My last 2010 Project

I completed the KS 3790 pattern this AM.  Since most of the work was done yesterday, I am making this my last sewing project for 2010.  I only had to hem it this AM and used my coverstitch machine.  It worked perfectly, first time used in months.

I have very mixed feelings about the top and for now will wear it at home.  The issue is the front neckline which even though understitched continues to flip over to the front.  I am going to try to sew a coin or washer inside a little pouch and attach to the center of the front facing to see if that helps.  This is an issue with most everyone who sewed this top and reviewed on Pattern Review.

The drape of the fabric has it drooping more at the gathered side seam.  Plus the added width from my FBA added more droop.  I ended up taking a deeper side seam on the opposite side which helped.

Here are a few shots of the completed 3790 top.

Front view

Side view

View of the misbehaving front neckline

Post Christmas sewing

I hope everyone had a nice Christmas.  We spent time with a family friend who is almost 96 years old and his daughter.  He lives in an retirement center.  We had lunch with him and then spent time visiting.  During this it was steadily snowing.  After coming home, I spent time just dozing and watching TV.  Just a relaxed Christmas day.
Today I cut out Butterick 5394, a cardigan and vest pattern calling for sweater and/or stable knits.  I wanted to make this cardigan, View D at the beginning of fall.  I did not get to it at that time and thought with my current holiday/vacation time I would make this a priority.  It is a simple and very easy pattern to sew.
I decided that after pin fitting that I did not have to make a FBA.  I did shorten the jacket by 1.25 inches, made a forward shoulder adjustment along with swayback adjustment.
The fabric was purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics about a year ago.  It was not exactly what I expected when it arrived.  However the colors have grown on me; I have been wearing more silver jewelry of late and this fabric has silver metallic threads along with gray and pale lavender with a touch of black as well.  I think it will go well with black and gray pants.  I also think it will work with a black sheath style dress as well.
I’ve sewn the front and back pieces together.  The next steps are attaching sleeve and neck/front bands.  I am considering using the wrong side of the fabric which has more silver, black and gray weave.  Here is photo of the contrast side of the band pinned to the front:

And this is with the right side of the band pinned:

Please share your thoughts about what side to use.

McCall's Dress

I had a moment to take a couple of photo shots of the completed dress. There is a funny little spot from the flash that shows up in the photo, not sure why that is there. Working on the white jacket now to wear with this.

Work in Progress

I wanted to show you progress on my dress. No, I did not finish it yesterday as I wanted to; life gets in the way of my sewing a lot lately.

Here is the lining for the front and back. Here is the back of the dress with exposed zipper.
The sleeve which I lined before attaching to dress. And here is the sleeve pinned at shoulder dress so you can visualize how it will look when completed.

I am really pleased with dress so far. I now have to decide whether to have the tabs at side front or not. They were cut out of the black material. Perhaps the black piping at pockets is enough.

First fabric purchase of 2010

This is my first fabric purchase for 2010. I have put myself on a fabric diet, so to speak. With all the snow and such, DH has not worked much in the past three months. He is in the construction business and work normally slows down this time of year, but this year has been exceptionally slow. However cash flow is improving and these two fabric pieces have been calling my name since December.

These items are from Fabric Mart and were included in the December swatches. The other day I noticed that the December mailer was no longer available for me to link to, so sent an email to FM saying if they still had this fabric I was interested. I got a response back indicating that it was and decided to place an order. They arrived yesterday!

Both are from a Liz Claiborne collection; one is metallic faille (top one). The bottom one is rayon/polyester Ikat floral print. The bottom one is definitely going to be a blouse. The other one I am still undecided about-dress, jacket?? But definitely for my upcoming spring sewing.

Butterick 5247 for Immediate Gratification

Recent sewing projects I've completed have been challenging. It is the first time in probably months that I started a dress pattern and completed it in one day. This was a nice project for immediate gratification sewing.

I pin fitted the pattern yesterday morning and began the process of making adjustments to the pattern. I needed a FBA of 1.5 inches; also a swayback and narrow back adjustment. Using my Fit For Real People "bible", I needed this reference to guide me through making a FBA with cut on kimono style sleeves. Using their method I was able to make the adjustments fairly smooth, even though it incorporated cutting off the sleeve and the bottom of the dress and then reattaching and truing up side seams. Some similar cutting and reattaching occurred after taking a narrow back tuck and swayback adjustment. All went back together well.

I cut out the fabric last night. I set up the serger and the coverstitch machine and was ready to sew this AM.

I probably could have completed the dress in two hours including allowing time for fitting. It took me longer as I took several breaks to do laundry, cooking and such. The dress is now complete. The only thing left to do is make the tie belt as this is one option for belting the dress. I also have two other chain type belts I plan to wear with the dress.

The only use of my sewing machine was to sew the darts that I kept as a result of the FBA and to baste the side seams for fitting before serging the seams. All other sewing was with the serger and coverstitch machine. I am loving the coverstitch machine more and more. I am getting much better with aligning the beginning and ending stitches to help stitch over and better secure the stitches. Acquiring the seam guide for the machine has also been a tremendous help.

I took a few photo shots of the dress hanging on the hanger before starting cooking dinner. My second garment for 2010 complete.

WIP-BWOF January 2009 Skirt 112

I began working on this skirt yesterday and made good progress. I probably could have finished it but wanted to spend some time with DH.

I began working on the skirt this AM. Yesterday I determined that the front and back facing pieces were not going to cover the entire waistband area. I do not understand why those pieces were drafted that way. I checked the pattern pieces in the magazine and I had traced appropriately. This would look unfinished and rather ugly. You can see what I mean:

My solution was to cut out waistband pieces from lining fabric and will attach to skirt lining. This pattern did not call for a lining. I like linings in my skirts most of the time, and particularly for wool. I drafted a lining for the skirt portion when cutting out the pattern. The waistband pieces will be from silk fabric acquired from Fabric Mart last year. (Odd saying that since this is the new year.)

Here is parting shot of the skirt front. More later: