Burda top and what am I sewing next.

Well I finished the Burda top and not really pleased with the results.  The fit is good but the striped/floral knit fabric did gather as well as I thought it would.  I probably could take deeper seams to get the effect that the pattern calls for.  The other thing is that it is way too long and probably can be shortened.  It is just not what I wanted for the top.  I have put it aside for now and may decide to do some more with it later.

So I am on to my next project which is going to be a skirt unless I change my mind between now and tomorrow AM.  I have lots of ideas and shortage of time.

I hope your sewing weekend is going well.

Sewing Update 8-4-13

I finished the New Look pattern.  I had planned to take photos of my wearing it; DH was in a hurry yesterday to get and back home so will have to wait for later.  Let me say that I love the fit of this pattern and will definitely make another of this style and will also use the other style for tops as well.

I know it is hard to see the cross over of this top and when hanging it looks somewhat droopy; when wearing all of this pulls together very nicely.  There is no neckline gaping and for me it is a more flattering look.

 The ruching of the sleeves adds a nice touch to this top.  I used clear elastic; pattern instructions for this is easy peasy!

 This is the ruching on the side.

The flowers are like cut out pieces of knit and the black background is a mesh type knit.  I was very pleased at how well this sewed up.  The anticipated issues of not sewing well, edges curling etc. did not happen.  Yeah.

Last night I was going through dress patterns to decide which to use to make a dress from this.
I decided on two patterns, one a Burda pattern from stash and the other was a new Butterick pattern.  This AM I cut around the pattern pieces to make the Burda pattern and then changed my mind.  Some time wasted; yet I just was not feeling the love for it.

So I plan to sew up this pattern.  Fitting adjustments will only involve bodice pieces; the Burda was going to involve more than I was willing to bargain for at this time.

More to share later.

Vacation sewing update

I have been sewing but not continuously. As I mentioned earlier, DH had a dental emergency and all is well now. Extensive and expensive dental work. That certainly was not in my sewing plans for the week. I also have had some sort of stomach virus. That can put a damper on activities as well.


Thursday evening was our ASG meeting and it was fun to visit with other sewist who share this passion. Some members presented a program on "Draping for Fit". It was informative. I think I am going to stick with buying and adjusting patterns.


I have just about completed my wool crepe skirt. The lining is attached; the pattern does not call for a lining but I used the pattern pieces to make one as it is wool crepe and I think it needs to be lined. For me, anything wool needs to be lined. I just need to sew the facings to the skirt and hem it.


I plan to work on two jackets next. One is the BWOF Feb. 09 jacket. I have the pattern pieces traced but have not pin fitted yet. I also plan to make this McCall's jacket from the remaining wool crepe. I will probably make View A as I not sure I have enough for View B.

Back to sewing.



I did go to JoAnn's today while out doing my weekly grocery shopping. I picked up two more Simplicity patterns since they are on sale for $1.99. I also picked up a McCall's knit dress pattern. I fell in love with

Update on Holiday/vacation sewing

I cut out the Vogue blouse pattern. I had thought about sewing it up but decided I wanted to spend time cutting out patterns, so I cut out the McCall's skirt pattern. This skirt does not call for lining but because I am using wool crepe I wanted to line it.

I pulled out some silk panel pieces that I got from Fabric Mart as a bundle. I had enough to cut most of the lining from the panel. I used another solid color that matched the green fabric and the green in the silk panel for the lining of the two side back skirt pieces.

I then traced the Burda jacket pattern. Whew! that was a task. I still need to pin fit the pattern. I am unsure about the size I used so I traced the largest and the next smaller size so I can test fit both sizes. The larger size, Burda 44, was listed as a 14 for USA patterns. I hope this is the case. That was a lot of tracing for it not to work. If it is a match to size 14 I will have to do a FBA but that will be okay.

Once I fit the Burda pattern, I will cut out the sage green faux suede fabric. I then will start the actual sewing and plan to sew the Vogue blouse pattern first.

Fridays

Most all Fridays I do my grocery shopping after work. That gives me a great Saturday to play. After grocery shopping, DH and I normally eat and then either crash and watch TV; or I play on the computer and sometimes I go into the sewing room.

Last night I had a lot of energy after shopping and eating, so I spent time going through the bin in my sewing room that holds my fabrics for upcoming projects. My fabric collection is kept in another room as we live in a older home with small rooms, lots of them but small nonetheless.

