Jalie 3245

Raglan tees have been very popular through out the blogsphere.  I have purchased quite a few patterns for this style with success and misses..  The first one I made was a Kwik Sew version in 2014. I like this one though a little snug. I used a heavier weight knit for this one and still wear it on occasion.

I made another one using McCall's.  The fit is good with this one, I just don't like the red velvety knit I used.  I do love the lace overlay.

I attempted a Burda and Angela Wolf versions; they were never completed as something went wrong during construction and I had no desire to fix the issues.

I have a few favorite raglan tops I have saved on Pinterest and I posted about here.

For this top I used Jalie 3245 and with some adjustments before and during sewing I created a top I really like.

Some adjustments made were  raising the front neckline by about 2 inches, making a 3/4 inch swayback adjustment, adding a 1/2 inch to hip area and making 1/2 inch FBA using pivot method on front only. I used Size Y for the upper chest and neckline and transitioned to AA from there.

During the fitting process I ended up taking 5/8 seam allowance at the front and back sleeves area where it attaches to the bodice.  I also ended up taking 1/2 inch seam from waist to bottom and 5/8 above waist through the sleeves.  The seam allowance called for with the pattern was 1/4.  Obviously I could have used Size Y and Z.  Yet I will keep my traced pattern as it is now and have noted to take deeper seams.  

I serged this throughout after basting the side seam for fitting.  I used my coverstitch machine for the hems on the sleeves, the bodice hem and neckline.

I see more use of this pattern in the future.  I do have a couple of other indie patterns to try also.

I wore this to work yesterday, another casual Friday look for me.  The wearability of this was perfect.

I was in a store and paying for my purchase.  The sales person asked where I got this top, I told her it was a "Danville Girl Design" and she said she had not heard of this line before. I then told her I made it.  She was impressed and said she had ordered a similar top from LuLaRoe.  

Next project waiting for completion is Maria Denmark Kimono Top.  I only need to hem the bodice and I am done.  I have a McCall's pattern cut out and ready to sew.  I have made this particular pattern twice.  This is becoming a TNT for me.

More later.

Staycation Update

This is been a great week, staycations can be as fun as traveling. Don't get me wrong I love to travel especially to the beach.

I had several items on my staycation to do list:
1. Redo vanity area in the bathroom
2. Manicure/pedicure
3. Sew Jalie 3254
4. Sew Maria Denmark Kimono top
5. Adjust Jalie Eleanor jeans

So far I have completed the first three items on my list.
Bathroom vanity redo

Manicure

Toes are red too without the black tips!

Sew Jalie 3254-Complete!👍🏼☺

Bodice hemmed using coverstitch machine

Neckline used coverstitch machine

Marie Denmark Kimono top pattern is ready for me to decide on the fabric and cut it out. This is a pattern that I used last summer to make a couple of tops to take on the beach trip. The fit is perfected so this should be a quick sewing gratification project. I have two knit fabrics purchased earlier this year from Girl Charlee. These knits were part of the January Knitfix.  I was not overly excited about my bundle, there were two items that I especially liked but will not use those for this project.

The floral striped knit used in the project above was from Cali Fabrics, a store located in California. This was the best feeling knit I have sewn in some time. It is a soft knit similar to a sweater knit but with more body. The solid beige fabric used for the sleeves and neckline are a similar knit and I'm not sure of the source. I think it may have come in a bundle from Fabric Mart. It worked well with the striped floral knit as it was similar in weight though a little bit more sheer.

I will take some photos of me wearing the top soon. I will also provide a more detailed review of the fitting adjustments I made.

Staycation

I scrapped the red knit tank and cardi.  I knew that the fabric was sheer but this was really sheer and I did not have enough fabric to cut at least a double front piece. Not only that but I really hated the fabric after handling and sewing just a little bit.  I will make a red tank and cardi as I just ordered a red fabric from Cali Fabrics today.

While waiting for this fabric to arrive, I switched gears and decided to use the recently purchased fabric from Cali, the white with black stripes and floral print rayon knit.  This morning I washed this fabric along with three other off white or cream knit fabrics.

I plan to sew Jalie 3245 using the stripe/floral print as the body and solid color for the sleeves.  I have traced the pattern pieces and the pattern is ready for pin fitting. The inspiration for this was of course from Pinterest.  Here are a few I liked

Tomorrow will not be a sewing day however.  I have planned for a couple of weeks now on redecorating the master bathroom which is really mine; my husband has the hallway bathroom-this works best for us.  I ordered some new beauty organizers and plan to change the colors used for the bath mats and curtains.  The room needs a real spring cleaning or perhaps I should call it a summer cleaning!  Will see how long this takes, so may get the fabric cut out in the afternoon.

Work No Sew

This week I spent two days traveling.  Before I left town on Monday, I locked myself out of my house and spare house keys were not in hiding place.  I then remembered I took them out of the hiding place.  So had to call DH to come home and unlock the house.  I had to go to a neighbor's house to use their phone as I left my cell phone next to the keys.  :-(

It also was the most humid day of the month thus far so I am "glowing" waiting at my neighbor's home for husband to come home; their A/C was not set cool enough for me, stressing out makes me "glow" more. My inner thermostat is set much higher than it use to be!

So my business travel got off to rocky start.  Thank goodness no car trouble or anything else occurred on this trip.

I had hoped to visit a JoAnn's while in Richmond; I was not able to do so.  I did not find any other fabric stores pop up on phone search using Verizon navigator.  There used to be what I thought was a great Hancock's on Midlothian in Richmond; we all know that Hancock's is no more.

