Vogue 1061 - Sandra Betzina Swing top

More pics

I finally finished! This top wasn't that hard to make, but it sure took me awhile to complete it. I kept getting sidetracked by life: work, kids, and knitting. ;)

The back of this Sandra Betzina top is really lovely, but I didn't care for the wrap front. Wrap fronts are generally not friendly to the uber busty, unless said uber busty person likes to emphasize the bust. It's fine if that's what you want, but it's not for me.

At first, I was planning to replace the wrap front with a seam down the center front, but a friend and fellow ASG member, Dorothy K, suggested a zipper. A zipper! Brilliant!

I also didn't like the bust dart. I really don't care for bust darts in knits - it difficult to make them look good. I prefer to ease the bust fullness in at the side seam. I find that slight gathering at the side seam (at bust level) is less objectionable than a dart in a knit. And sewing a nice-looking dart in the bamboo knit would be next to impossible.

Materials/notions:

• Bamboo knit in slate blue from FabricMart
  
• Lightweight 22" separating YKK zipper from Britex
  
• 1/2" Steam-a-seam Lite 2 for the zipper and hems.
  

Alterations and construction notes:

• I cut a size H, which is larger than my usual F, but, according to the finished measurements on the pattern, I needed the room at the bust. I did not muslin this top. Later, when I was sewing the final seams, I ended up removing inches from the side/underarm seam, so I probably ended up making a size F or smaller.
  
• I shorted the sleeves 3 inches. I typically shorten the sleeve 1" to 1-1/2", so this sleeve is very long.
  
• The ruching at the lower sleeve was problematic. The pattern instructs you to sew 3/8" elastic to the seam allowance on the inside to create the ruched effect. When I did this, it looked awful - a real mess. I ripped it out and, instead, gathered the seam and stitched it to twill tape. This gave me more control and the result looked better.
  
• I eased the fullness from the dart at the side seam and eliminated the dart.
  
• I measured 5/8" from the CF line and chopped the pattern off. I inserted a separating zipper at CF, but a seam would have worked as well.
  
• I added pockets to the side seams. Just what is it with all these patterns that don't include pockets?? Since I make most of my clothes, I've been far too pocket-less lately. Please put pockets on the pattern and make them interesting!! We can always leave them off if we want. Vogue, are you listening? :)
  
• I eliminated all facings. The hood extends all the way around the neckline. I stitched the hood to the jacket, right-side-to-right-side. I serged the seam, folded it down, and topstitched from the outside. This is how hoodies are commonly made in RTW. I checked. ;)
  

The back panels pinned and ready for stitching.

I've already posted my recommendations on sewing with bamboo knit, so I won't repeat that here. This pattern needs a fabric with drape, so the bamboo worked well, overall, though it was challenging to topstitch the back seams with minimal puckering. A walking foot or a teflon foot would probably have helped.

Comments and what I would do differently next time:

• It was easy to install the separating zipper. I first turned the seam allowance under at CF and secured it with Steam A Seam 2 Lite. I then hand basted the zipper in place and stitched, with the zipper tape face up and a zipper foot on the machine.
  
• This top features dolman-style sleeves with ruching below the elbow. The dolman sleeve is pieced because the lower sleeve is cut as a semi-circle – this creates a longer seam on top of the arm – this becomes the ruched seam. The shorter seam, below the arm, is not ruched. Sandra calls this an "elephant sleeve."

  While this is clever in theory, I found it fiddly in practice. The instructions have you stitch a 12" length of 3/8" elastic to the longer seam to create the ruching, the way you might sew elastic to a pantie leg. This approach did not work for me, so I ripped it out and gathered the seam using the same technique you'd use to gather a woven: basting stitches that are pulled to form gathers. I then secured the gathers to a length of twill tape.

  I found this process fairly fiddly and I was not entirely happy with the final ruching. If I make this again, I plan to replace the dolman sleeve with a set-in sleeve and would probably eliminate the ruching.

