When bad things happen to good fabric

 

Linen twill is a new fabric for me.  I must confess I was excited when I saw it on the Tessuti website and clicked "Add to bag" pretty quickly.  When it arrived, it was even more luscious than I imagined.  I washed and dried it, and then my daughter laughed when she found it draped over me whilst I was watching tv.  It really has a lovely drape.

I decided on the Stylearc Lennie overshirt.  

I started with the popover placket.  Instead of following the instructions, I decided to do it the same way I would sew a placket on a shirt sleeve.  Only, I must have got the dimensions mixed up when I was cutting the placket, because after I sewed it on, the top didn't sit neatly over the underneath.  I unpicked it, and followed the method given.  Something went wrong there, not sure if it was Stylearc or my seam allowances or turn of cloth, but the upper still didn't sit neatly over the underneath.  More unpicking.  Not great for a linen twill.  You can see the fabric giving way in the photo below.

I would need wider plackets to get them to lay on top of each other.  I had enough fabric to cut new ones, but that would leave me with a not so useful remnant piece, so I decided to add to the existing plackets.  I seamed some pieces together to make new plackets, as you can see in the photo below, with the outsides of the plackets being on the bias and the inside on the straight grain..

Third time around, I got the placket in, but you can see that I had to stabilise the area with interfacing.  Not sure how long this shirt will last before fraying.  

I thought that I pattern matched the side seams, but when I sewed them together, it would appear that something went wrong there too.  I shortened the top quite a bit.  The shirt is oversized, but it still had bust darts.  I should have eliminated the darts.  I ended up extending them, because they didn't come anywhere near my bust and so seemed pointless (pun not intended...ha!).

I added a pleat below the back yoke, for added movement.

I bought this same fabric in the other colourways, but think that I will choose a different pattern for the others.

Stylearc Ethel Top

Here is the Stylearc Ethel Designer Top to go with the previous pants.  I can't show it to you with the pants, because they are in the wash.

The fabric is a linen.  I think this top will get even better with wear, as the linen fades and the design details show up a little more.  

I made a couple of minor fitting changes, that are standard for me.  I have previously mentioned my tendency to rip tops with extended sleeves, with the rip originating under the arms.  In an attempt to prevent this, I added a tiny gusset out of a knit fabric.

Curved Shoulder Darts

This top was drafted to incorporate curved shoulder darts.  Initially, I was planning on a fitted blouse, but halfway through drafting I changed my mind...and instead I have ended up with this lovely, cool linen top.

This close up shows the darts.  Each of the shoulder darts is about 1/2 inch wide (I am following imperial instructions).  In the example draft, the remaining bust dart was transferred to the waist dart.  Seeing as I was making a top rather than a bodice, I decided to distribute my darts differently.  I had already decided on a V neck, to echo the shape of the shoulder darts.  I ignored the waist darts.  Then I set about transferring the remaining bust darts to the armhole, to reflect the shoulder darts and V-neck.  This dart looked a little on the wide side, so I thought about splitting it up, but then decided to convert half the dart to flare instead.  I can't get away from those flared shapes!

 

I did a little bit of tone-on-tone embroidery on the CF seam.  The CF seam has no shaping.  I put it in to make binding the V neckline a little easier.

The centre back has a slit opening.  You can see that I used the same subtle embroidery from the front down the centre back seam, which has some shaping.

Other details include a back hem a little longer than the front.  The hems are squared off, with short splits at the side seams.
 
Here is a modeled shot.  The  top is a loose, boxy top, but I feel it is much more interesting than just a box.

The linen was purchased from The Fabric Store, several years ago.

Bees and Dragonflies

Buying beautiful fabric is one of the most enjoyable aspects of sewing for me and I own quite a number of beautiful pieces.  This particular fabric caught my eye the moment it popped up on my computer screen.  I ordered it straight away, and then had to wait as it sold out and wait for the next lot to come in on back order, and then wait as it finally winged its way to me. 

