Sewing Staycation Success

I truly enjoyed my time off this past week.  I was able to complete three sewing projects.  The first one was posted here.

The second project was another McCall's sweater knit top, M6796.  My first version of this pattern was a year ago.  The second version I deemed a success.  There were lots of side seam matching due to the design.  I cut both front and back pieces as a single layer so that I could get stripes and design patterns to match up.

Here is the finished top on a hanger.  The above side view was a work in progress photo.  Wearing photo will come later.

I decided to use the striped area at the shoulders and the floral design for the bottom.  This created I thought less matching issues at the bottom.  For the collar I wanted to have the floral part of the fabric at the neckline to tie in with the floral bottom portion of the top.  The tops shown on the pattern envelope show adding buttons to the collar.  I am not going to add buttons to this one as I think the fabric should be the focal point at the neckline.

The final item I made and finished hemming this morning was another McCall's pattern.  The fabric used was recently acquired from Fabric Mart.  It too is a sweater knit similar in weight to the fabric used with the top above.  That fabric was from EOS and was purchased about a year ago.

Here are a few shots of the cardigan with back peplum.

AlmaMarie (dress form) has wider shoulders than I do so the garment looks quite different than on me.  This was an easy peasy pattern to sew.  I made my usual adjustments, FBA, FSA, swayback and back length adjustments.  I think I still need to make another FBA adjustment; because there is no closure this current size works but I would like it to be a little more closed than it actually is on me.

I think this will work with pants, dresses as well as top with skirt.

I have enough of this fabric to make a short sleeved top with turtle neck of which I have a few patterns that fit that design.

I think I am now ready to move on to some other more challenging patterns.  It was nice to get immediate gratification from these garments.

New Fabrics

I purchased a few new fabrics taking advantage of sales.  Of course there are more sales today and I am tempted.   Here is a view of recent purchases.

The top four fabrics are most recent purchases from Gorgeous Fabrics. The bottom three are from FabricMart.

The large hounds-tooth black and cream fabric is a nice sweater knit that will not stay in the stash long.  I have already begun the pattern adjustments to this pattern.

Fabric has been washed and dried, and is now ready to be cut.  More updates later.

Thanksgiving

V9026 Details

I have been able to sew for a couple of days now during my staycation. I gave you a glimpse of Vogue 9026 recently and now I have some additional photos showing more detail.

I really like this pattern and do plan to sew more of it. I had to make several fitting changes as I normally do which included a FBA, a FSA, sway back adjustment and a back length adjustment.

With the FBA I did not want to keep the created dart from the adjustment and removed that dart using a tutorial from Debbie Cook at "STITCHES & SEAMS". (It may not be there now, but I burned that technique into my brain to use; it really works.)

Here are a few photos of the top on a hanger as well as me wearing:

Forward side seam

Front

Sleeves with contrasting band

With the removal of the dart extra width was added through the center front piece and I had to adjust the hem band to make sure that everything would line up. The pattern calls for a specific amount of stretch and if you choose to use less than that you need to allow for extra width in the hem band as the stretch of the band is significant to fit the bodice. I had planned to use the solid black fabric for the hem band and realized that the black fabric did not have the necessary stretch to fit. Fortunately the animal print knit met the required stretch factor.  The sleeve bands require considerable stretch as well, again test the stretch of your fabric.

This is a warm top as the fabric is fairly heavy and given that we had a couple inches of snow today I stayed fairly comfortable while outside wearing this under my pea coat.

With this top finished I started the McCall's knit top. That top is almost complete and another post to follow to give you more detail.

Complete

More detailed review to follow later.  I am truly pleased with the fit and look of this.

V9026 Progress

I am so happy to report that I have made great progress on the Vogue top pattern using the remnants from the "Reunion" dress.  I am liking how the back piece wraps around toward the front.  I am just about through with this and was going to take a few photos; battery needs recharging :-(

I know that I will make another one from this pattern and will probably try the one with the cowl neck also.  I have so many top patterns that I want to sew.  I am on a top kick on this time as I really need to replace several that have been worn a lot!

I promised photos of the fabric from Fabric Mart.  Once battery is charged I will take those photos.  I was not overwhelmed with the scuba knit fabric, the two pieces are real shiny and that was not what I anticipated.  The fabric is quite different from my first scuba knit purchase.  The black and beige over sized hounds tooth print is really nice; I thought the wrong side would be the same as the right or very close.  It is not so the pattern I had in mind I will not be using as the wrong side shows and I don't like the look of the wrong side of this sweater knit.

I took advantage of a sale from Gorgeous Fabrics earlier in the week and hope that the fabric may arrive before Thanksgiving.

I will share more soon.

Sewing-NOT

This past weekend I started a sewing process for two tops.  One top is Vogue 9026



I am making view B using fabric left over from my "Reunion" Dress.  It is rather thick ponte knit and thus should be fairly warm for our current cold, cold weather.

I prepared the sweater knit fabric from EOS readying it for me to cut out on Sunday along with the fabric for the above top.  I awoke Sunday morning not feeling well and ended up with a stomach virus that left me feeling "blah" and had no energy for sewing.

Taking a few moments here and there on Monday and Tuesday, I have finished cutting out the V9026 and have the sweater knit and McCall pattern on cutting table to find bits of time to do that this week. The intent is to have them ready for the coming weekend.  I am taking next week off for a "staycation" and plan to sew along with cooking for the upcoming Thanksgiving holiday.  Can you believe it is now that time of year??????!!!!!!!