• Let's talk about the hood for a second. This top features a hood that is really a stylized collar. Yes, you could use it as a hood, but it's much larger than a hood should be, whereas it creates a nice collar and a flattering "topper" for the back detailing. The pattern calls for the hood to be self lined, and I think this is a mistake. At first I was planning to leave the hood unlined. I had pinned the unlined hood to the top and tried it on and it was perfect.
  

  However, there was one tiny little problem. If the hood is not lined, the inside seam shows. Since the hood would primarily be worn down, that seam would show pretty much always. Meaning I would want it to have a nice serged finish. However, I have no blue serger thread. In fact, the only serger thread I have is black. I didn't want to buy blue serger thread for this one seam, so I went ahead and lined the hood.
  

  Big mistake. As a single thickness, this hood was perfect. As a lined hood, it's too heavy. It is "ok", and it won't affect my wearing of the top, but it would be perfect without that extra layer. So, I suggest that you don't line this hood and finish the seam in whatever way you want. (I considered a lapped seam finish but didn't care for it in the bamboo.)
  

• This top would also be cute in a shorter length.
  

And now, more pics. :)

With some small additional tweaks, this could become a favorite TNT pattern. It will make a great hoodie. But maybe next time in black. ;)

Sewing with Bamboo Knit

Lately there has been discussion and questions on Stitcher's Guild about sewing with bamboo knits. Particularly the bamboo knit from FabricMart. As I have sewn a few garments from this fabric, I thought I'd share my tips and experience.

First of all, this fabric is often referred to as bamboo jersey, even by me. :) But it is actually not a jersey, it is a very fine double knit. If you hoped to cut strips of this fabric and they would curl up, that won't happen as a doubleknit won't curl the way a jersey will.

The front is smoother than the back, which is very slightly fuzzy. Under good light, you can tell the difference because you will see the very fine knit stitches on the front, but it's hard to make out the knit stitches on the back. When I made my Teagarden T (pictured above) I was sewing at night and accidentally put the wrong side to the outside; it's fine either way - just be consistent.

As you will find with other bamboo knits (ever tried on a bamboo sweater?), this fabric is "heavy" and has a glorious drape. It has heft to it, even though it is very thin. This, of course, contributes to the drape, but might become an issue if you make a very long garment from it.

Bamboo is not a very elastic fiber, but this particular fabric that FabricMart sells contains 7% spandex, so it does have considerable stretch in both directions, but greater stretch in the length.

What has people most excited about this fabric, besides the drape, is that it is very soft. Like buttah. I find that it skims lumps and bumps and does not "catch" on them. Otherwise it would be banished from my sewing room. :)

This fabric needs to be handled gently, or you will become very frustrated. Here are some of my specific suggestions:

• A hot iron can cause a shine, probably because of the spandex. So, either use a medium heat or a press cloth - but test it first.
  
• If there were ever a time to press and not iron, this is it! Up and down motion is what you want. Dragging an iron across this fabric will pull and create undesirable tucks.
  
• When sewing seams, they are likely to ripple a bit. Do NOT contribute to the rippling by pulling the fabric from behind the foot. (This might be a habit, but you really must avoid it here.) If you have a teflon foot for your machine, I suggest you try that. I have no idea where the teflon foot I bought 20 years ago might be hiding, so after sewing each seam, I lay the seam (closed) on the ironing board, lay it out how it should fall (with no stretching or pulling), and press up and down. The slight ripples can be almost completely removed in this way.
  
• If possible avoid or eliminate facings. The Teagarden T does have a neck self-facing and I fused interfacing to this with no problems, but tread carefully.
  
• For the hem, use a coverstitch machine if you have one - I gather they were created for this purpose. I don't have one, so I used Steam-A-Seam Lite 2 for hems and for inserting a zipper. I wouldn't even attempt to hem this fabric, or insert a zipper, without it.
  
