Wednesday, December 30, 2015

My second entry

The Victoria Blazer is complete and I have entered this as a second garment made from a new to me pattern.  Unfortunately I am not real happy with the outcome and I knew days before that it was not going to be a jacket I will wear much, if at all.

The jacket is cropped.  Because of a shortage of fabric I could not make the full length one.  The front on me is shorter/higher than in the back.  Due in part to no forward shoulder adjustment and even though the full bust measurement is more than my full bust, I probably needed a vertical FBA.  Here is a side view of the jacket that completely illustrates my point.  ( I feel very brave showcasing a not so flattering view; but it is exactly the biggest issue I have with the completed jacket.)




I like the jacket from the front and back views; I just can't go around in a way for people to see only the front or back. :-(



There are some other issues with attaching the lining and the lapels and collar.  I think there could be a work around with that.  I am just not all that interested in working on another one in a longer version at this time.  Too many other patterns and projects to work on.

You can see my full review here.

Next project is a McCall's Knit Jacket!  More later.

Saturday, December 26, 2015

Victoria

I have made considerable progress with the Victoria Blazer.  Our Christmas was low key this year; DH and I stayed home for the holiday.  Both of us have had stressful work lives lately and the thought of chilling out was a nice present to ourselves.  I cooked Christmas dinner on Christmas eve so it was truly a DDSD-don't do stuff day!

DH gave me a new camera and a lovely Brahmin purse.  The camera I got before Christmas and now also have a sturdy tripod to use.  Now I need to take classes on taking better pictures.

















Back to the blazer.  I am just about finished with it.  I am not sure in the end if this will be exactly as I had hoped it to be.  I will say entering the New to Me contest on PR has helped ramp up my sewing mojo.  Having next week off I am happy to sew several other items on my to sew list.

I will say that the By Hand London instructions for this jacket are well written and I think the pattern is one a beginner can tackle.

Here are some photos of the jacket in progress.





Since taking those photos I have now attached by basting the collar and the lapels.  I have sewn the lining fabric.  I am going to line the sleeves though the pattern does not call for it. Because of my fabric the lining will help give it some stability and hopefully less wear of the sleeve fabric.

More later..

Tuesday, December 22, 2015

Silk for jacket

I have completed the pin fitting of the By Hand London Victoria Blazer.  I cut out the pink and black raw silk fabric.  Boy does it ravel!  It is somewhat loosely woven, thus the raveling and you can see some sections of how loose it is.



I serge finished all seams and I think I will also apply a light weight black fusible to the body of this jacket to provide a little more support.

I have a lot of sewing plans in place in my mind for my upcoming holiday and vacay time.  I don't return to work until 2016!  That has a nice ring to it!!!! :-)

More later.

Monday, December 21, 2015

Wearing Muse

I was finally able to take some photo shots of the completed Jenna Cardi by Muse patterns yesterday.
I wrote a review at  Pattern Review and entered the top in the New to Me Pattern contest.  I think this pattern has some "good bones" and I will make it again.  There are some likes and dislikes that I noted in the review at PR.



You can see from this photo the shortness of the waist length top.  I am somewhat long waisted for a petite/short person.  Next time I am adding an inch.  The pattern description says this is drafted for someone who is 5'10" and I am 5'3".  The waist band is long in length and it still did not make this long enough to go past my waist band on these pants.  I wore the top with these pants as they sit at my natural waist.

Side view

Here is a back view. The waist band seems to be collapsing or I just did not pull this down sufficiently.  It is actually wide and not fitted so I don't think that it is a fit issue.
Back view
I do plan to make another one and will try the hip length next.  I do like the short version after I add about an inch more in length.








Saturday, December 19, 2015

By Hand London

I began the pattern fitting process for By Hand London-Victoria Blazer.  I am using a pink and black silk fabric that I have had in my stash for a number of years.  You can see it in the photo below.  This is from 2010.

The pattern has a large amount of ease as noted on the finished bust/waist and hip measurements.  I cut a size 12 that may prove to be larger width wise than I want.  Several reviewers indicated that the pattern runs large.

I will be using a black lining that also has been in my stash for sometime.

More updates later.

Monday, December 14, 2015

New Fabrics

I posted earlier that I took advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales. I took some photos of recent fabric purchases that I thought I would share with you.

The following are fabrics that I purchased from Vogue Fabrics. I have been a member of this swatch service for several years.
Brick red faux suede knit

green white sweater knit


Muted green sweater knit

These two items are from EOS
pink gray variegated sweater knit

rayon knit montage
and the recent purchase from Mood is fabric I purchased before but the garment I made did not turn out as I liked fortunately they had more in stock. It is a metallic gray double knit. I will post a photo of that later.



Sunday, December 13, 2015

Jenna Cardi Complete

I have completed the Muse Jenna Cardi. I took some pictures of the completed cardigan as well as some works in progress photos.

This was where I ended Saturday night with all sewing complete and copper looking snaps were affixed to one side. I used my Snaps Setter, with size 24 base to accommodate the larger snaps.

Here is a photo of the completed cardigan:
I am pleased with the outcome in spite of the fiddly knit fabric. The next one, now having completed this one, I will use a different knit.

Here is a close-up of the snaps:
I'm happy with how the snaps lined up. There is always potential for the bottom snap not to line up correctly. I took my time measuring and marking. I will post photos of me wearing later this week. There is a contest on Pattern Review called New To Me Pattern which is what the contest is about.

Now that this is completed I think I have time to make another new to me pattern and will plan to enter that also. My next new to me pattern will be Handmade by London-Victoria Blazer.

More information later.

Saturday, December 12, 2015

Jenna almost complete

I took a PTO day yesterday and after taking care of projects that needed to be done, I worked on the Jenna Cardi.  Looking much better than the photo in my previous post.

There are lots of likes and some dislikes with this pattern.  On top of that the knit I used is somewhat difficult to work with and not exactly what I think is best knit for this particular pattern.

I have completed everything except cuffs for sleeves and the buttonholes and buttons.  I think I am going to use snaps as I think this knit may not take to buttonholes well.  Will do a test run.

More updates and photos to follow.

Sunday, December 06, 2015

Holiday Sales and Muse Jenna Cardi

Making progress with the cardi.  Using a real fiddly knit fabric for this test version. Here is the cardi on Alma Marie with neckband pinned to neckline.  Alma Marie has much wider shoulders than I do, so fit is off.  Speaking of shoulders I used a 38 for the neckline, shoulder and upper chest.  The shoulders were just too wide and I cut off 1/2 inch and fit is better.  I still may need to shave off more on another version. The bust to bottom I used a 42 for the front and 40 for the back.

I am making the waist length, 3/4 quarter sleeve version.

I took advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales following Thanksgiving.  I purchased several patterns from Sewaholic which arrived yesterday. Here's what I purchased





I also saw a review on Pattern Review of a flared leg pant that I liked. McCall's 6515 is now OOP and I found it on Etsy.  I also saw a cute jacket pattern, also OOP by Vogue.  
That's all there is for sewing this weekend.

Saturday, December 05, 2015

Muse Jenna Cardi Update!

The pattern has been traced, pin fitted with only minor adjustments.  Fabric has now been cut out; I am using a chocolate brown ITY knit left over from another project.  Fabric was from Fabric Mart purchased one or two years ago.

I am making View B with the gathered front yoke, waist length, with three quarter sleeves.  If this version fits well then I have plans to use a sweater knit for the next version.

From Muse Patterns Website-This is View A Hip Length


More information to follow.

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...