#6 - FabricMart Choice - Polyester Chiffon Panel Print

(Sorry that this post is later than usual. I had other things I had to get done over the weekend and I didn't get this post written up Sunday night, as I usually do. I do work full time, so I had to squeeze in the writing of this post around work on Monday.)

TOC:

• Rules for Challenge 6
• Fabric
• A Challenging Challenge
• Dyeing the Fabric
• Taming the Fabric
• Choosing a Pattern
• Alterations and Modifications
• Construction
• More Pictures
• Pattern

Rules for Challenge 6

Using the fabric we have selected for you, challenge yourself by making a unique garment and working with a material you may not have used before to create one well-made garment. You can use a pattern of your choice to construct your garment.

You will be judged on creativity, functionality, craftsmanship, and fit.

Fabric

FabricMart sent each contestant the same fabric. Two panels of a polyester chiffon striped panel print. I hung it from my front porch so you could see the whole thing.

A Challenging Challenge

This challenge was definitely my most challenging challenge. I am not afraid of sewing polyester chiffon (and, in fact, I used it last week on the first version of the vintage dress), and I love stripes, as a rule. But the colors in this fabric are just not my colors and this is not a fabric that I would buy for myself. It would look completely out of place in my closet.

Dyeing the Fabric

What I really wanted to do was to dye the yardage. I took a piece of the fabric, some Kelly Green iDye, and a stainless steel cooking pot to see what would happen.

Wow, iDye is an interesting product - this was my first experience with dyeing polyester. You dissolve the two "flavor" packets in water, toss in the fabric, and cook for 30-60 minutes. The instructions say to stir often, but they don't say to stir constantly.

I learned some interesting things:

• The fabric turned solid green almost immediately. (A very pretty solid green, I might add.)
• I found that I *had* to stir constantly. If I stopped stirring for a few seconds, it was like cooking tomato sauce. Huge bubbles would erupts, sending jets of hot dye all over the stove, on my floor, and narrowly missing me.
• It produces an acrid odor that smells quite toxic. I guess it takes heavy chemicals to dye polyester.
• Even though I turned the heat down to the lowest setting, dangerous bubbles continued to erupt.
• I decided that cooking it for 10 minutes was enough. (I didn't want to keep dodging jets of hot dye or stirring constantly for another 20 minutes.)
• Ten minutes *was* enough. The fabric was colorfast, even when I washed it in the washing machine.

Once the fabric was dyed, I liked it much better. I even liked the hand of the fabric better. I was sorely tempted to dye the entire yardage, but I was pretty sure that the judges wanted us to use the panel print, so I resisted. (But it was not easy for me.)

I had chosen the kelly green dye because I thought it might complement the striped fabric, and it did. I decided to use the dyed fabric as an accent.

The dyed fabric alongside the striped.

Taming the Fabric

To tame the polyester chiffon, a notoriously wiggly and uncooperative fabric, I used a Palmer Pletsch product called Perfect Sew.

Perfect Sew is some great stuff! The instructions tell you to lay the fabric down and to spread the product over it. I did *not* want to do this. This liquid is gelatinous and I did not want to get it on my cutting table. Instead, I put the fabric into a bowl, squirted the Perfect Sew on, and "tossed" the fabric like it was a salad until it was evenly coated. I squirted on additional Perfect Sew as needed. My hands became very sticky, so I am glad I did not get this on my cutting table.

Coating the stripes with Perfect Sew Coating the dyed green fabric with Perfect Sew

By "tossing" the fabric, I got very good coverage with the gel. I then hung the yardage over the shower curtain rod to dry. I smoothed it as much as possible as it hung from the rod. Once it dries, it has a "crisp" hand to it. It is very much like sewing on organza, rather than chiffon. Organza is not an "easy" fabric to sew either, but it is much more manageable than a squiggly chiffon.

Out of sight of the camera, I am holding the fabric away from the rod.
See how rigid it is?
Nice and crisp.