• Edgestitching is particularly dicey as the thicker the fabric under the presser foot (and generally there are 4 layers when edgestitching), the greater the drag. This is where I most wished I had a teflon foot for my old Bernina. ;) I did my best not to stretch the fabric by pulling on it. After it was sewn, I pressed the rippled edge, forcing it to behave as much as possible. The result was not perfect, there's only so much unrippling you can do in some seams, particularly bias seams, but it helped.
  
• Use hand basting whenever basting is called for, such as when inserting a zipper. Less handling = less pulling = less rippling = happy sewist.
  
• It is virtually impossible to rip a seam out of this fabric without creating holes. I wouldn't even try - I'd cut a seam off first. If in doubt, first pin the seam, or hand baste, and try on, before final stitching.
  

This is all I can think of for now. Do you have additional suggestions? The fabric is so soft, so swingy/drapey, so yummay, it's worth a little care when handling.

(By the way, I am not affiliated with Fabric Mart, except I loooove them. I want to marrrry them. And I do buy fabric from them. :D )

Holey Scarf and another Teagarden T

I couldn't resist a bit more knitting. This time I made a holey scarf - a free pattern on Ravelry called the Swiss Cheese Scarf. (The link only works if you have a free Ravelry account.) Three skeins of fingering weight yarn (Araucania Solid #103), a size 3 bamboo circular needle, and 48,510 stitches later (give or take) and, voila.

Before felting, approximately 66" x 17" with 27-1/2 repeats of the 16-row pattern.

Before felting

Next step, a top loading washing machine, small load, hot water, 1 Tblsp laundry detergent. Ten minutes later, nothing had happened, so I added an old "unlinty" (lint might become embedded in the felt) towel and set the timer for another 10 minutes.

Yowza, very felted. I let it go another couple minutes (not sure why, but I guess I wasn't mentally prepared for it to be done yet) for a total of 22 minutes of agitation. I removed the scarf from the machine, placing it in a bowl of hot water, and rinsed in additional hot water until clear. Squeezed out as much excess water as possible, and laid it on a towel, under a small fan, to dry.

Voila. It's probably a tad overfelted, because it is more stiff than I intended, but I love it!! As I was knitting, I suspected that the Araucania would felt well (because the yarn liked to grab itself) and I knit loosely. However, it exceeded my expectations by felting to the point that there is no longer any stitch definition. I had hoped for that, but wasn't expecting it.

After felting, approximately 63" x 13.5".

Despite the holes, it is quite warm. I would like to make this again in a charcoal gray, maybe changing the dimensions a bit and felting it a bit less. I should add that this piece uses two dye lots. I bought two skeins on ebay for half price and the third, also on ebay, from a different seller that was a bit more expensive. When the third skein arrived, there was a visible difference with the other two. I considered my various options, but decided that I didn't really care and just added the third yarn to the end of the scarf. I like how the scarf subtly changes, in fact. :)

On a different topic, I was asked to post a photo of one of my recent pieces made from the bamboo jersey from FabricMart. I didn't plan to post this Teagarden T, which I made in September during the SSS challenge, because I've already made and shown this pattern several times, but here it is in rust bamboo jersey. This is for you, andib! :)

Birthdays, Curtains, and RTW Fashion Goodness

I recently had a jump in subscribers, so welcome to the new folk! And thanks to Carolyn, who mentioned me in a recent post. If you want to skip the brief, but indulgent, parental-themed chat and pics, scroll down to the fashion-themed chat and pics. ;)

Actually, the last couple of weeks have been slow for me, sewing-wise. And the last week, in particular, was exhausting, culminating in my eldest child turning me into a parent of an adult. She just missed voting in the election by three days. She has been wanting an upgrade to her bedroom for more than a year now, so I did whip up some new curtains. That's my tiny bit of sewing I can report on.

But first, Birthday Cake!!! :)

Okaaaay. She likes both Devil's Food and Red Velvet, so I made both and stacked them. Maybe not such a great idea, but she liked it. :)

Cake, Packed To Go.

Before
Fabric she selected at the age of 11. She is so over the yellow rosebuds. Yay, more muslin fabric for me!!!

