Friday, May 30, 2014

McCall's 6887

As noted previously I am going to sew this dress pattern.  There are several pattern pieces with this dress and it has a lining. 

I pin fitted the pattern.  The pattern has separate bodice pieces  for B,C, and D cups. I purchased the multi-size pattern with largest size being 14 which is size I buy for upper bust measurement.  I need a 16-18 for the bust area but that size is on the other multi-sized grouping of sizes.  Thus I had to make a FBA of 2 inches.

I always use a 16-18 for waist and for this pattern I had to add 2 1/2 inches for the waist.  Then I had my usual forward shoulder adjustment, swayback and shortening the back length of the bodice.  I also reduced the length between waist and hip by 2 inches and then added an inch back at the hem.  That's a lot of scotch tape and time to make these adjustments.  The skirt portion has front and side front pattern pieces  as well as back and side back pattern pieces, making the waist adjustment for a lot of pieces. 

Normally when I add to waist area, I just add on X inches to the side piece tapering at hip area.  This time I used a different method that I learned from Craftsy video-"Sew a Better Fit" by Lynda Maynard. It helps keep the pattern draft more intact and keeps cutting and seam allowances more in line as well.  It was more time consuming in some respects but I think it will provide a more precise fit.  We will see.

I  thought about overlapping the bodice to the skirt and making it more of a sheath style.    If I wanted that style I already have patterns adjusted for fit that I could have used so I decided to go with the pattern design.

My plan is to cut out the dress and lining sometime tomorrow.  


Thursday, May 29, 2014

Schoolhouse Fabrics

Most of my fabric purchases are made online these days.  We have a JoAnn's but the fabric selection is hit or miss most times I visit.  They do have decent selection of notions, patterns and buttons.  If you are into crafting, they have an enormous selection of those type items.

As you know I am on "staycation" this week and have gotten some sewing in as I had hoped.  Yesterday I decided to go to Floyd, VA.  This is a laid back community, home of Blue Grass and clogging, farming and even hippies.  There is an old schoolhouse that was converted into a fabric store with apparel, home dec and quilting fabrics.  How long has this store existed, I don't know.  When I moved to this area over 10 years ago, I was told I needed to go there. They also have a great selection of buttons, fabric trims, patterns, sewing related books and magazines.  It is about an hour away from where I live and I decided I was going there as I had not been in a couple of years.

Fabric selection is usually varied and you never know what you are going to find. Yesterday I found quite a bit that needed a new home.  I will say they have a large selection of lining fabric in various colors and I have quite a few in my stash and only picked up three colors this time around.

Here is a photo of my fabric haul
There are lining fabrics, satin back shantung, stretch lace, stretch faux leather, and cotton blends.
Hang Loose Lining Fabrics
Mauve and Oyster Stretch Lace
 I was lucky with the mauve stretch lace as it proves to be a nice color blend with the Vogue faux wrap skirt that I keep trying to find a panel to attach that makes the skirt more wearable. Now I just need to determine how to do that.
Stretch faux leather embossed to look like crocodile(?)
Cotton-linen blend ikat like fabric
Floral cotton/poly fabric-rather sheer
Navy blue, chocolate brown, cream shantung
I picked up a few buttons, as well as some piping. 
I could have spent a fortune on buttons because of their selections.  I was on a budget and in the end I did not spend it all! 

Tuesday, May 27, 2014

Red Denim fabric

The red denim fabric arrived.  It is a nice red but not the red I thought it was going to be.  The denim quality is good and I am going to use it for the inspiration jacket as planned.  I had hoped it was more of warm red and it is a good basic red with not too much of cool undertone. 

Before I start on it, I will be washing it a couple of times.  Meanwhile I am going to start on a McCall's dress pattern , the black and floral version.  This is the fabric and lining I will be using.
The fabric is from EOS and the lining has been in the stash, it a green color matching the green in the floral print.  I have cut around the pattern pieces so I can start the pin fitting for pattern adjustments.  The dress bodice has separate pieces for A, B, C and D cups so hopefully no FBA necessary.

Updates to follow.

Monday, May 26, 2014

It's a skirt

I completed, except for hemming, McCall's 5523.  I added a lining which added to the sewing time, the fabric I used needed it.  Here are a few photos of the skirt on the hanger waiting for me to hem.