I came home last evening and found Vogue Fabric Swatches had arrived in the mail.  So I am going to sit down shortly and thumb through this and day dream about sewing.

I am going to be on a staycation next week and made mental plans for what I want to sew then.

More later.

Swing Skirt to Work

Today I wore my new Sybil Illusion Swing Skirt.  I was going to wait until I completed the red tank top and cardi, I wanted something new to wear so I knew a RTW teal/aqua colored top would go with the skirt as well.

I took some photos before work this morning and decided to take them in a diffferent location instead of the second bedroom or the hallway.  The kitchen became the new location.

Front view-I played with the lighting on Cyberlink Photo software

Side view-this is truer color of teal top and skirt

Waist line

I wore the white crochet type cardi just for a little warmth in my overly cooled office

I enjoyed wearing the skirt; it is a style that I don't wear often, normally sticking to pencil style skirts. In a previous post I spoke about the control panel.  After wearing for a few hours, it became annoying.  It rides up and even though I tacked it to the side seams it rising up and pulling.  I think the panel needs to be larger through my stomach hip area, it stops at my hip.

For a quick fix I plan to insert a gusset in the front area to give a little more width; the other solution is to add a piece at the side seams to let it out some.  There is a dropped yoke skirt in this collection and I think the control panel would work best for that one and perhaps for the pencil style.

Other than the control panel annoyance, I truly like the skirt and the quick and easy sew.  My fabric feels good also.  I think there will be a next time for this style for fall to wear with boots, I will leave off the control panel.

I think the size runs true to size.  This was based on using your waist size for the correct size for this swing skirt.

I have some other Love Notions patterns to try.  But first will complete the red tank and cardi.

Love Notions-Kwik Sew-Muse

As I posted earlier, I completed Love Notions Sybil Illusion Swing Skirt.  I hemmed the skirt last night using my coverstitch machine.  I was still trying to decide what pattern I would use for the red pepper rayon knit fabric that I wanted to make to go with this skirt.

I viewed several long skirts with tops images on Google and determined that a shorter, more fitted top would look best with this skirt.  I thumbed through pictures of patterns and went through a box and drawer of top patterns.

I  found three KS patterns with top and cardigans, two I have never used.  I finally found the one I have made previously with good success and is a top/cardi that I still wear.  I decided I am going to use this pattern for the tank top.  I then decided I will use the Muse pattern to make the waist length cardi that I made previously with good success, with the exception of the length.  I added an inch and 1/4 to the length of the bodice.

I wanted to show you the control panel attached to the skirt.  I think this may be something I will try with other skirts when I need a little tummy control.  It is a power mesh knit from EmmaOneSock. Elastic is sewn to the seam allowance where the panel and skirt waistband is sewn.  It leaves a nice finish to the waist line.

Here is a closer look of the skirt waist and hip area from the outside.

I looked through my closet and found two RTW tops that will go well with this skirt also.  It's nice to have a skirt of so many colors.  It is also a style that I don't wear much, but  I like the look and swirl/swing of it.  Photos wearing coming soon.

Sybil Illusion Skirts by Love Notions

I have purchased several patterns from Love Notions.  I had not sewn any of those patterns and last week I decided that I wanted to make a skirt using print knit fabric I recently purchased from JoAnn's as seen on Stitches and Seams blog.  Fabric not shown on JoAnn's website, perhaps sold out.

One of the Love Notions pattern I acquired was the Sybil Illusion Skirt Collection.  One has several choices to choose from with this collection and I decided to make the Swing style skirt.  I even decided to make a midi length which is about as close as I will get to making a maxi skirt.

I read through information about this skirt collection on the Love Notions website and was intrigued by the use of  a control top method for the waistband.  There is an alternative method as well.  The article also provided several sources for the control top fabric.  I ordered a yard from EOS several months ago.

The instructions for this for control top method are excellent and include photos of the process as well.  I like the layered printing for this pattern as you print only the size(s) you need.  I followed the directions for selecting the size for this particular skirt choice and they were spot on.  For this skirt I printed out the medium and large, flat pattern measured and decided I did not need to trace the pattern and just cut using the printed and taped pattern piece.  I needed large for waist and medium from hip down and for skirt length though I also shortened the length by one inch.

I only posted a picture thus far on Instagram and you can see the skirt by looking at the Websta Widget on the right side of this blog.

I tried the control top method for making the waist band for this skirt and it worked beautifully.  I only need to hem this skirt and will use coverstitch machine to hem.  I cut and sewed this skirt yesterday with some interruptions planned and unplanned, DH was home also and there were a lot of "Honey can you help.......!  This is the fastest sewing I have done of later, going for immediate gratification and got it!

Most of the skirt was sewn using my serger.  More updates with photos to follow.

Sewing Holiday Weekend

I am off for the holiday weekend (4th of July here in the states).  I am so ready to tackle some sewing projects that I have designed and planned in my head!!!

I washed two knit fabrics that I plan to combine to make  a skirt and top that can be worn together or separately.  I also plan to use two Love Notions patterns,  The skirt pattern is the Sybil Illusion Skirt Collection, which style I plan to make is still under consideration. I have purchased a couple over the past couple of months and ready to give these new to me patterns a try.

One fabric I plan to use is a red rayon slub knit from Fabric Mart purchased in the fall of 2015.  The other fabric I recently acquired was actually from JoAnn's.  I saw this fabric on Deb's Stitches and Seams Blog.     I have not yet taken pictures of recent fabric purchases.  I have some new fabric from Cali Fabrics a new to me fabric store.  I loved the look and the feel of this fabric when it arrived.

Holiday sewing has now began.