After
I would have preferred longer curtains, but this was all of the yardage that Fabrix had and I wasn't in the mood to add a contrast band to this wobbly crinkled poly fabric. They aren't quite this dark in person.

But I do have some fashion to mention!

Daughter also wanted some "edgy" clothing for her birthday, so I spent a lunch hour in the Haight last week. I had very little time to cover the all the clothing stores, both vintage and new, so I was moving fast, often spending just a few seconds in a store before rushing to the next.

The second I walked into one store, a very friendly sales lady started talking to me. As she approached me, she pointed in the direction of my pants and asked, "Is that skunk funk?" I immediately thought that "skunk funk" must be a euphemism for something nastier than simple lint. As I desperately scanned my pants for something awful, maybe even chunky, I wondered what the heck I brushed up against. I mean, the Haight is not that clean, so who knows? ;)

And thus I was introduced to the brand, Skunk Funk.

I was in the Skunk Funk store, in fact, but hadn't noticed the name. I was wearing these Au Bonheur pants, and the French design reminded her of the Spanish Skunk Funk styles. (Note to self, get a better picture of these pants. ;) )

As I was about to enter another Haight boutique I glanced in the window and was stopped in my tracks. On a mannequin was a gorgeous gray wool coat. Forgetting my birthday shopping for a moment, I headed straight for the coat on the racks.

Oh My Goodness.

It was gorgeous and I so wish I had a photo to show you. It cost $475, and was made from gray wool boucle, but it also featured a contrasting fabric - a brocade with circles decorating the unusual external pocket, the ruffled collar, and the sleeve. It had a shocking pink lining that didn't match the outside at all - pure whimsy. The sales girls told me that many folks come in to check out the coat and every time they carry pieces from this designer they fly out the door. The designer was unfamiliar to me, but the label said An Ren. I came home and googled, hoping (in vain) to find a pic of the coat, but I found some others. For example, this coat from Fawbush is similar (not nearly as cute, but it has a similar pocket and collar). An Ren is a master of combining fabrics.

And, how cute are these An Ren jackets?

She has a boutique in New York and if I lived there I'd rush over to check it out. :)

Finally, I was just reading Ruthie's blog, and she mentions a website I had never heard of, but what vibrant designs! This is another example of a designer that combines fabrics in interesting ways. Here are some of my favorites from the Desigual site.

Thanks for the very interesting link, Ruthie!

Halloween 2004

HAPPY HALLOWEEN!!!!

2010 - This year's decorations

Here is another little blast from the past. Halloween has always been one of my favorite holidays, so I really ran with it when the kids were little. :)

2004 - DD1 is a Christmas Tree!

In 2004, I made DD1 a Christmas Tree costume. I got the idea from one of those Halloween Magazines that are available that time of year – I can't remember which magazine.

I went further with the idea, though. For example, I found (on ebay) two sets of star-shaped Christmas tree lights that operated on a battery pack and had 8 flashing modes. They are strung around the costume, under the netting (my friend Renee helped with this and with the other tree decorations). The battery packs are hidden in pockets on the underside. As she was trick or treating, she was flashing up a storm.

The candy canes are real. I made her (non-functional) Christmas tree light earrings. I made the star topper using lots of glitter and two thicknesses of the card stock - the tip of the tree is sandwiched in between and held with lots of sticky tape. The bottom of the costume is supported by a small hula hoop. She is also ornamented with real jingle bells, so she provided an auditory and visual experience. She designed the giant stocking-shaped goody bag. It has straps (so it can be worn), which were tucked in for the photos below. She has fewer decorations on her back, so I told her she was designed to be placed against a wall. ;)

2004 - DD2 is an "Elvish Avenger"

DD2 wanted to be a warrior, in particular an "Elvish Avenger". For her costume I made the pants, tunic, cape, quiver, knife sheath, dagger sheath, and (not shown) the goody bag that she designed.

More pictures. :)

The Elf chops down a tree!

