Jalie 3352 Complete

Yes, I did complete a project!

I finished Jalie 3352 and was able to take a few photos before work yesterday when I wore the top.
Here is the top on a hanger--

Back view

Front View

I have to say that I ended up liking the top more after I paired it with pants that were similar to the light brown color in the print.  I am not sure that I like the drop shoulder on me as I don't think it is all that flattering.  The more I had it on, the more I adapted to the style.  I had to cut off some of the fabric at under arm curve as it was too much fabric and needed to be taken in some.  I cut off about 3/8 of an inch.  I took a tuck in the shoulder area of the pattern before cutting out the fabric.

I used my coverstitch machine to hem the bodice and the sleeves. I used my serger for the garment.  The knit fabric was perfect to work with.  I used bias fusible tape at the neckline and a woven tape for the shoulders.

I did not have to make a FBA; I did take 5/8 swayback adjustment and raised the neckline as well.

Here are photos of me wearing

I have to say I am a little tired of the high/low hemline style.  I think I am going to take a break from sewing that style for next top sewing projects.

It was fun to complete a project and have already decided on the next one.  More later.

Bad Blogger

I have been a bad blogger of late.  Between work and some personal issues, I just have not been motivated to sew as much or post anything.

With some of those issues resolved,  I am feeling better and ready to like get back to sewing and blogging.  My denim dress is still a work in progress.  I am going to use snaps instead of button and buttonholes.I just need to mark the placements and do it.

While waiting to get motivated to install the snaps, I decided to pin fit Jalie 3352.

With my recent completed Jalie raglan sleeve top, I decided to go down a size in the bust area.   I raised the neckline about 1 1/2 inches as I find that Jalie necklines are too low for me.  I did my usual swayback and forward shoulder adjustments.  I also shortened the shoulder length by 3/8.

The fabric I used was from GirlCharlee, knit fix purchase in January.

I did not like it at first.  I then saw a few other items that had some of the lavendar color and I pulled out this fabric.  The more I looked the better it got.  The quality of the knit is nice, similar to a sweater knit.  I am using the same contrast color for the sleeves that was used in my last Jalie top.

The weather this week has turned a little cooler and that is helping me to get into sewing clothes for the upcoming season changes.

More later!

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.

My first Eleonore

I finally finished my Freaky February garment!  Actually I am rather proud of the accomplishment as you have read that I don't sew pants.  So instead of sewing perhaps a simple pair of pants, I should just jump into sewing jeans, which do require more fitting IMHO.

I still need to hem these jeans and tweak the fit considerably more, I thought I would show you how they turned out for the first pass at trying pull on jeans sewing.  I read and re-read reviews at Pattern Review which were most helpful.

Without further ado

Front view

I reduced the length prior to cut the fabric by one inch, after sewing the front and back pieces, I took out another inch before attaching at inseam and side seams.  There is a lot of fullness in the leg width and they certainly need adjusting.  I tried to lighten the photo to give you a better idea of the fit.

Back view

From the back there is considerable leg fullness from under the butt down.  I know many sewist complained about the size of the back pockets.  On me, I think they look like the right size.  I am pleased at how well I aligned them.  As others reported, I reduced the elastic for the back waistband by 1 inch which improved the fit.

Side view

The side view shows the fullness more in the upper back leg.  I have to read more about adjusting the fit in this area.  I am definitely a novice when it comes to sewing pants/jeans and appropriate fit adjustments.

If any one reading this has suggestions about how to do this, I appreciate your feedback.

So will I sew these again-MAYBE!  I am now going back to sewing more tops as I am wearing current tops to death; with spring/summer on its way, I could use some newer ones.  The top shown with the jeans has been in my rotation for over 3 or 4 years.  The knit is still in great shape and the fit is better than when I first made it.  

Jalie 3461 and Freaky February

I have been participating in the Make a Garment a Month group on Facebook.  The February theme is Freaky February.  The 'freaking' is what you hesitant to sew as it freaks you out to do so or in my case sewing pants freaks me out and thus I avoid it almost like a plague.

I am fortunate that I can usually purchase well fitting pants and jeans in the petite department at several retailers.  So I like to spend time sewing other items that I can get a better fit than RTW or I want be wearing the same top as one of my staff members or a friend because I made it myself.

So for Freaky February, I am going to make a pair of pull on jeans using Jalie 3461.  I just spent a good 1/2 hour reading all the reviews at PR about these jeans.  Some more helpful than others.

Last night I traced my size according to their instructions and then pin fitted them earlier today.  I then freaked as the pin fitted pattern really did not fit very well.  One issue is paper does not stretch and these jeans are designed for fabric that stretches 20% at a minimum.  The second issue was the back area which I know needs more tweaking-they need to come up higher than what these did.  I decided to not let this freak me out to where I would not continue with the project.

