Friday, December 30, 2011

Photos of two Vogue knit tops

As promised earlier, here are shots of the two knit tops I completed.

The first one is a black knit, Vogue 8669; I lightened the photo for the purpose of showing how the neckline drapes as a result of the pleating at the shoulder.  The top is a little boxy and very full in the back.  The next top I will take out some of that back fullness by taking a small tuck all the way down the back.  After making a FBA of 1 1/2inches and eliminating the resulting dart, I ended up trimming down the sides after basting this top for fitting purposes.  I adjusted the pattern by taking a 1/4 inch horizontal tuck across the upper chest to raise the underarm area some for the next top.

I like the top even though this one needs the tweaks I just mentioned.  I don't like the knit fabric.  It sewed up well, but wrinkles a lot.  I am planning on making another solid color top from this pattern. Here is another view of Vogue 8669.








The next photos are of Vogue 1275.  I like and dislike this pattern.  I love the front ruching but I am not sure it is the best look for busty person.  I hope you can see this and I would like your feedback about the look.  I like the square neckline and I like that it does not gape.  I don't particularly like how the finish was for the neck binding and the center front section.  It works, but it is not real pretty on the inside.

Here is a semi side view of the top







The sleeves have elastic sewn in three places creating ruching in this area also.

And here is a close up of the neckline.  This became the most difficult area to sew and the instructions and illustrations did not seem to sync up. 
I stitched the center edge down though instructions did not call for this.  I was concerned the edge may roll out.  It is rather snug to chest so perhaps it would not and stitching was not necessary, I will never know as I chose to stitch it.    I love this knit fabric; it sewed well and handled easily.  This too is from Gorgeous Fabrics.

So back to sewing room to think and ponder on my next top or two.

Vogue 1275 and what's next

Sewing Vogue 1275 was pretty easy-peasy until the neckline band.  The written instructions and the photo just don't seem to make sense.  After numerous attempts at understanding how to do it, I finally came up with what will be my best solution.  I think there were some finishing steps left out or at least for me there was; so when you are in these situations you just punt! Or make it work! 

I hemmed the other Vogue top yesterday with coverstitch machine and hemmed the sleeves for this pattern.  I have the hem for this pattern pinned and ready to stitch.

That now leaves two other patterns I wanted to cut out and sew.  I am rethinking about the solid brown knit pattern I had planned to use.  I have a McCall's tunic style pattern already fitted and I may go with that pattern, but using a different front piece (the pink one) that I have not tried yet.

Anyway, I will post photos soon of the two completed tops later today.

Now going to have some breakfast and then on to the sewing room.

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

One done and another in the works

Vogue 8669 is complete except for the hems for the sleeves and top.  I need to re-thread the coverstitch machine but have the only black serger thread I have on hand threaded on the serger.  So I proceeded with the next top

I made fitting adjustments yesterday AM and cut out the fabric.  I am now over half way completed with this Sandra Betzina top. I needed to take a break and decided to post an update before jumping into the shower and getting dress to run some errands.  One such errand is to buy more black serger thread.  I thought I had replenished it but obviously not.

Once this top is sewn together then both will get hemmed using the coverstitch machine.  And then I have two other knit tops in the line up.  I also want to make some blouses using woven material.  And I still need to give some serious thought to SWAP 2012.

Later.

Tuesday, December 27, 2011

Day after Christmas

Not much to report in the way of sewing.  Most of the day was spent running around with DH.  We even had late lunch of pizza and salad at Ragazzis.  Time for a change from turkey, dressing, and other Christmas dinner leftovers.  We even ventured to the mall; surprisingly it was not as bad as we thought it might be. 

Returning home, I spent time in the sewing room making the last tweaks to the Vogue pattern and then I was able to cut out the top.  I decided that I wanted to start preparing the fit of another Vogue knit pattern top, a Sandra Betzina pattern.  I am using another Gorgeous Fabrics knit in a green/black animal print.  I had originally planned to make a dress from this fabric but it is telling me a top would be better.  Once this pattern is adjusted and fabric cut out I will then sew these two tops.

