Photos-V9169

I have enjoyed my vaca and holiday.  I was able to finish V9169 and I completed Butterick 6392; more about the Butterick sweater jacket in my next post.

I was able to wear the Vogue top today and took a few photos of the finished garment.  I really like this pattern and will make it again making some additional changes to the fit.  It is a rather fitted through the waist and hips and I would like a little more room in that area so that when wearing over jeans as I did today it is not so form fitting.  My biggest critic, DH, liked the top and thought it was slenderizing.

Here are photos of me wearing with jeans.

Back view

Front view

Left side

Right side

Some other adjustments I will make-scoop out the front neckline a little more.  For cold weather, the high jewel neckline feels pretty good when outside.  I like the fit of the shoulder, I cut off 3/8 at the shoulder area tapering to nothing at the front and back notch.  I like the length somewhat, has more of a tunic feel at this length than if shorter.  I think this link will work well with leggings.

One thing of note, it is important to make sure you mark placement lines for front and back upper and lower pieces.  I could have done a better job. I wanted to be able to work with the placement due to changes made in upper front and back pieces.

I followed the instructions for this pattern.  Next time I think I will use my method of sewing front upper and lower pieces together first and the same for the back and then attach sleeves and sew side seams.  

I am pleased with the outcome and the next one will be even better.  I may not sew another one for awhile as I have so many other top patterns, including some TNT that I want to sew next.

And so (sew) the Vaca and Holiday begins!

I am so excited that I am off for a whole week--I needed this break!

This AM I had a plumber come and fix the garbage disposal and after that was complete, I went to the sewing room and completed-finally-Vogue 9169.  This pattern is rated easy and for the most part perhaps that is an appropriate label.  The challenge with this pattern is adjusting the pattern pieces to fit as the upper front and back are one piece.  I needed a FBA about 1 1/2 inches which required some interesting maneuvering of the pattern piece.  The back needed a swayback adjustment which required also adjusting the bottom back piece. Below is the front FBA and the bottom front piece had to line up with the upper front.

Other adjustments needed were the sleeves, they are very tight IMHO and so I added 3/4 inch to the bicep area, tapering back to original cutting line of the sleeve.  I also reduced the length by 1 1/2 inches. My other adjustment was my usual forward shoulder adjustment.

After basting the side seams, I ended up reducing the seam allowance to 3/8.  I normally  sew an 18 at waist and taper to 16 at hip, with this pattern's largest size being 14, I failed to make an allowance for that.  I thought that with the adjustments for the FBA would give me that extra room.  I needed a smooch more.  I will have to remember good posture when wearing this!!!😊

Here are pictures of the completed garment, hope to take some photos wearing later this week.

V9169 View B is the one I made

Front View

Back View

The fabrics were easy to sew and worked well together.  The black is a bamboo knit and tends to wrinkle more than I thought it would, my first time sewing this type of knit.  The print is from EOS and I had a limited amount of it, thus did not have enough to use for the sleeves, so had to use the black.  I have enough of it to use as a small piece in another color/print block top, I love the feel of it.

So ready to start a new project.  Will share that with you later.

New fabric and new project

Yeah! I actually did some sewing related tasks and I began a new sewing project.

Fabric from Fabric Mart arrived a couple of days ago.  Have not ordered any fabric from them in some time.  I am happy with all of the items except the green/brown border print. My fault for not reading the description more thoroughly.  I read cotton and assumed a medium weight fabric, this is more like cotton voile or gauze. I will put aside for warmer weather.

My favorite pieces are the navy and white ottoman jacquard and the denim blue and white herringbone polyester fabric that was a pre-cut item.  I have to thank Carolyn of Diary of a Sewing Fanatic for a picture post on Instagram of her blouse that was a pre-cut paisley fabric that got me to take a look at FM site.

Ottoman Fabric.  Both sides are usable.

Polyester herringbone for a blouse/top

I want to make a topper from the ottoman fabric, just can't decide what pattern to use.  I have several in stash.  I plan to make a blouse with tie for the other fabric, again not sure what pattern I will use as I have several.  The other pieces are below.

This is my new project.  I am in the process of altering the pattern for my usual adjustments and determining the best way to make a FBA with a piece pattern for the front upper bodice.

Both fabric and pattern were purchased this year.  The print fabric is a lovely rayon jersey knit from EOS and the solid black is a bamboo knit from Cali Fabrics.

It feels good to have a project planned.  More later!

Cali Fabrics New Blog and $100 Gift Certificate

I mentioned in an earlier post about buying and sewing some fabrics from Cali Fabrics.  Both were a floral knit with stripes and one was a rayon floral striped fabric.  They have launched a new blog and several bloggers are posted on that site.

In celebration of their new blog they are giving away $100 gift certificate. Here is a link to use to go to their site to enter to win.  Not an affliate, yada,yada-just have been a recent purchaser of their fabrics.

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.

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.