When I was taking these photos, which was on Halloween or maybe the day before, I grabbed an Santa hat from the Christmas decorations, wrapped an empty gift, and had DD2 dress in holiday colors. I then took some photos to use for our Christmas card. I just couldn't pass up this opportunity. :) It was probably the last year I made a photo Christmas card and it was certainly the earliest I had been prepared!

Our 2004 Christmas Card!

On the sewing front, I am making progress very slowly! But I hope to get some done today. :)

Weekend Sewing... and Miscellaneous

Wow, I haven't sat at my sewing machine since Monday (and that was to briefly zip up a hem). This may be a first for me in the last year. I haven't been knitting either, though I've been planning some projects, thanks to the great Ravelry site. I'm shamzi on Ravelry, but I don't have much of interest to show you over there. (Must.buy.yarn.) There is a Miyake group there, but it's pretty quiet.

I have to really thank everyone for their generous and kind feedback on my Koos coat and my Sandra Betzina dress. The coat, in particular, has garnered me more positive feedback than anything I've made in the last 14 months, so I guess it's a success. It has received 43 comments on Pattern Review which is a record for me. :)

During construction of the coat, I had become a "fan" of Koos's Facebook page. Imagine my delight when logging into Facebook on Thursday and seeing that Koos (or his representative, more likely) had featured my blog on his page! I had not mentioned it on his page or anywhere on my FB page, so I suspect they watch Pattern Review for reviews of his patterns.

I really recommend checking out his page. There are photo albums that show many pieces of his current work - things that he sells in his New York boutique and there are some really great garments. (You may not know this, but Koos was responsible for those great, wild sweaters that Cosby wore on The Cosby Show.) In his current work you will see several pieces that feature the scallop - it's interesting to observe how a motif can evolve throughout a designer's process. It fascinates me, a designer wannabe. Check it out.

A stack of patterns sits next to me and I plan to make the most of this wet weekend. Maybe I'll have something new to show on Sunday or Monday. :) Coats and jackets are still on my mind and yesterday I ran to Britex at lunch (wearing my new Koos) to pick up some separating zippers for a couple of imminent projects. I yearn for a better zipper selection, but this is one of those things I prefer to see in person before I purchase. There are just too many interesting things to make, including new Au Bonheur pattern goodness.

And then, of course, are the imminent holidays. So many garments are "needed" for the various events coming up. I have a very fun piece of Thakoon fabric I bought from Emma One Sock months ago and I have been searching and searching for just the right pattern/design. I haven't found it yet. And I also have to find the right thing to make/bring for my sew group's gift exchange. I think I've decided, but I've thought that many times before.

Have a great weekend and a frabjous Halloween! ;)

Vogue 1210 - Sandra Betzina dress

When I reviewed the recent batch of Vogue patterns, I pretty much wrote this Sandra Betzina dress off as "not for my figure." Fast forward to Artistry in Fashion, an event benefiting the fashion design program at Canada College and featuring Sandra herself, who spoke and presented a fashion show of her designs. Students from Canada's fashion program modeled Sandra's garments and the same dress from the pattern cover was presented, but it was worn with the ties hanging down, rather than tied under the bust. It was lovely on the student model and I realized that it might work for me.

It wouldn't be fabulous on me, mind you, because it would hang from the bust and completely hide my hips/legs, but, hey... Variety is the spice of life, and all. :)

Several months ago I bought this border print fabric from FabricMart (no longer available). Well, it's not exactly a border print. It is a polka dot print, but the dots are small on one selvedge and grow larger towards the other selvedge. The fabric is wide (maybe 60") and I needed a long garment to show it off. A top or pants wouldn't satisfy my desire to use the entire print.

Yes, that's right. My first dress. gulp

I first considered Vogue 8659, but decided I didn't want to interrupt the print with that curved hem. Sandra's design is reminiscent of that pattern, but is cut almost straight across at the hemline.

This fabric is a 4-way polyester ITY knit. I don't particularly like to sew or wear ITY, or slinky, knits, because I find them to be hot and they tend to hug (rather than skim) my lumps and bumps, but I was completely seduced by this beautiful polka dot print.