I have to start thinking about my 2012 SWAP project.  I have decided to participate in this sewing challenge.  I normally talk myself out of it; I think this will help me focus a little on developing a spring wardrobe and to use up some of the patterns/fabric I have on hand.

More later;  sipping on coffee and taking a moment to read blogs to see what everyone is up to. 

Sunday, December 25, 2011

Happy Holidays

I want to wish everyone Happy Holidays.  May your time be joyful and pleasant with family and friends.

Saturday, December 24, 2011

Sewing inbetween

All the Christmas shopping is done except for one item for DH and we will take care of that later today.  Call us crazy for going out into what I am sure is going to be a frantic holiday shopping scramble.  Fortunately it does not require going near a mall! 

This AM I have been cooking for dinner tonight and for family gathering tomorrow for Christmas.  So in between peeling, chopping, cutting, and cooking, I am now working on fitting a Vogue knit top for one of many that I plan to sew over the next few days of my holiday and vaca days. 

I am working on Vogue 8669 which has been in the stash for awhile.  I have so many to choose from and settled on this one because of the neckline and because I think it will work well with a skirt I completed recently and have not worn yet because I need some new black tops.

The knit fabric I am using is one of several that I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics over a year or so ago.  I plan to make the pink version of the top as I like 3/4 quarter or ballet length sleeves for fall/winter and transitioning into spring.  I really like them year round as my aging arms just look better in this style.

I hope everyone is enjoying their pre-Christmas time with family and friends.    Off to sew and cook.

Tuesday, December 20, 2011

Without Further Ado……

Here is the Sandra Betzina Vogue pattern, faux leather and Sherpa jacket.

SandraBetzinaFauxleather-sherpa jacket122011

After coming home from work yesterday evening and changing into comfy clothes I decided it was time to reveal the completed jacket. 

The final steps were tweaking the princess seams. I then trimmed each of the exposed Sherpa seams to between 3/8 to 1/4 inches and then stitched down the center of each seam to help keep them open.  This was suggested in the pattern instructions.  I probably could have used a different method to construct these seams; yet this method assured a better fit.

I did not insert pockets, there is just too much going on with this fabric and I would not really use the pockets.

I turned up 1 1/4 inch hem at the bottom and after stitching that I trimmed the hem by about 3/4 inch all around to eliminate some of the bulk.  This faux leather is thick.

Here is a view of the back:  SandraBetzinaFauxleather-sherpa jacket12201backview2

Here is how the jacket looks when partially unzipped:

SandraBetzinaFauxleather-sherpa jacket12201partial unzipped

You can also see the zipper in the sleeve in the shot above also.  Having made a KS jean jacket with zipper in the sleeve, I prefer their method than this one as you have a placket behind the zipper; this one is stitched into the sleeve seam.

I will write a more formal review for PR soon.  I do recommend this pattern and will definitely consider making another non-faux anything for the next one.

Monday, December 19, 2011

Soon to see

I finally completed the jacket!!!!!!  I took some photos of it hanging with my iPad and just did not have time yesterday to post.  I will also take some photos of me wearing it. 

My DH saw it hanging yesterday afternoon and immediately commented on how well it turned out.  He had seen some work in progress and I could tell he had some concerns about the outcome. 

I am now ready to move on to some very instant gratifications projects.  More later.

Thursday, December 15, 2011

New Fabrics

I posted previously that I purchased some new fabrics. 

This fabric is from EOS (EmmaOneSock) and is beautiful knit fabric with warm shades of brown, gray and some green. Sometimes photos just do not do justice to the fabric.  Another fabric purchase from EOS is this black, gray and white knit.  This was labeled as Chico's.  This also is from EOS in a green and brown mosaic/paisley design.  I also purchased black fabric but black is black so no photo.

The next two fabrics are from Marcy Tilton, my first purchase from her site.  One is gray ombre wool jersey, very thin.  The other is a ponte knit in green; it is a thinner fabric than I had anticipated but still nice enough.

I have plenty of visions dancing through my head of all the sewing I am going to do over the Christmas holidays/vaca. 

More later.