Now, I am not generally an over-excitable person.  I read other blogs where people goo and gush over a fabric, or a pattern feature...sometimes thinking to myself...really, are you that excited about a princess seam? or a wool gabardine? or converting long sleeves to short sleeves?  I know, I know...mostly I keep my grinch thoughts to myself.  Now it is my turn to gush (and you are welcome to your own grinch thoughts!).  I found this fabric to be so beautiful that I couldn't bear for it to make its way to the stash and lose potency.  Straight from the mail bag, to the washing machine, and onto the cutting table.

All along, I knew I wanted this fabric to become a pair of wide-legged pants.  The fabric is linen, so I thought that elastic waisted would be best.  Initially, I was going to try a new Patrones pattern with flared legs, but I was a bit short of fabric, so I went with a pattern I had made previously.  I changed it a little by adding a separate waistband piece.  This was so I could have a slit in the waistband, off-centre to the front, where I could add a silk drawstring sash.  I haven't made the sash yet, so it doesn't feature in my photos.

My vision is to wear these pants with a silk sleeveless blouse.  I don't own that blouse yet, but my scrappy tank top fits with my vision well enough.

I could also go for a more summery vibe, by partnering them with my Tessuti Fave top (after looking at this link, I think this top has shrunk substantially since that first blog wearing...that must be why I don't wear it so much anymore...I should make a new one).

Today I wore them more casually with a linen tee, dressed up a little with heels. 

The print makes me happy.  I know that I will be wearing these for a long time...when the print fades and the linen distorts, I be able to keep wearing these as pyjama pants.  I will be wearing these for a long time.  And that makes me happy too.

PS I just saw that there will be more of this fabric available in June.  Just in case you want a piece for your very own.

A linen nightie

I have a linen nightie that I sewed in pre-blogging days that has been patched over and over...time for a new one.

This one is self-drafted.  Self-drafted being a loose term in that I lay my tank top pattern on the fabric (on the bias) and cut a shape from it, and made a flounce from the left-over bits.

The straps on the previous one were forever ripping, so I used bra strapping elastic for these.

The fabric is from Oh Sew Noosa.

Printed Linen

I wasn't tempted to buy any fabric on a recent trip to Vietnam (polyester everywhere!), but as I was checking back in with the world at the airport on the way home, I saw this post by The Fabric Store and snaffled the fabric up as soon as I got home.

It was quickly made into my 4th version of Vogue 8552.

For this dress, the neck facing is applied before the front is pleated.  In this photo, the pleats have been ironed flat, but when the fabric relaxes, it creates a frilly effect around the neck.

I modified the sleeves so that they had a scallop hem, following the print of the fabric.

I also changed the hem to curve at the side seams.  I like this look at the moment, and it will also help reduce the walking stress on the hem that I get with other versions of this dress (the hem is pegged).

Orange

I love it when fabric and pattern come together.  I was thinking that Vogue 1285 would be perfect made up in a linen knit when Tessuti put a heap of linen knits in their online shop.  I ordered the fabric straight-away.  Then GOOP had "orange dress" on her must-have list for Spring.  Look at all the orange dresses on Net-a-porter.

So I was firing on all cylinders, raring to go, when I stalled.  Turns out I was a bit scared.  I hadn't ever sewn with linen knit before.  I have some linen knit garments that I purchased and love.  Linen knit is different to other knits.  It has stretch, but not great recovery.  The texture and drape is beautiful.  I decided that my best bet was to make a muslin so that I could minimise handling during construction of the real thing.  I did not want to be trying on the dress every 5 minutes, distorting the fabric. 

I had a cheap knit in my stash that somebody had given me that I decided to use for the muslin.  It had a similar handle to the linen knit.  Fitted dresses with waist seams and sleeves are a bit of a fitting nightmare for me.  I made the muslin and adjusted it to fit.  I came back to it a week later and adjusted it some more.  Then I pulled the shoulder seams apart and started draping it on my body double.  Eventually I was happy.  Then I pulled the whole thing apart and compared it to my pattern.  Well my muslin fabric must have distorted considerably, because some of the pieces, after trimming, were bigger than the original pattern pieces.  Never mind.  I got there in the end. 

