Back from Vacay

I had a lovely vacay at Myrtle Beach with a longtime friend from high school.  Weather was perfect and hot while there.  I believe all of my old age aches and pains disappeared while there.  I wore all of my new summer tops recently made and only wore two RTW tops while there.

I spent a whole lot of money on shoes-sandals- my favorite all time shoe that now that I don't live in Florida I get to wear about 4 months a year.  Photos to follow.

We did all the touristy things that all MB vacationers do except for the amusement rides and such; no shows either.  We shopped, drank and ate until we dropped or popped.

I failed to take a lot of photos though-duh!  Just a few which I will post later.

No fabric store visits, though I came close to a few stores, mostly home dec or quilting.  I have way more fabric than I need now so glad I left some for others.

Looking forward to getting back in the sewing room; next up culottes!

Delivered Saturday

My first fabric purchase from Girl Charlee arrived today.  I love the striped fabric, a little softer than I thought it would be.  The colors were much better than I anticipated.  Now just need to decide what it will become.

The two lining fabrics, both nylon knit, were not what I expected.  I think they will do well as knit lining fabrics though heavier than I have used before from another source.  The price was right and I like to have lining fabric on hand, woven and knit.

Pink and ivory millskin nylon lining knit

Orange,beige,black and light coral knit

Second Kirsten Kimono Tee

I started making my second Kirsten Kimono Tee today.  I cut out the pattern, set up the serger and began sewing the top after dinner.

I used a lightweight blue floral knit I acquired online from a source that I do not remember.  I purchased this in 2012.  I remember the source being someone who was decluttering and selling off some fabric. I don't know why I did not make note of this when taking and cataloging the photo.

This photo does not do this fabric justice.  The blue, purple and lavender flowers are very bright and cheery.  Fortunately I have over a yard left of the fabric after cutting out the kimono top.

I will have completed this project tomorrow and will post more then.

What came home with me

I stopped at JoAnn's at lunch time earlier this week to purchase some thread and then two patterns jumped into my cart.  Both are dress patterns I recently saw on Pattern Review that I really liked and have fabric already to sew upon return from beach trip for one of the dresses.

After seeing Sheila's review at Pattern Review for Burda 6756 and then reading more about the dress on her blog  Sheila-CTK.  I knew I had to try this one.  I have some lovely fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics that was going to be another dress but will now become this one.  This fabric has been in my stash for quite sometime, at least three years.  I think it has aged enough.

The McCall's 7084 dress pattern was reviewed by Sue Parrott on PR and on her blog-Ilove2sew!  I want some chambray fabric to sew.  Just have not clicked buy yet though I have found several sources for it.

Sewing updates to follow.

Wearing the new top

In reading through the PR Digest the other morning I read another review for the Kirsten Kimono Tee.  This reviewer had taken a deeper seam at the waist area to give the top a little more shape. She also curved the hemline-nice design idea for me to try later.  I decided I wanted to take a deeper seam at the waist line also.

After coming home from dinner with DH after work, I decided to sew the deeper waist seam and here are photos of me wearing the top.  My after work face look was not presentable for photos so I intentionally cropped off most of my head in the photos.  Besides I wanted to show off the top!

semi-side view

Back view with pajama bottoms picking out

Front view

I plan to make one more of this top for my upcoming beach trip.

New fabrics delivered by the postman

I decided to rejoin the Julie's Picks Swatch Club at the beginning of this year.  I have ordered a few items in the past month or two.  I decided to buy some fabrics from the July swatches and they were delivered yesterday.  I posted them on IG, but decided to post more here.

This is a rayon fabric that I intend to sew up a pair of culottes.  I plan to use this pattern from McCall's.

This is an interesting fabric--it is painted and distressed boucle suiting.  I want to make this jacket  from Butterick.

And the final piece is a vintage rose printed peachskin fabric

Not sure what blouse pattern I want to use and I have several in mind but not quite decided yet.

I also ordered some fabric from Girl Charlee, my first fabric order from them.  Last I checked it had not been shipped but hoping that it does arrive next week.

