StyleArc - Adele Top

First, thanks to all of you for your enthusiastic feedback on the Tablecloth Skirt. Marec (on Pattern Review) suggested a sew-along. I've never even participated in a sew along, but I'll consider running one in the new year if there is enough interest.

I have very little time to sew in the next couple of weeks, between work, kids, cooking, and visitors. In fact, I'm busy tomorrow (Sunday), so I decided that today I needed a quick project I could complete in one day. But which easy project to choose?

Several weeks ago I decided that I wanted to make a Style Arc pattern I had purchased last June, the Seaside Sue top.

Seaside Sue Top

I was planning to make some changes, namely to raise the neckline and to add sleeves. When I pulled the pattern out to work on it, I saw that they had accidentally sent me the wrong size, it was a size 10 rather than an 18. I emailed Style Arc about the error, asking for the correct size. In my email, I told them I was planning to add sleeves to "winterize" it. (I've teased Chloe in the past, asking her, what have you got against sleeves? Since then, she has been releasing more sleeved top patterns.)

They quickly responded to my email and told me that the free November pattern was a sleeved version of Seaside Sue and that they would send it to me in another week when it was available, if I preferred. You betcha!

Adele Top

(It's not the first time I've asked them for something that was already in the works. Get out of my head, Chloe!)

Materials:

• Green print rayon lycra jersey from Fabrix.
• Black viscose spandex "Annabelle" jersey for contrasting neckband from Vogue Fabrics.
• Twill tape to stabilize shoulder seams.
• 1/2" Steam-a-Seam Lite 2 to stabilize hems.

Alterations and Modifications:

• The finished bust measurement of the size 18 is approx 44". My bust is closer to 50" but this is a stretchy fabric. I held 22" of the fabric against my bust and decided that I didn't need to add width. This top is more flattering if it gently hugs the bust anyway, so I decided that the negative ease worked for me. But I didn't want the top to "ride up" in front, so I sliced the pattern at the bustline (front only) and added 1" horizontally. I did not alter the back because I just eased the extra 1" in at the side seam.
  
• The sleeve was a bit narrow, so I widened it by approx 1-1/4".
  
• The sleeve is too long - I shortened it by 1-1/2".
• The pattern instructs you to interface the neckline. The contrast neckband is optional. If you left that off, you would need to interface/stabilize the neckline somehow. I left it off and used the contrast fabric, which functions as a ribbing.
• I hemmed the top and the sleeves using Steam-a-Seam Lite 2.
• I did NOT have to narrow the shoulders!!! What the heck??? I *always* have to narrow the shoulders! Always! On the "Big 4" I often narrow the shoulders a full 2", but even on Style Arc I have to generally narrow them 3/4"-1".
• I did not modify the neckline. If you notice, it's higher than is shown on the drawing. Thanks to Sigrid for asking this question. :)

Conclusion:
Wow, do I LOVE this top!!! I LOVE the easy FBA! In fact, I think I want to revisit the funnel-neck tee and try this FBA instead of the other FBA I used.

I can easily see straightening the side seams and chopping the hem, making it a standard horizontal hem, to make this my go-to standard tee. It fits that well. LOVE LOVE LOVE.

More pictures

Closeup of side slit

Self Drafted - TableCloth Skirt (with Tutorial)

The outfit I'm planning to wear for Thanksgiving.

More than a year ago a cyber friend, ReAnn, sent me a link to this dress and asked if I knew how it might have been drafted.

I didn't.

Over time, this dress has shown up in various incarnations - with sleeves, without sleeves, with different fabrics. I have only seen it online, never in person, so I did not have a chance to study it. Then, a month or so ago I was looking again at the web page when, bam, I realized how it was drafted.

Gotta love that!

I quickly did some math, and whipped up a version using a worn out flannel duvet cover with rosebuds that my daughter had decided was no longer cool. I was happy to see that my idea did, indeed, work. Then I hung the muslin in a closet and forgot about it.