I wore the dress last week, with a slip I already owned, and a self-fabric belt.

The slip was a bit high at the CF and peeked out at the bottom, so I ordered some more of a viscose knit that I had bought from the Fabric Store to make a slip.  The Vogue pattern included a pattern for a slip, but I did not use this, as it included a waist seam and bust darts, which I thought were unnecessary for a knit slip.  Instead, I just lay my existing slip on my fabric and cut around it.  I folded it on the CF and CB to cut, instead of laying flat, as the front and back are different widths.

I then whipped up the slip, using my overlocker and coverstitch machine.

 

In this next photo I am wearing the dress with the new slip and a purchased belt.  The waist seam looks a little low.  I had it 1.5 cm higher on the muslin and it seemed too high.  Waist seam placement is something that I never seem to get right.

 I made quite a few fitting adjustments.  Most of them were my usual alterations, but I also had to move the darts quite a bit.  I sewed them on the inside, rather than the suggested right side, partly because they were less symmetrical than the darts suggested on the pattern, but also because I am not too fussed on darts on the outside.

I had to reshape the neckline quite a bit (narrow, shallow chest).  This meant I had to redraft the front bands / facings.  I did not alter the collar, as it had a flat edge.  When I made the dress up the collar was very wavy and home-sewn looking.  At first I though it was the under-stitching or maybe the interfacing.  I then realised that it was because the collar needed to be curved as a result of me curving the neckline edge.  Of course, I only realised this after I had sewn, overlocked and coverstitched the collar into place.  I couldn't bear it though, so the unpicker came out and you can see my solution below.  It has meant that the cut out bits are not the same length, but I think that this is better than the collar that would not sit flat.

At the muslin stage, I gave up trying to adjust the sleeve pattern and ended up draping a sleeve on my body double.  I think it turned out not too bad, though maybe I could flatten the back of the sleeve cap a little more.

You can see the final shape of the sleeve in the photo below.

I did not muslin the full length of the skirt, but perhaps I should have, because it would not hang right.  I don't know if this was a pattern problem or a cutting problem, but I fixed it up.  It is possible that the resulting skirt has less flare than the original pattern (just in case you need to know).  I had to shorten the sleeved and the dress to get the lengths in my picture.

Screamin' Summer Spearmint Shorts

Don'tcha just love the colour of these shorts?  Don't they just scream out SUMMER.  I purchased this fabric with view to make a Spring pencil skirt, but I am forever ducking out to the washing to fetch my Marfy linen shorts, so I thought a repeat pair was in order.  In magazine speak, they would say that these shorts were "on high rotation".

This is a new colour for me, so I have been pairing it with all sorts from my wardrobe.  Which is your favourite look?  Early opinions will be heeded as I love these shorts so much that I am thinking of wearing them to the kid's Christmas concert tonight instead of a dress.

Starting with Christmas colours, just because that is the top I was wearing today. 

Next in jewel tones.  This Vogue blouse does not seem to have featured on my blog previously.  I made it before I started blogging from a stretch silk georgette. 

Perhaps with neutrals.  I did not make this top; it was a gift from hubby.  It has a lovely neckline edge.

More casual with a t-shirt.

A beachy look with my Tessuti fave top and a tote.  I did make this tote out of Japanese cottons but have never got around to blogging about it.  I actually made 2 of them and donated one to the school to be raffled off.  I am moving house soon and my new neighbour was the recipient of the raffle prize.  I wonder if she thinks it was a unique one-off.  Do you think I will be able to keep using my bag.  Ah, the dilemmas of living in a small town.  Incidentally, the necklace in this photo is the first piece of jewelry that I ever bought myself.  I never dressed up much as a teenage, never wore make-up, never wore jewelry.  This frog caught my heart though.

Perhaps less colour?

Looking back at those photos, I think that the longer length tops are more flattering than the waist length ones.

Anyway, some sewing details.

The fabric is a linen from EmmaOneSock, still available.   The description calls it a tie dye.  It was more uneven in colouring than I realised until I sewed it up.  Look at the photo below.  I am considering this "charm" rather than a defect.