I am smart enough to know that I will need raise the back length (rise) and pretty much know how to do this after giving it more thought and reading PR reviews.  Tomorrow is a holiday so I plan to make pattern adjustments and cut these out.  I do plan to add 1 inch just in case seams at the side seams.  I did shortened the length by one inch but may need to take another inch off.

Fabric is a recent end of year purchase from JoAnn for stretch denim.  There are some nicer stretch denim fabrics online that if these prove to be successful and I feel like I should no longer freak out over pull on jeans after making these then I will order some.

That's all for now.  It is snowing tonight and tomorrow promises to be more weather issues with sleet and freezing rain!  Nice that I have the day off anyway!

More later.

Jalie 2921 Complete

I was able to finish the second Jalie top yesterday evening.  I worked on it a little during the week; basting the side seams for fit and tweaking the center front seam.

Collar tied.

I like my second version better than the first.  As I posted previously I raised the neckline about an inch and also took horizontal tucks in the upper chest and upper back areas through the armscyce.  This adjustment helped to better fit the underarm seams.

In raising the neckline I should have reduced the width of the tie collar, but didn’t so I now need to turn the collar down so it does not come so far up on my neck.

Untied and collar not folded down.

I stitched the sleeve and bodice hems with my coverstitch machine.  I see more of this top in my future.

Second Jalie 2921

Well Jalie top number one is complete and will be given to Goodwill.  The neckline is just too low for me and attempts to adjust did not work for me.  I made additional adjustments to the pattern pieces-raising the neckline, taking a 1/4 inch horizontal tuck in upper front and back, adjusted the mark on collar to match new raised front neckline and trimmed off 3/8 inches of back width from side seams and through back armscye. I also added a little width to the sleeve just because it has potential to be too snug.

I decided to pull out another knit fabric that I just learned prior to typing this post that I had acquired this from EOS in October 2007.  It is a buttermilk knit. Obviously it has aged enough to be used.  As you can see below it is a black, yellow, white and gray fabric.

I cut out the fabric and have sewn the collar and shoulder seams; attached the collar to the neckline of the bodice and sewn the center seam.  I can tell just from a quick try on that this will be a better fitting top for me.  More later.

Jalie 2921

I cut out and started sewing the Jalie top yesterday.  I love the collar and the way they have you attach it. As others mentioned on PR, you need to follow the instructions and it will all work out correctly.  It did.

I read numerous reviews at PR as I know some sewists had issues with the collar-either too long, or not laying correctly at back neck.  For me I should have raised the front neckline about 3/4 of inch as I find it a little low.  Depending on how I tie the tie collar it helps camouflage this.    I will adjust the pattern piece to fix this for the next one.

As with most patterns but particularly with Jalie the back is always rather large and long on me. I ended up cutting out 3/8 inch in the back armsyce area.  I also found I could take a deeper than 1/4 inch seam from under the arms down.  The sleeves on the other hand seem to run small and using 1/4 inch seam allowance for them is necessary.  Overall I am pleased with the outcome and will wear this top with some additional tweaking.

More fabric arrived today

I decided to order another few fabric pieces.  My Vogue Fabric subscription came up for renewal and while online renewing that I decided to order some fabrics from their Early Spring 2011 Mailing.  Their theme for this mailing was a tribute to Coco Chanel.

I ordered fabrics that I intend to make up into dresses and one is for a blouse or shell or both.

This is a cotton-rayon spandex that my thought when seeing it was a sleeveless dress with waistline and I would wear a belt with it.

This red/white houndstooth will become a princess seamed dress; maybe with in seam pockets.  I just ordered and received a pair of red patent leather pumps from Zappa.com. 

This is a lovely polyester fabric in French blue, with gray and black.  I could not get a true color of the blue-gray with my camera; even with editing I did not achieve the beautiful color blue in the actual piece. 

I ordered enough for a blouse and hopefully a shell top.

I am off now to pin fit a Jalie pattern-2921 to make a top from this knit fabric purchased earlier this year from Denver Fabrics:

Hope everyone has a good sewing weekend.

New Fabrics

I mentioned in a previous post that I had purchased two fabric pieces from Sawyer Brook that arrived recently.  Today the fabric I ordered from Denver Fabrics came.  So without further ado, here are some shots of the new fabrics:

Green mid-tone silk rayon fabric from Sawyer Brook, I think it was called Avocado. 

This is the second piece from Sawyer Brook.  It is a cotton with raised circle designs woven in the fabric; I suppose a jacquard.  I think this will be a summer sheath style dress.