Skirt front
Skirt back
Close up of back godets
McCall's Skirt and New Look top

Sunday, May 25, 2014

Skirt in the making

I have been busy since leaving work on Friday.  I did my grocery shopping after work and Saturday was a day of doing nothing but sewing and grilling.  I made great progress on the McCall's skirt yesterday and today.  Here are photos of my progress from yesterday and early this morning.
Skirt front and side fronts sewn and pinned to AlmaMarie

Center back, side back and bottom godet pinned and ready to sew
I use Design Plus Fusbile bias and straight tape to reinforce zipper area.
Invisible zipper inserted at side seam
I took these photos this morning.  This evening I sewed the other side seam together and the same sewing was completed with the lining fabric.  In trying on the skirt, I took deeper seams at waist area of center front and center back seams.  All that is left to do is attach the lining, skirt facings, sew hook and eye and hem lining and skirt fabric.

Having made this pattern previously, this was a nice garment to sew and only referred to instructions periodically. 

More updates to follow.  I am already planning my next garment-a dress!
Happy Memorial Day tomorrow!

Thursday, May 22, 2014

One more day until

One more working day until Saturday and a long weekend and another few days of "staycation".  I see some sewing in my future.

I cut out the remaining fabric left over from making the Vogue skirt.  As I posted earlier, I am now going to make McCall's 5523.  I started cutting out the lining fabric this AM.  I had a doctor's appointment so had a little extra time this AM to start on that.  Last night I set up the serger for sewing this skirt.

More posts later.

Tuesday, May 20, 2014

Fabric is on its way!

Checking emails this AM, I found one from Nancy's Notions saying the red denim fabric has shipped!!!
This fabric will not be allowed to age in the fabric stash! 


Sunday, May 18, 2014

NL6150 Complete

I was able to complete my second version of this pattern.
The knit fabric I used is similar to a rayon slub knit.  At times it was rather fiddly to handle.  The fit  was a closer one than the previous version I made.  I did test the fabric against the stretch gauge on the back of the pattern envelope and it passed the test; my first top had more stretch than this one.  As a result I had to reduce side seams from 5/8 to 3/8. 

Here is photo of the completed top on a hanger.
 Here is a close up of the ruched sleeves using elastic to make the gathers.  I lost the pattern guide piece to determine the length of the elastic piece to cut.  After measuring the area to gather and testing the stretch of the elastic, I was able to obtain a look that I liked.
The fabric that I ordered from Fabric Mart arrived yesterday.  It is a lovely cotton lace but not quite the shade I was hoping for to use as a panel insert for the Vogue skirt I am trying to salvage. 



I have decided to cut out the remainder of the Vogue fabric left over from making the other skirt.  Patten is laid out and ready to cut.

The pattern does not call for a lining but I plan to underline the fabric.  The fabric is a sturdy boucle type and I think that it could stretch some without provide some extra support.  I had lining fabric in stash that I can use.

I hope my red denim fabric will arrive next week.  I have so many sewing ideas and not enough time to do them all.

More later.

Tuesday, May 13, 2014

Obsessed

I love denim jackets.  I have made a couple in past years.  However I am obsessed with red denim jackets at the moment.  One of my favorite casual looks is this one.

I have seen several red denim fabrics; yet when I am ready to purchase some I can not find a red one that is really red like my Pinterest one on my usual fabric sites.  And then I googled red denim fabric and found one that I hope is going to be the right one.

It was on Nancy's Notions site. It is called Fire Red.  It looks like the red I love, a warm red not one with blue undertones.  Monitors can be deceiving though!

I purchased it yesterday and of course it was on back order and supposedly will be shipped this Friday.  I will be waiting patiently for it to arrive.

Monday, May 12, 2014

Sewing update for the past weekend

This past weekend sewing was minimal as other family life issues competed for my time.

I am still on the hunt for some lace fabric to use as a panel insert for the Vogue skirt I recently made.  I think I may have found what I am looking for from Fabric Mart and ordered some yesterday.  They had cotton lace labeled lavender gray.  The fabric that I used some grey woven through and I am hoping that this will blend with the skirt.  I found a piece of fabric at JoAnn's that I thought matched up well but not sure that it is what I want for this skirt.