The pattern is Marfy 1668, reviewed previously here.  I did modify the waistband to be a contoured band this time around.

I worked hard on not getting the inside of the front waistband to peek out (which is a problem that has been annoying me for years), using a method described on fashion incubator (method is for collars, but I adapted it to waistbands).  I may have exaggerated the effect a little, but it has worked.  The underlap still peeks out over the top, so I will have to work out how to prevent that in future.

Notice how neatly I have sewn the hook and eye?  I have had plenty of practice lately, on a very exciting project that I will reveal shortly.

And finally, a photo to remind me how I blind stitched the cuff up.  In all the times that I have sewn cuffs, I could never work this out.  Now that I have, I want to remember.

Zero waste or madness?

Scraps are taking up too much valuable realty in my stash wardrobe.  I generally buy good quality fabrics, and it seems a waste to throw out even scraps of them.  After seeing this post by "sew i do", I decided to use up a few scraps on boys jocks.  I made a pattern off a RTW pair and then I ordered Jalie 2327 so that I would have a range of sizes.  I lowered the rise on the Jalie pattern, more like the RTW pair.  For one child, I cut a larger size and gathered it more onto the elastic as he likes a looser fit in the legs.

I also got the chance to use up some button-hole elastic that seemed a good idea when the kids were little, but in fact was never strong enough to hold up trousers.

Sewing jocks does seem to be bordering on sewing madness though.  The boys are happy with them, even the child who does not want to wear homemade clothes anymore.  I guess everyone likes comfy undies.  I have been making them whilst the kids are home on holidays.  I would feel guilty sewing for myself whilst they were home but I don't seem to feel the same guilt for such utilitarian sewing. 

I even got out the coverstitch machine out to practice both hemming and flat-stitching.  I threaded the bottom thread with fluffy and it has been behaving so well that I have not wanted to change threads.  It seems cover stitches pull out so easily when they are sewn well but are difficult to remove if they are not, so I need to improve my skills to sew straight and require no unpicking.  Undies are a good place to practice.

Whilst I was ordering pattern from Jalie, I bought a racer back tank,  Jalie 2565, for my daughter.  Here she gets a new knicker and cami set from scraps of a shirt that I have not shown you yet.

And finally, I got a set, using scraps from a dress that I recently made a friend.

Marfy Shorts

My Marfy shorts are nearly complete.  I was going to get up this morning and stitch on the hook closure at the waist.  There were lots of things I was going to do this morning.  I lay awake half the night thinking about them, then fell asleep at dawn and got nothing done.  Anyways, a quick photo before my photographer went to work and here they are, hook to be sewn on later. 

Pattern: Marfy 1668

Fabric:  Linen from Tessuti

The patch pockets with the flaps seem to give them a squarish, mannish sort of look, so I find they best suit more girly tops.  I made this top before I started blogging.  It is Simplicity 5055, with the sleeves from another Simplicity pattern that I have since thrown out.  The fabric was from Knitwit.

A close-up of the zippered welt pocket.

I will put some pattern, fit and construction details in a pattern review.

Rumpled Vogue 8552

Can you believe I ironed this not long before the photo was taken? My sister was visiting and I wore the dress to take the opportunity of a non-complaining photographer.  I don't think the rumples show up as much in real life, otherwise she would have noted and I would have re-ironed it.  She has gone now, so I will make do with the rumpled shot.  (And she naffed the pattern, without my knowing, so it can't have looked too bad.  I got the pattern back in the mail today, so stay tuned to her blog for another version.)

This is my second version of V8552.  The first was in a lipstick pink zebra print knit.  This time I used a linen, with black threads in one direction and olive threads in the other.  The fabric is very dark, almost black, but much more flattering to me than black.  The dress has proved quite versatile, matching lots of different shoes and necklaces in my wardrobe.  Other reviewers on PR have left off the pockets, but I think that they are a great feature of the dress (go and look at Sewing in the Wind's review to see the pocket and pleated neckline details in a lovely, ironed version!).