Once you have completed the garment, you wash it and it returns to it's previous soft state. The instructions say to machine wash, but I washed it in the sink with warm water, changing the water a couple of times, and swishing it thoroughly. I then laid it in a towel, and rolled it up to remove the excess water. I then hung the top on a hangar, again from the shower rod, to dry. It dried very quickly and required only a light pressing to remove some wrinkles.

Original fabric on the left. Fabric treated with Perfect Sew on the right.

I highly recommend Perfect Sew, though you can't use it on garments that can't be dipped in water, such as on a lining for a tailored wool jacket.

The bias neck binding. Treated with Perfect Sew, the bias strip holds a crisp pressed edge. The strips for the front bands, also treated with Perfect Sew

Choosing a Pattern

I did not want to make another dress. I rarely wear dresses, and I've made three dresses in the last three challenges, so I decided to make a top. Inspired by some RTW tops, I decided to use the stripe horizontally and to use the solid green as contrasting front bands.

After a lot of dithering, I settled on a Sandra Betzina pattern. This pattern includes a top and a skirt, and I had made the skirt last January. I liked the top, but hadn't gotten around to making it. And then, at Pattern Review weekend last April, Sandra Betzina wore a top made from this pattern and I quite liked it on her. After PR weekend, a sewing friend made the top and it looked great on her.

Both of these women are "normal" busted, I might add.

(A little foreshadowing here.)

I decided to use the stripes in the panel print on the horizontal. This meant that I would have to match the stripe at center front and at the side seams. Matching this stripe is a bit challenging, as it morphs as it travels across the panel. Some stripes change width, and meander, or even just "pop" to a new location.

Cutting out the back

This top has a very interesting sleeve design, as you can see in the following picture.

From from V1333. You can also see my vertical only FBA (I did not need width) and the shirttail hem that I added.

The side seams are sewn, all the way up to the top point. That "petal" shape of the pattern becomes fabric that bunches up under the arm, gracefully, one hopes. The top part of the petal, where the scissors are positioned, is left as an unsewn slit and becomes the sleeve opening.

So cool, in theory, but so awful on me.

In my case, the fabric bunching up under the arm made my boobular area look completely out of control. The slit for my upper arm was just big enough for my arm with no extra ease, making it look like a pasta machine was extruding my arm.

Not pretty.

So I had to make some changes. I unsewed the side seam beginning above the bust and I left the rest of it unsewn. This created the "flutter" sleeve. I trimmed it up a bit and then hemmed it, using teeny tiny hems. I left the original slit in place, and hemmed that with teeny tiny hems.

The resulting sleeves are much better for a busty person with fuller upper arms.

Trimming the seam allowance from the hem, before the final fold that encloses the raw edge. Completed sleeve hems

Alterations and Modifications

I used my normal Sandra Betzina pattern size - a C. I made the following modifications:

• A 1" vertical only FBA, so there are side seam darts.
• I omitted the waist darts.
• I added the shirt tail hem to front and back, copying the one from the Grainline Archer.
• I omitted the front facings and the back neck facing.
• I finished the neckline with a bias band.
• I finished the front with narrow bands, cut from the dyed chiffon.
• I modified the sleeves (as described in the previous section).

Construction

Except for the issues that surfaced with the sleeves, the construction was pretty straightforward. There were a lot of teeny tiny hems to sew. I showed the technique in my post for challenge #5, but here are a couple new pictures.

Cutting the seam allowance from the bottom hem Both sides of completed hem

More Pictures

Pattern

Vogue 1333

Swamp Green Mizono Top - Vogue 1246

It's not a coat!

I had an interesting double-sided fabric in a murky green color (swamp green!) that is, roughly, the color of my eyes. It features thin blue and burgundy ribbons inserted in rows. On one side of the fabric, the ribbons appear inside the circles; on the other side of the fabric, the ribbons appear in the background. I'm not sure which side is intended to be the right side and I can't figure out how this fabric was made. It was a fairly crisp fabric, until I washed and dried it, when it became wrinkled and gauze-like. It's a fairly fragile fabric and, I think that it is all (or mostly) costton.