This fabric has most of its stretch in the lengthwise grain. I cut it on the crosswise grain, which is more stable, but I had no choice if I wanted the dots to grow larger as they approached the hem. Meaning that the stretch goes up and down the body, rather than around the body, which is how you would usually want it. Having the stretch go vertically is rather strange, but, wow, the dress sure does swing and flow, and when I jump up and down, the dress actually bounces. After I bought this fabric from FM, I later saw it on Marcy Tilton's site, so, between the two sites, there must be lots of us who now have this in our stash. :)

Materials:

• Polka dot ITY knit from FabricMart.
  
• Black mesh (for contrast) from Fabrix.
  
• 1/2" Steam A Seam 2 (for hems)
  
• 1/4" twill tape (to stabilize neckline)
  

Alterations & Modifications:

• I cut out a size F, which was 4" too small in the bust. (This pattern allows for 1/2" finished ease in the bust, at least in the sizes I was looking at.) Instead of a traditional FBA, I just added 1" to the side seam at the bust and tapered it out after a few inches. I had to do this on the front and back side seam, and the front and back underarm sleeve seam - four pattern pieces were affected, in all. The side seams are sewn last so I knew I could take out what I needed - every knit has different stretch and you should tweak the fit here anyway. This approach worked well for this garment.
  

  

  Sleeve with added bit for FBA.

• During construction, I removed 1/2" from the shoulder seams, before attaching sleeves.
  
• As recommended in the pattern, I doubled the mesh for the sleeve insert.
  
• I did not shorten the sleeves. This is very unusual for me, so I suspect that the sleeves are on the short side.
  
• After the dress was finished, I shortened it 2". They recommend that you lengthen or shorten at the hemline, so this worked well.
  
• After sewing the side seams, I tweaked the fit by removing 1/2 from the side seam, just under the bust - a 2" reduction in all.
  

This pattern was fairly easy to construct, with a couple caveats. The trickiest part is the neckline. Despite stabilizing the neckline with twill tape, once I had attached the contrast mesh band, it was far too baggy. Sandra recommends that you block the neckline, using steam, to encourage the band to hug the body, but there was no way any amount of steam would have fixed the floppy neck band.

Stabilizing the neckline with twill tape

After mulling it over for a bit, I decided that it was time to use a Marcy Tilton technique I had never used before. It felt right to combine their work, since Marcy and Sandra have been great friends for years. :) Marcy often creates outside tucks on her neckbands, which you can see on Vogue 8636. I'm not sure if I used the exact same technique as she uses, but I pinned in a number of tucks and started sewing. I kept adding tucks, without measuring, until the neckline fit the way I wanted it to fit. In the end, I added 18 tiny tucks.

Baby "Marcy" tucks!

Finished neckline. Photo lightened to show detail.

In order to reinforce the idea that these tucks were intentional, I also added tucks to the sleeve inset. They are hard to photograph, and very subtle, but they are there.

It's subtle, but there are 6 tucks spread across the length of the sleeve inset.

What do I think about this pattern? To be honest, I am not sure. It reminds me a bit of loungewear. Something I might wear before dinner when my friends drop by for cocktails. Wait, I don't do that. OK, I might wear it on the cruise ship apres swimming. Oops, not my lifestyle either. OK, how about I wear it when the doorbell rings and it's the neighbor reminding me to move the car because it's street cleaning day. Yup, that sounds more feasible. This knit is so heavy and drapey, and the print so dramatic, the great funky skirt shape is a bit lost, which is unfortunate.

When DD1 returned on Sunday afternoon, I put the dress on and styled it as I might wear it out. I nervously asked her what she thought and she really liked it and felt it was a rather dressed up look.

So, for me, the jury is out. I'm not sure if I will wear this out of the house, or to bed. What do you guys think?

Hangar shot

The shape of the dress

My knee fits perfectly into the corner!

Twirlability? Check.

Fashion DON'T. (I couldn't resist.) ;)

Pattern