I needed to sew a quick skirt for a meeting this week and I decided that it was time to make a real version of this garment. I made it in one evening - it is so simple.

Materials:

• A very lightweight, crisp fabric from Fabrix. I believe it's a nylon taffeta. It is two-sided, but I used the autumn-colored side. The other side is cream/black.
• 1-1/2" Fantastic Elastic from Pamela's Patterns.
  

This skirt is made entirely from rectangles. It is basically a circle skirt, except it uses a square instead of a circle. I did not even cut out the fabric. I just measured and ripped. The only time I used scissors was to cut the circle for the waist.

The "TableCloth Skirt" name came from one of my sewing pals, Sarah. I was holding it out, showing the shape, similar to the following photo, and she declared, "It's like a tablecloth!"

Yes, indeed, if you need a quick Halloween costume, just wear a board underneath this skirt to hold it out and, voila, a table with a tablecloth.

The following layout shows the essential shape of the pattern.

There is a square piece of fabric (blue), with a waist hole cut out (yellow). Then there are four rectangles (green). There is also a rectangular waistband (not shown). (I made this with a elastic waistband, but you can put in a zipper if you want.)

Instructions:

• Cut, or tear, a rectangle that is 44" by 44". (Note, I am 5'5". If you are taller or shorter, you may want to adjust the proportions.)

• Calculate the circle you want to cut out for the waist. The math is not hard, but you can use a calculator. I googled "circle circumference calculator" and ended up using this one. I decided to add 2" to my waist measurement and plugged in the number. I needed a circle with a 6.5" radius. I created a quarter-circle template using printer paper.
  NOTE:: If your hips are larger than your waist, use that as your base so you can pull this on over your hips!


• Fold the square of cloth into quarters. Pin the quarter-circle template to the center corner. (Make sure you pin it to the correct corner!) Cut out the waist.
  


• Sew the waistband to the waist opening in whatever way you prefer. (I ripped a waistband piece that was 4.5" by 45" because I was using very wide elastic.) I stay-stitched the waist, clipped, and attached the waistband.
  NOTE: The waistband should be the length of the waist hole at the seam line (not at the cutting line), plus two seam allowances. I cut it longer by a few extra inches, just to be safe. After I stay stitch the waist and clip, the seam always seems to grow another inch or two. I don't sew the short edges of the waistband together until the waistband is mostly attached to the skirt. I leave a couple inches unsewn at the beginning, and the end, of the seam. I then mark where the waistband should be sewn closed. I sew it, press it open, and then stitch the last few inches to the skirt. I am also too lazy to leave an opening in the short seam for the elastic. After the waistband is completely sewn and topstitched to the skirt, I use my seam ripper to open the short seam, on the inside, for the elastic. I insert the elastic, fit it to myself, and sew the edges of the elastic together. I don't even stitch up the little opening. Now you know. :)


• Cut, or tear, four more pieces of fabric that are 44" (or whatever size square you used) by 15" (again, modify as needed).


• Hem the long edge of each of the four rectangles. (I like to hem it first, but you can wait if you want to see about the length.)


• Sew the unhemmed long edge of each rectangle to one of the edges of the central square. (If you look at my crude diagram, you are sewing the green pieces to the blue center square.) I used 1/2" seam allowances. You want to start sewing 1/2" in from the edge and stop 1/2" from the other edge. If you are using a different width for the seam allowances, start and stop the seam by that amount.


• The final step is to sew the four short edges of the rectangles together. (As shown by the arrows in the diagram.) This creates four corners.

That's it! Not counting the waistband or the hem, that is a mere EIGHT seams! If you want to recreate the inspiration dress exactly, sew the skirt to a cropped bodice. I'm not really a "dress" person, so I decided to make it as a skirt, but it would not be hard to do.

A few more pictures:

A little twirling action

A closeup of two of the corners

StyleArc - Debra Zebra tops

Like my new hat? Everything is more jaunty with a hat. :)
More Debra Zebra pics here.