So putting away those fabrics that did not get sewn during the summer, I began to pull out my fall/winter fabrics. This in deed helped me move closer to a sewing plan for the week. Earlier Friday morning, prior to work, I washed and dried my metallic linen fabric. So that is still on my sewing plan starting this weekend. I am still leaning toward a Vogue blouse pattern for it.

I have another interesting fabric that is faux suede in a pale sage green color that is has been waiting to become a Burda jacket; one from the February issue of BWOF. I have wool crepe from Fabric. com that I acquired last year called Cement. It has a pale green cast to it and goes well with the jacket fabric. I plan to make up a skirt from the McCall's pattern.

Other plans include some knit tops like this one from Vogue/Sandra Betzina. I have a stunning knit fabric I purchased in Charlottesville when Elaray and her friend were in the area. I am going to test the pattern first using another similar knit type before cutting into this gorgeous piece.

Sew----that's it for now, things to do, patterns to cut and fit, fabric to cut and sew. Later.

A little sewing going on here

Today has been a good day. I got drapes and curtains for the house. Curtains were for the kitchen. I put those up. Drapes are going to require a little assistance from DH.

I bought the curtains at Bed, Bath and Beyond. I love that store. They have more gadgets and stuff for the entire household. I bought some stack and lock food storage containers. I have not bought things like this since we moved into the house almost 6 years ago. Thought it was time for a change.

I went to B&N and purchased the fall Vogue and InStyle magazines. Trying to get pumped up for some fall sewing.

I started working on the blouse again. I found a few sewing flaws with collar attachment to blouse, so reworked that. Serge finished the sleeves and then got side tracked on doing some other things in the sewing room. Then discovered it was time to start dinner so got that started and decided to post a little to the blog while things are simmering.

I am not feeling the love for this blouse at this time. Yet I want to finish it so I can move on to some other sewing projects. I don't want to put it aside, I have really gone to far to just stop. It's just not making me feel like it is what my expectations were. Will see.

Oh I got my Burda magazine today and plan to peruse that this evening.

Later.

More photos

After taking shots of the two Vintage patterns, I took photos of my newly acquired Butterick and Burda patterns. I also took a few photos of the neck facing that I posted about on Sunday night. Sometimes a picture is worth a thousand words. But I am tired and will post them later.

Night all!

Burda skirt - the back

A few posts ago I mentioned the fit of this skirt. Here is photo of how the back fits through the waist and hip without doing a swayback adjustment.




Earlier this week I received the new issue of Threads magazine. There is a pattern review section each issue of Threads and this skirt is reviewed by one of their pattern testers. It got a positive review.

2nd Burda Skirt complete

I finished the second Burda skirt this AM. I inserted the zipper yesterday evening, using an invisible zipper in the side seam. This time I placed the zipper from the top edge appropriately, the first skirt I was off on that.

I love the fit of the second skirt because I finally determine the right size for the skirt. The first one was too big. I actually tried on the first skirt the other morning thinking I would wear it to work. It was still too big. It sat on my hip but that threw everything else off. I hate that I have to undo so much stitching to make another tweak. I may just "cheat" and take back tucks at waistline. I plan to wear a top over the skirt, not tucked in so only me, the dry cleaner and dear readers you will know if I do that.

I took a "booty" shot of my new skirt as I do like the way it fits my back waist and hip. I did not do my usual sway back adjustment for this skirt as the back seams seem to curve inward at that area making it unnecessary. I will post photos later.

Another skirt as planned!

After finishing my cardigan and tank top, I re-threaded the serger and sewing machine to start on the second Burda skirt. Since I just made this skirt pattern a few weeks ago, this version is going faster. Actually I could have completed it yesterday if I had not committed to cook dinner and do a few spring cleaning things. Those two things were necessary as well.

The skirt unit is complete except for inserting the zipper. The lining unit needs only the front portion to be stitched to the side back pieces. I do need to try this on to make sure I don't need to take up or let out any seams. Since the previous skirt was rather large, I adjusted the pattern pieces to reflect the changes I made with that skirt. After completing these two steps, I will attach the lining to the skirt, sew lining to zipper area and hem the skirt.

With the skirt completed, I will have finished my first planned project for my spring sewing. Sort of like a mini SWAP. I already am planning my next project which will involve my new fabric purchase. These fabrics don't get to age like some of my other fabrics.

Another Burda skirt

I like the newest skirt I recently made so much that I cut out a khaki fabric that is Rayon, Polyester and Lycra to make up a second one. I love the feel of this fabric. I had some lining fabric in my collection that goes well with it. The other good thing is the knit top and cardigan I am making will go with this skirt as well as the light aqua one.

Here is a photo of the knit and RPL fabric along with the lining fabric.