Closeup of both sides of the fabric

It took me awhile to figure out what I wanted to do with it, but I finally decided to make it into this Lynn Mizono pattern, Vogue 1246, view A. Views A and B are quite different. View A has a modified-mandarin neckline that appealed to me, and sleeves have a very cool hem detail where there is a slit and one pointy corner is pulled up and over the other and fastened with a button and buttonhole. It is designed to be a wrap top with ties and it has an A-line shape that is quite wide through waist and even wider through the hips and hem. There are deep, asymmetric slits in both side seams. There are 8 mitered corners - four at the side seam hems and 2 on each sleeve hem.

Because I am busty, I find wrap tops annoying to wear, so I decided to convert the pattern to a button front. The size 8 (the smallest size) has a finished bust measurement of 44", so I cut out a size 8 (smaller than my usual size 10) and did a vertical-only FBA of 1-1/4", as I didn't need additional width.

Before removing 8" through the waist and 12" through the hips. (I am also wearing some older Style Arc pants that are now too big, but are sooo comfy that I kept them for knocking around.)

Once the top was mostly constructed, I decided I didn't like how loose it was through the torso, so I cut it down. From the side seams, I removed 8" at the waist and 12" at the hips which results, I think, in a more flattering look on me. Other than that, I didn't make any changes.

I also had an issue with the collar. The collar didn't lay as well on my neck as I would like. It needed to flare out a tad, but I would have had to deconstruct the top to replace the collar, so I decided to play with the styling. It lays well when folded down. It also lays better when the top is worn open, over a shell. If I make this pattern again (and I may) I will tweak the shape of the collar.

The pattern did not call for any interfacing, but I interfaced the collar and front facings. Another feature of this pattern is that all raw edges are finished. The shoulder seams are sewn with French seams. The side seams are folded under and stitched down, which I did by hand. The neckline and armscye seams are covered with self made bias binding. It makes for a very nice finish.

The top closes with 7 chunky, burgundy-colored buttons from Britex - 5 down the front, and one on each sleeve.

I like this top! I especially like the fit through the upper chest, which required almost no tweaking. I narrowed the shoulders by 5/8" which is far less than usual for a Vogue pattern. And I didn't shorten the sleeves at all, and they are perfect, also unusual for a Vogue. I wonder if it's because I made a size 8 and I am usually making a larger size...

I also love the sleeves with the unusual hem. The pattern is worth buying for the sleeve alone.

Here's a question for you. I have styled it differently in the next three photos. Which do you think is the best way for me to wear it?

Worn open over a shell Worn closed, collar up Worn closed, collar folded down. (It was breezy and foggy!)

Thanks for all of your feedback on my old, but classic, Montana jacket! I can't say what I will be making next, because I often change my mind at the last minute, but maybe a skirt or pants!

Woven Tie Top in Black - Butterick 3250

Have you noticed? Tie tops are everywhere! It took me a minute to adjust to this style, having been very over it back in the 80s. I remember it was everywhere, but the iconic look showed a tie top over a leotard worn with tights and leg warmers.

Flashback to Olivia Newton John...

Now I am seeing tie tops all over the place - if you haven't noticed this trend yet, just look on Pinterest.

I purchased this striped skirt/dress several months ago - in April I think. (I plan to talk more about it in another post.) You can wear it as a skirt, doubling the wide waistband, or pull it up over the bust and wear it as a dress.

The days are long gone (if they ever existed) that I would wear a bandeau style, so I wanted to make some sort of coverup. I actually bought another pattern to make a knit coverup, then I lost it. Meanwhile, Margy made this tie top, using Butterick 3250, an OOP pattern for wovens.

(Ironically, I just checked the copyright on this pattern and it's dated 1985.)