More Style Arc goodness!

Many folks have made the funnel-necked tee from the Sept 2010 issue of Burda, most recently, Margy. This Style Arc funnel-neck tee is very similar and, bonus, and I didn't have to trace it! I've had this pattern for awhile and now that winter is coming, I'm ready for a funnel-necked top or three.

I made two tops in a few hours. With only 3 pattern pieces and 6 seams (total), you can whip these up very quickly.

Materials:

• Top #1: Black Annabelle knit (94% viscose, 6% spandex) from Vogue Fabrics.
• Top #2: Red/Pink Wool Jersey (97% wool, 3% lycra) from Fashion Fabrics Club.

Alterations and Modifications:

• I started with a size 18, which is usual. This has a fairly relaxed fit.
• Removed the hip curvature from the side seams.
• 2" FBA. I eased the fullness from the dart into the side seam. I didn't sew it as a dart or gather it. I steamed out the fullness that was created by the easing.
• Removed 1" from the shoulder.
• The upper arm seemed narrow so I widened it by 1". To be honest, I don't think this was necessary.
• This makes a long top. I shortened it by 2-1/2".
• I did hem the sleeves and the top, but I did not hem the neckline.

Conclusion:

This is a great basic!!! I will be making more of these. Super quick, well fitting, and a great wardrobe staple.

More Pictures

This pic has been lightened.

Fashion Fabrics Club called this color red/pink but I would call it coral.

You can see my FBA. I always fit the side seams on my body - it always benefits from further tweaking.

Alteration to widen the sleeve.

All Wales Welcome! National Corduroy Appreciation Day

I love corduroy and tomorrow, November 11, 2011, is Corduroy Appreciation Day. This date, 11/11/11, was chosen because, in numeric form, it resembles the wales in corduroy. And, it's on a Friday! There are many events planned all over the world a handful of events planned in a few cities. In 2111, it will be on a Wednesday, so don't expect quite so much hullabaloo next time, being a school night and all. :)

I wish I could properly celebrate the day, sewing some corduroy, for example, but at least 11 hours will be spent in a car, heading with DD1 on a college tour to Oregon. Though, doesn't Oregon seem like a proper corduroy-wearing state?

Let's hope so, because I will be wearing cords that day. In fact, in the photo above you see me wearing one of my favorite corduroy pieces, a jacket made from a corduroy that alternates wide wale and very wide wale. I found this garment on ebay many moons ago but, hey, one day I may knock it off.

I'm also wearing cream-colored corduroy Jalie Jeans, but these are going into the Goodwill bag, as they aren't nearly as comfy to wear as the Linda pants I made with the same fabric.

I know I have been quiet on the blogosphere, but my sewing has been proceeding very slow of late. I'm not sure if it's preferable to find other (sewing-related) things to blog about, or to wait until I have something to show.

The jacket I am working on is close to being done, but due to the impending road trip I can't work on it this weekend or I could finish it. It's been a bit challenging to fit, so I'm hoping it will turn out ok, but the jury is definitely out.

I also continue to walk at one to two hours a day, which also eats into my free time. And, in an effort to eat better, I am cooking and doing more food prep. (Kale smoothie, anyone?) For me, at least, a healthier lifestyle takes more time. :)

I hope you have a wonderful Corduroy Appreciation Day. May your wales be true and your nap smooth!

P.S. Inspired by the snow picture, I specifically looked for corduroy textures on this morning's walk. The best I could find was this bit of sidewalk, at a crosswalk near my home, in concrete. I would buy fabric like this!

The Autumn 6-Pack that Wasn't

You may recall that I decided to join the Autumn 6-pack on Stitcher's Guild. Most of us tweak the plan to suit our needs and my planned version of the 6-pack was actually 7 pieces: 3 bottoms, 3 tops, and a jacket that would go with everything.