I hope your sewing plans are going well.

PS--Fed Ex delivered fabric from Fabric Mart yesterday.  Pictures to follow.

In Between

Before I could cut out the McCall's pattern mentioned in my previous post, I needed to prepare the fabric for cutting and sewing. I decided to pull out another top pattern that I have been wanting to make.The pattern is Vogue 9026.

Nakisha, "The Sew Crafty Chemist",recently made this top. There was a another review of this pattern on Pattern Review.  I have seen similar sweatshirts on various websites such as Ann Taylor, The Loft, Dillards and more. I decided I wanted to use fabrics left over from a recent dress I made. This too is fabric from EOS.

I have made most all of the normal fitting adjustments I have to make and have pin fitted the pattern prior to this. I still need to make a 1 inch FBA. It is so cold here in southern Virginia today that my usual Saturday morning exercise at the YMCA did not happen, meaning I was not prepared to go out into the cold 20° temperatures.  The best use of my morning was to be in my sewing room.

Updates to follow.

Back to McCall's

I have finally decided what I was going to sew next; the recent drastic drop in temperatures was the motivator for my next top.

I made McCall's 6796 last year from a sweater knit fabric from EOS.

I decided to make this again as I really like the fit of it and since the fit is still good (I wore this top yesterday) this should be a quick project.

The fabric will be another sweater knit from EOS that I actually purchased before this fabric.

I purchased this in November 2013 so it has aged well.  

More updates later.

How Do I Dislike You-- Let Me Count the Ways

I am referring to McCall's 7020.

As I noted in an earlier post this pattern has a lot of ease. As a result of reviewing the ease measurements on the back of the pattern, I decided to go with the small size. I ended up using the extra small through the shoulders and the armscye.  I then decided to transition to medium from the bust down and then decided that the small size would be sufficient.

Here are all the issues I found today when I sewed and basted the pattern for fitting:

1. The front neckline is lower than I anticipated and it was looser and stood away from my body at the front.
2. Even though the ease measurement at the bust area was 44 inches I found I could have used a small horizontal adjustment at the bust line or have added length at the front.
3. The back is very full and knew that it was going to be requiring a deeper center back seam. Even with the deeper center back seam there is still quite a bit of fullness. Sway back adjustment is easy to fix due to the center back seam.
4. I knew from the measurement posted on sleeve pattern piece was that they may be too narrow. I used the medium size and that was tight throughout even at the wrist. I have a very small wrist and so for this to be tight through that area was surprising.
5. The sleeve length was also very long and I reduced it by an inch and a fourth before cutting it out. Even with that adjustment I would need to hem it another 2 inches.
6. I adjusted the front neckline by taking about 1/2 inch wedge or dart at the neckline tapering to nothing at the center seam.

I have decided to set this pattern aside for now. It is somewhat salvageable but I am disappointed about all the necessary adjustments to make this work. I have other top patterns I want to pursue and I have some top patterns that fit very well, such as the Renfrew top. I planned to make another version of the Renfrew top; I am just trying to decide which fabric I have in my stash that I want to use.

More updates later.

Tidbits

1. Working on the McCall's top, pattern cut out last night
2. I did some sewing this afternoon and think that this will be an easy peasy top to sew. It only has three pattern pieces.
3. Went window shopping today and found a few items I liked that I know I can sew.
4. I want some new fabrics.  I need some sweater knits to make some cardis.
5. I want to make a few more knit tops to add to my wardrobe for casual as well as work tops.
6. I am also designing some skirts in my head and plan to sew some soon.
7. I pulled out some fabrics from collection to use for these skirts I am sewing in my head.
8. Will share photos of the McCall's top tomorrow.  I think I will have finished it by the afternoon.

Next top on my list

M7020 was reviewed on Pattern Review recently.  I had not paid much attention to this pattern until reading the review.  What also drew me to this pattern was mailer I received from Belk department store which is rather well known store in the south.  On the front was a model wearing a striped tunic with a center front seam.  Of course the color of the tunic was also appealing to me; this is  my inspiration piece.

From cover of flyer for Belk

This pattern fits the design as it has a center front seam, with a jewel neckline.  Fortunately the pattern also has several other neckline features such as a drape and a cowl neckline making this even more versatile for additional tops with different neckline.

The pattern runs a little large as the small has a finished bust measurement of 44 inches and waist/hip of 46.  There will be no need for a FBA with this top.  The finished length of the shortest top is 20 inches which will fall below my waist; several of the other views have a finished length of 26 inches which would be like a mini dress on me.  Some length adjustments will be necessary.  Having a center front as well as center back seam with give me other fitting options.

I am going to use a solid color knit from my stash.  More later!

M6964 Complete

I finally finished the knit top-M6964.  It was not a difficult top to sew; I read the instructions before starting the project.  If you have made many simple knit tops then you pretty much sew on autopilot as I did with this top.

Adjustments I made were:

• FBA of 1 inch
• 5/8 inch high upper round back adjustment
• 5/8 forward shoulder adjustment
• swayback and shortened the overall back length by one inch
• reducing the length of the top by one inch and sewing a one inch hem.

The fabric used for the bodice was a nice knit from EOS and the black sleeves and neckband are a burnout type knit from I think Fabric.com.  It was a little difficult to handle but worked out okay.

Here are a few shots of the finished top.  I plan to use this pattern again for more simple t's.

Front view on hanger

Back view

Semi side view

Front view

On to the next top pattern!