed before I start the whole pants sloper thing again. Fingers crossed that I may not need to do that. You know its all about that crotch situation. 

Sorry this project took so long but I did want these two items to go together for you. Again, little did I realize how Fall Forward they would look, but they are pretty, I think, and definitely comfortable. I do have a couple of summer projects still left in me and they won't take as long as this, I hope! Depends a lot on the weather. Hubs and I are in the throws of house repairs and painting the house exterior with the two of us doing 90% of the work. It's all good and looking so different and nice. We are calling it  the Retro Ranch with vibes of Chip and Joanna!  I am excited about my next project. I will be trying  a new and different technique, as suggested by one of the Vlog gurus. 

If I am looking a little piqued here, I am. A tummy sort of thing hit me today but I was determined to get the pictures taken and this post up for you all! Tomorrow will be a better day! 

This Japanese Painted Fern is on of my favorite ever plants. It is doing well here and quite hardy. Enjoy!.................................Bunny