Sunday, December 11, 2011

I'm dreaming of

sewing something else besides the Vogue faux leather jacket.  I am down to the last few areas to stitch. Then hem and trim those seams.  I only got about two hours of sewing time yesterday and I had a real challenge with sewing the collar and the facings to the jacket.  My sewing machine is getting tired of sewing this fabric!

Attaching the collar was actually a breeze; the collar pattern is drafted very well and all markings etc lined up as it was suppose to.  The challenge came with when sewing the facings to the neckline.  I am now sewing three, thick layers of fabric;  I am talking THICK fabric.  One issue was my needle by this time is dull and the thread kept breaking.  Changing the needle of course helped a lot, but we are still sewing thick fabric and the walking foot was not "walking" over the fabric well.   At this point I adjusted the presser foot presser which helped some.  Then I get to sewing over the shoulder seams which in those areas made the sewing even more a challenge.  All of this took about an hour.  By then I was tired and was rather late.  I decided to stop there until tomorrow.  I could feel myself getting flustered and likely to make more mistakes.

All I have left to do now is sew the facings down the front.  Make a lower back adjustment, hem the jacket with the machine and hem the sleeves, trim those seams.

All in all this has been a challenge to me and actually one that I have learned from.

I am so ready after this to tackle some knit tops, a few blouses and some more skirts.  I also want to make a cape.  I have some great fabric purchased over the past four years or so that would make up into a nice winter cape.  So I am dreaming of some new challenges and new clothes for the future.

I have vacation time coming up during the Christmas holidays and my sewing plans are ambitious ones.  I will get several complete I am sure.

In dreaming of some other sewing projects, I have burned up the Internet of late with some fabric purchases.  More show and tell later.  I am off to sew now.

Tuesday, December 06, 2011

SB Vogue jacket

SB Vogue jacket by Danvillegirl
SB Vogue jacket, a photo by Danvillegirl on Flickr.
This is still a work in progress. Sleeves inserted. This was a difficult task given the thickness of fabric and the nature of the fabric. When fitting is finalized the seams will be trimmed to 1/4 inch.

Sunday, December 04, 2011

More progress

I wanted the jacket to challenge me, particularly because I am sewing on faux leather.  Believe me this has been a bear of a challenge.  The fabric is thick to begin with and when sewing through two thicknesses it is rather difficult and sewing very slowly is the best way to handle this.

I have switched back and forth between walking foot, zipper foot and Teflon foot. The walking foot has been a huge success in sewing layers together.

I just completed inserting the sleeves which was the most difficult sewing thus far.  Photos to follow.

Saturday, December 03, 2011

Start of the Holiday parties

After a very stressful week at work, the ending of the week has begun for me the start of various holiday parties.  My Rotary club kicked off the week with an event Thursday night, which because of work I was not able to attend.  Our agency had its annual meeting which became close to a four hour event.

Today I will be going to our annual ASG Holiday luncheon at a local country club.  I had truly hoped that I could complete my faux shearling jacket in time for the event; I realized Tuesday evening that I would not meet the deadline unless I spent time into the wee hours working on it.  Unfortunately I am way past the age when I could go to bed at 2 AM and get up at 5AM to get ready to work a full 9+ hour workday.  Accepting this reality, I will present my jacket at next month's show and tell.

The real fun for me with this event is the opportunity to enjoy time with people who love to sew, eat great food and have a genuinely good time.

I will say that my jacket is coming along nicely.  I have inserted the zippers into each sleeve.  I had to cut out another set of sleeves; fortunately I had enough fabric to do that!  In reading the reviews on PR it was noted that the sleeves ran small.  Based on the measurements on the pattern piece, I thought the size I cut would work nicely.  NOT!  If you wear say a heavier sweater under the jacket the sleeves will be very tight fitting and I believe uncomfortable.  I think some of the tightness also relates to the thickness of the fabric I am using, as faux shearling is thick.  Having to re-cut another set of sleeves created a slow down in the sewing momentum also.

I eliminated the back belt as it looked wide on me, rather bulky and unflattering.  I will adjust the back to fit closer through the various back seams.

Enough for now, have to go now to get ready for today's luncheon.  Later!

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