I don't know about you, but I want most everything Margy makes, and this was no exception. I tracked down a copy of the pattern (which was in horrendous shape, but that's another story). The fabric was purchased a long time ago from FabricMart. Originally I had bought enough to make a voluminous skirt, but I decided to use it for this. The fabric is black with circles. The edges of the circles are raw and so they are a little frayed, creating a great texture. The entire fabric is also just-so-slightly glittery and transparent. It's 100% cotton (sans glitter) and very lightweight, almost like a voile.

I do not, as a rule, like glitter and shine, but I am getting used to it. Dare I say, I even like it? The dress has a silver thread running through the white stripe, so they complement each other. The cotton fabric is so soft - it makes me want to sing "The touch, the feel, of cotton. The fabric of our lives!"

This pattern sews up amazingly fast, with its dolman sleeves, cut on facings, and no buttons or buttonholes. I used the size 14, my new "standard" size, but there is lots of ease in the pattern. I didn't need to add any width for my bust, so I did a vertical only FBA. I added 1.5 inches in length, using a side seam dart.

Vertical only FBA. From the bust point, I angled the FBA down to the side seam. Had I kept it straight across, it would have ended in the armhole curve.

There is a pleat at center back.

I love this little top! I think I will be getting a lot of wear out of it.

Top with Print Contrast Binding

Have you noticed this trend in Spring 2013 clothing? I am seeing it everywhere. Tops in solid fabrics (or in subtle stripes, plaids, etc) are sewn with contrast bindings/pipings/etc in print fabrics, usually florals. So I am jumping on that bandwagon.

Never let it be said that Shams doesn't pay attention to trends. (She may ignore them, but she is aware of them.)

I wanted an asymmetric neckline, similar to one I'd seen in RTW, so I started with the Renfrew top and sliced and diced the front - the back is quite plain, though the binding does wrap around the neckline.

The front after slicing and dicing. I added a 5/8" seam allowance to the bottom of the shoulder piece, shown on the left. The neckline bit was discarded. I also narrowed the shoulder, just slightly, at the back to correspond to the narrowed front shoulders.

To construct, I sewed the both shoulder seams, then applied the binding in one continuous piece all the way around the neckline. I then laid the bottom edge of the shoulder piece underneath the front by 5/8", and topstitched in place. I sewed the sleeves in flat, and then sewed up the side seams/sleeve seams. I hemmed the sleeves and bottom using Steam a Seam Lite 2 and topstitched on the sewing machine.

For the heathered "solid" fabric, I had more left over from my first Renfrew trial. For the contrast binding, I grabbed a print jersey from Fabrix and sliced off a 2" strip. I folded it in half and sewed it on with a 3/8" seam allowance.

Easy peasy.

I'm almost embarrassed to blog it. But not *that* embarrassed.

And, speaking of which, so many of my favorite bloggers are either retiring their blogs or going silent. I kind of get it, actually, since the longer one blogs, the harder it is to come up with interesting things to say or show. Life moves on, other things take precedence.

Hopefully, I haven't bored the bejeesus out of you yet.

DD1 was here last week for spring break. It was nice to see her. One afternoon, we both got haircuts. At different salons, but we met up afterwards. She went to the expensive salon (which did a beautiful job but it cost her beaucoup bucks) and I went to the beauty school, where my cut/color costs $18. I meet the nicest students who are about to graduate. It's a win win. Yeah, occasionally my bangs are crooked, but it's all survivable.

On Friday, I took both daughters to dinner. I was hoping we could grab some photos of all three of us, since I really don't have any. Alas, it was not to be.

Work has been intense lately. Most of the time, I work at home, on my sofa. Occasionally, I have a "helper". You can see how "helpful" he is.

The view from my laptop.

I have some sewing plans, but my weekends have been, and continue to be, pretty busy, so we'll see how much I accomplish. It would be nice to have a new garment or two for Pattern Review Weekend at the end of this month.