I was making great progress, initially. My color palette was inspired by a beautiful piece of wool I purchased from Emma One Sock. This striped woven wool contains several shades of blue, plus grey, and cream and almost looks like a knitted fair isle.

I got stuck on the jacket. I "auditioned" a jacket pattern - McCalls 6294. I liked the jacket, but decided I didn't want to use my special wool for that pattern. I spent countless evenings making plans for the fabric, but I could not settle on a pattern.

What I did make, starting from the upper left and going clockwise:

• Periwinkle blue rayon jacquard Liberty top (Sewing Workshop pattern, fabric from FabricMart).
• Navy blue rayon lycra jersey Teagarden T (Sewing Workshop pattern, fabric from Emma One Sock).
• Aforementioned McCalls jacket - the version I auditioned. (Yes, it goes with the other pieces, colorwise, but this was my test version.)
• Midnight blue Marcy Tilton pants (Vogue pattern, fabric from Emma One Sock).
• Charcoal no-wale corduroy Linda pants (Style Arc pattern, fabric from Fashion Fabrics Club.
• Cream pinwale corduroys (Jalie pattern, fabric from FabricMart).

It's all good, though. I will get lots of wear out of the pieces I did finish. And I still have the gorgeous piece of wool. :)

Style Arc Shaza Pant

It's not every day that a pattern is named after you. What a huge honor!

I haven't been sewing as much lately, but this pant had to be first up. I made a size 10 - my normal pant size in Style Arc. I made zero changes when cutting. The only change I made during construction was to change the direction of the pleats - I find the pleat direction I used to be a bit more flattering when one has a belly.

These pants are very loose above the knee and snug below the knee. I did not shorten or hem them. They puddle a bit at the ankle, which I like, though you can't see that in the pictures because I am wearing an ankle boot.

Materials:

• Black rayon lycra jersey from Fabrix.
• 1.5" Fantastic Elastic from Pamela's Patterns. I trimmed off about 1/8" for it to fit the casing. (This elastic is designed so that it can be cut to a narrower width.

Conclusion:

I love these pants! I really like how the side drape transitions to a pocket. These are quick to sew up and easy to wear. If you like a harem style of pant, I highly recommend this pattern!

Proof that there are pockets!

Here you can see how the drape looks. The pockets are still tucked inside. (Worn with the red Teagarden T I made last Christmas.)

Vogue 8754 - Marc Jacobs Wool Coat

More pictures

New!

I am introducing a new feature! From time to time, I plan to talk about something that Seemed Like a Good Idea! And maybe it is a good idea. Or maybe it isn't. :)

The Coat

Time for another coat! Though I am no longer suffering from a coat deficit, I continue to make coats. My climate loves a good coat, most of the time. I now have 8 of my 12 jackets and coats completed for 2011. Will I finish all 12? Who knows!

It seems like it took me forever to finish this!!! Started weeks ago, before moving to the sewing room, this is the first item to be finished in the sewing room.

This pattern was new in the fall Vogue collection a couple months ago. I liked the neckline and the binding. And I had a piece of fabric that I thought would work. It does, mostly. But more about that later.

Materials:

• Marc Jacobs wool blend, black with harbor blue dashes, from FabricMart (300619). You need to treat this fabric like a stripe. It is super soft and thick - kind of spongy. The design is woven - not printed - so the back of the fabric has floats where the harbor dashes appear; it's a good candidate to be a lined garment. A friend received this fabric in her free mystery bundle from FM and gifted it to me. It's *really* nice. This had disappeared from the FabricMart website and then more yardage recently reappeared. They also have it in a blue colorway with cream dashes. I've also seen this colorway on Fashion Fabrics Club, though it is more expensive.
• Scraps of Vera Wang pebbled silk for pockets.
• Lining: blue polyester charmeuse from Fabrix (and left over from another project).
• Trim: black organic bamboo doubleknit (98% bamboo, 2% lycra) from FabricMart (891855). I cut 2" strips.
• Interfacing: black tricot fusible from Fabrix for collar and fronts.
• 3 giant square snaps from Britex.