Meanwhile I started sewing the New Look knit top and if I could have had more free time I probably could have finished most of it.  DH needed additional Velcro strips added to pocket flaps of some of his work shirts.  He keeps his phone in the pocket and with his job the pocket needs to stay securely closed to keep phone from falling out.  He used to wear the phone in a case on his belt but a recent mishap resulted in his phone falling in the toilet and that was the end of that.

Fortunately for him (and me) Verizon had a great promotion this past weekend, it seems it was designed to take place around Mother's Day, so he has a new working phone with all the bells and whistles he needs/wants which makes us both happy people.

I would like to give you a wearability report for the McCall's scuba knit dress.  I posted photos previously; I did wear it to work last week and let me say it is a very comfortable dress to wear and the knit is great knit to wear.  No wrinkles, no stretching out of place.  It may prove to be a little too warm when it is very hot out, working in an air conditioned office will not be a factor.  I can see more of this knit in my sewing plans.



I plan to make another version of this dress in the near future.

I recently purchased a few more patterns from JoAnn's during their Simplicity sale for $.99 with a limit up to 10, I only bought three.  Will share that with you later.  Time to get ready for work.

Sunday, May 04, 2014

Now for a top--NL 6150 and maybe some lace

The skirt is hemmed.  Needs to be pressed.  After hemming and moving on to some other home chores; I kept thinking how can I salvage this skirt.

I returned to the sewing room during the afternoon and checked to see how much of the fabric I have left. Enough to make another skirt using a skirt pattern that I have sewn several times previously; thus no real fitting adjustments to make.  It is a pattern well liked by many sewist if you read reviews on Pattern Review.
It is McCall's 5523I have made it in cotton stretch woven and wool.


I decided to cut out New Look 6150, another knit top pattern I sewed last year using a mesh knit fabric seen below.  The fabric I used this time is similar in weight. It too was purchased at the time I bought the skirt fabric and I planned to use it with that fabric.
This is what the fabric looks like
Because NL 6150 has a cross over of fabric in the front, I chose the pattern for that reason.  This way the front will be more opaque and I won't have to have lining knit for this fabric.  The fabric is cut out and ready to sew.

So how to salvage the current skirt?  I thought about lace.  I see many skirts with lace as well as leather.  I am thinking a lace panel to attach somehow.  Now I need to research lace fabrics.  If you have suggestions for sources with a variety of colors, please leave a comment to this post.

Almost to the finish line

The skirt is almost complete.  I basted the lining to waist and fitted one more time, taking it in an additional 1/2 inch at side seams.  I attached the grosgrain ribbon to waist seam, trimmed and turned seam allowance.  Next and last thing to do is hem the skirt.  I then am going to let this hang a few days in the sewing room as I am not sure that I like how this looks on me.

I think I have been second guessing myself on this skirt from the beginning.  I think it is a little to sexy/hoochi mama for someone my age. Even adding extra width to the front pieces, helped but not enough.  I am trying to see how I might tack front pieces together.  When you sit, you can see more of what is under the skirt than I want to reveal.

I did learn some new things from sewing this skirt about attaching linings to zippers by machine and a nice corner finish when turning up hems to sew at edges. So I don't think it is an epic fail, it just may be something for someone else to wear.

Here are a few photos to show the additional progress:


The pattern calls for inserting the zipper after basting the lining to the waist and overlapping and basting the front edges together at waist.  You then insert the zipper and slipstitch the lining to the zipper tape.  After I had attached lining to the front edges, pressed and turned, I then sewed the lining piece to the zipper tape using my sewing machine.


The grosgrain ribbon is attached to the waist seam line and then you trim away the fabric from behind ribbon. Turn the ribbon to inside, turn in edge of ribbon and slipstitch to zipper tape.  Then tack ribbon to lining at darts and side seams.  I decided to turn ribbon, pin and stitch ribbon by machine all around.  I partly did this thing it would help in stabilizing the waist.  I had fused fusible tape to waist area to help prevent stretching.

Skirt is now ready for hemming.  I have turned up the hem and it is ready to sew.  I plan to use blind hem stitch on sewing machine to hem this.

After a final and better pressing, and me more presentable I will take photos of me wearing.  I am ready for my next project which will be my May Garment of the Month.

August Sewing Simplicity 7295

 I am not doing well as a blogger. I have been working on this project since July 30. Today, I finally finished it. It has been a stop-and-g...