Kirsten Kimono Tee

I completed the Kirsten Kimono Tee.  I must be one of the last people to sew this top.  It is super easy to sew.  I had to determine the best size for me.  I have found that some independent patterns draft quite different from the Big 4.

I used size Large for this top.  I traced the pattern size after printing and taping the printed pages together.  I then pin fitted the traced pattern and determined fitting issues.

I ended up making a 1 1/2 inch FBA; making a sway back adjustment of 1 inch; increased the back hip area by 1 inch by drawing a straight line about 1 1/2 inches from the side seam up to the waist area, and cutting a hinge at the waist area to the straight line and then I cut the line up to that area, inserted an inch of paper to increase that area tapering to nothing at hinge and trued the side seam. This is method I learned from taking "Lynda Maynard's Fitting Class" on Craftsy.

I eliminated the bust dart that was created when making the FBA and removed fullness from the side seam. I also traced the pattern length to the small length size and ended up removing another inch after basting the side seams for fitting.

The fabric was from Mood.  When I purchased the fabric I was surprised by the colors when it arrived.  The quality of the knit was good but the colors did not match up with my computer monitor. Recently I have seen the fabric sewn by Deepika at Pattern Review and decided that I like the overall look once sewn.

Decided to use this fabric as my original plan was to use a striped fabric but I did not have enough of it to make this top.

Without further ado-

Kirsten Kimono Tee-Front

Back view

Neckband closeup

The tee can be made with a neckband attached or using fold over elastic.  I cut out a 2.5 inch strip of fabric and attached using 1/2 inch seam.  Before attaching the neckband I tried the top on and decided it was lower than I wanted and a narrower neckband would not raise the neckline enough for my preference.  This proved to be the perfect size to use.

Photos of my wearing will follow soon.  I plan to make another top as part of my upcoming beach vacation.  This is a truly easy top to sew once you get the right fit.

B6216 Wearing

I had a few moments this AM while getting ready for work to take photos of the  Butterick top I posted about recently.

I still have some pooling in the back area, similar to the model on the pattern envelope.

I truly like the top and will plan to make more from this pattern using this view as well as some of the other views.  I decided that I could wear this top to work as well as for casual purposes.

E-Patterns Downloaded

I decided to try some patterns that I have downloaded either as a free pattern or purchased.  Two patterns I printed out for next sewing projects were the Maria Denmark Kirsten Kimono Tee, that was a free pattern download, and Itch to Stitch Paulina Top.

I taped the Marie Denmark printed pattern and then traced the large size.  After pin fitting, I ended up making several adjustments:

• 1 inch swayback
• inserting about an inch in the back hip area
• FBA of 1.5 inches
• retracing the length to the short size
• adding 5/8 seam allowances as they were not included in the pattern

I pulled out to striped fabrics, one is left over fabric from an earlier project; the other striped fabric is a purchase from Fabric Mart last year.

I have seen several versions of this knit tee so I am hoping my version comes out as well.  I plan to cut out the fabric later this evening.

Happy 4th of July!

I have had a good holiday weekend and it started early for me as I took Thursday as a vacay day.  In between shopping, family activities, grilling and such, I have been sewing.  I completed the Butterick 6216 top pattern.

I had some fitting issues with the back neckline; there is a lot of bulk in the back neckline with the crossover back overlay and the back piece.  Some of the weight of this plus adding neckband creates a small fold at the neck base.  The more I looked at the envelope and the view I made I can see some of the same pulling in that area on the model.  I did trim out some of the bulk after applying the neckband before topstitching in place.

All in all I am happy with the results.  I had to make some alterations with the pattern including 1.5 inch FBA, forward shoulder adjustment, one inch sway and back length adjustment.  At the hip area I took 3/8 inch seam tapering to 5/8 from waist to underarm.

Here are few shots of the completed top.

close up of back neckline

Back view

Front view

I have an opportunity to go to the beach of the end of this month so I am going to make a few more knit tops for my upcoming trip.  I have lots of top patterns and need to narrow down what I can make between now and then.  I like another version of this top but using a different back piece as seen in another view.

I hope you enjoyed your holiday weekend if you are celebrating the 4th.  Time for dessert.  More later.