The fabric front is on the left. The back of the fabric, with the floats, is on the right. The strips of bamboo doubleknit for the binding are at the top.

Alterations & Modifications:

• Started with a size 18 and made View C.
• Lowered and enlarged the dart - added 2.5".
• Lengthened the front interfacing to correspond to the additional length from the FBA.
• The pattern, just released recently in the fall Vogue collection, is described as a "semi-fitted lined jacket." It is semi-fitted through the bust. It has a dart in the back neckline (2 darts total) and I widened the back another 1" (2" total additional width). I took up the extra width at the neckline by adding another dart for a total of 4 neckline darts.
• From the waist down, the jacket is much wider through the hip area. I chopped off the hip shaping.
• I straightened the edge of the inseam pocket because I'd removed the curve at the hip.
• Narrowed the shoulder seam by 1".
• Allowed for turn-of-the-cloth at the collar. Because this is a thick fabric, it was a noticeable amount of excess. You can see it in the photo - it was a bit more than 1/4" that I removed.
  

  

  Turn of the collar. I cut off the excess. After basting the outer coat to the lining, 5/8" is trimmed off all around the edge and then the binding is applied.

• I sewed the binding to the coat with a 3/8" seam allowance. I stitched the other edge of the binding by hand.
• I shortened the sleeves by 2".
• I hand sewed the sleeve lining to the coat. Lots and lots of tiny stitches.
  

  

• I used three giant navy snaps from Britex as the closure. In the flash pictures, these snaps appear to be a bright blue, but they are actually such a dark navy that they almost look black.
  

  

  An accurate depiction of the snap color.

Comments and Conclusion

It seems like these pattern companies make very specific decisions about what constitutes a "Very Easy" pattern, and they don't always make sense. One measure of a "Very Easy" pattern seems to be the number of pattern pieces. In this case, they avoided making any facings. They also avoided any lining pattern pieces. This has some ramifications:

• There is no back neck facing piece. I went along with this idea, and I didn't love it. I did not sew the four neck darts in the lining, but turned them into pleats. I usually prefer to draft a back neck facing when one is not made available.
  

  

  The back lining. You can see, I hope, the four pleats into the collar.

• There is no front facing. You cut four fronts. This means that the coat is two layers of the main fabric at the front. The coat also has darts, which I made a lot bigger. Since I used a fairly heavy coating, that is a LOT of thickness in the dart area. I think it would be better if they had broken down and created a front facing and front lining pattern piece, to avoid bulk.
• In general, I had trouble with the darts. No matter how much steam and pressure I applied, I could not make this spongy fabric lie flat at the darts. This bothers me, but I finally gave up, after several attempts.

In the end, it's a serviceable coat. A little boring. The pattern could have been designed better. I probably won't make it again, or if I do, I will draft proper facings and a front lining.

It Seemed Like a Good Idea

You may have noticed the sweater I was wearing in the coat photo shoot, though only a bit of it can be seen. I bought this two years ago at one of those multi-designer sales that happen periodically. It is the softest black alpaca. What attracted me to this piece was the attached scarf. Yes, the scarf begins at the hem of the garment, and then narrows and extends for quite a ways. You can loop it around your neck any way you like, but I generally wear it knotted, as you see.

Doesn't this seem like a good idea?

I thought so, which is why I bought it. I've worn it maybe 2 or 3 times in the last two years.

Why has it received such minimal wear?

Well, I first wore it to Thanksgiving, two years ago, at a friend's house. It was a nice chilly fall day. But once you enter a heated house, you are stuck wearing a scarf that you can't remove. Unless you want it trailing on the floor. It's hard to find an event that has a suitable mix of fancy-ness and chilly-ness to wear this piece.

Oh well, I still like it. :)

More Pictures

Open

Partially closed

Fully closed

The lining fabric is used only in the back, sleeves, and in-seam pockets.