Today’s newest additions:

This is from Denver Fabrics, a knit geometric and stripe design.  I am thinking a Jalie knit top with tie.

This is an animal type print in olive green and white.  Also from Denver Fabrics.  Probably will become a knit dress.

I fell in love with the colors and not really sure what this will be but it is a lovely stretch lace fabric.  It is really a lovely fabric in real life, more so than seen on Denver Fabrics website.

Now off to fix dinner and hopefully find time to cut out the KS jacket.  I made some additional fit adjustments to the pattern this afternoon and I think it is a go now!

More patterns

Well I have already made new pattern purchases for 2010. So much for my goal of using what I have in stash. But then you guys know how hard it is to resist those Club BMV sales and PR's 20% off sale!

Here's what I purchased

Photos courtesy of Jalie patterns website

Photos courtesy of McCall's website.

My Vogue Chanel type jacket pattern is all cut up and marked up. I never could get the front to hang right. So when I saw this jacket pattern I decided to replace the Vogue one. This pattern has B,C,and D cup size pattern pieces so that was a plus as well.

By the way, the McCall's pattern website has been revamped and I like it. Plus you can sign up for e-newsletter and get some free pattern downloads. Check it out if you haven't already.

P.S. No work on the Vogue dress this week as I had hoped.

So here is what I purchased:

What I wore-Thursday

This is a shot of me wearing the recently completed Jalie top. Skirt is RTW. I got a lot of complements on the top. I like the fit of this one better than the first. I see more of this top in the future.

Jalie 2806 Complete

Yeah, I finished something!

I completed Jalie 2806. This is my second time making this top and this one fits better than the first one. The knit for this top was a little heavier in weight than the first one I made giving it better body. I also used 3/8 inch side seams instead of 1/4. The other adjustment I made was with the sleeve.

With the first one I increased the width of the sleeve; I think because I read where others thought the sleeve was a little tight. I really did not need to do that so with this one, I redrafted the sleeve pattern reducing the added width.

I used my coverstitch hem to hem the sleeves and the top. I also used the machine to stitch the neckline band and top.

It was great to complete a project. The Burda jacket is waiting for button holes and buttons. I now have buttons for the jacket, I just need to rethread the machine to complete this. I plan to work on this during the week.

I have a KS knit top cut out. I am looking forward to making this one.

Butterick, you're out; Jalie, you win

I became very frustrated working on the Butterick knit top. The knit was just to fiddly and I am not liking how the pleats and the whole neckline thing was just not coming together. There is a lot of hand stitching to catch various pieces to each other. When that goes wrong, and it did!, because of the knit, the removal of those stitches was not easy and left a hole. I decided I just did not want to be working on such a tedious project. So it is a wadder and I'm okay with that.

I moved on to the Jalie scoopneck top and it has been such a pleasure to sew this. Rethreading the serger, the coverstitich and sewing machine ate up a lot of the sewing time I had. I have created the gathered foldover part; sewn the shoulders together; basted the side seams for fitting; and I tried it on to make sure that it is all falling into place correctly. It did!!!!

So I made that the stopping point while I am waiting for DH to finish getting ready to go do a few shopping errands and eat. Back to the sewing machine later. It's good to be sewing again.

Future tops

While I was using the camera I took shots of the other two patterns and the fabrics I cut out to make them.

This is the KS pattern-KS3658. The fabric was acquired from Hancock Fabrics in Fredericksburg, VA in March of this year. I was on a business trip and had time to shop prior to the start of our meetings. This is a teal polyester knit, somewhat beefy but has 35% stretch as the pattern suggests.

This is the Jalie scoopneck top. I made View A before with satisfactory results and pattern was tweaked afterwards to assure a better fit for next time. This knit fabric was purchased from Fabric.com perhaps a year ago.

Pattern tracing and fabric cutting

I was able to cut out the fabric for the Butterick top this AM. I ended up using another knit fabric that has been in my stash for a long time. The piece I had originally planned to use proved to not be enough even to do the sleeveless version. I decided to cut out the 3/4 length sleeves instead of making a sleeveless top.

I then cut out another knit fabric that has been in my stash for over a year or more. I used a Jalie pattern that I have made before. I plan to use the pleated front top as I made this before with nice success.

I then traced a Kwik Sew pattern. This has an interesting pattern for the front. I ended up using the pivot and slide method to make a FBA because of the unusual front pattern piece.

I still have not found buttons for my jacket. I am off Monday and will be traveling to Floyd and Schoolhouse Patterns. I have not been there in over 6 months. They have a great selection of buttons as well as lining fabrics. I plan to purchase a few more lining pieces as well.

Top 108-Feb BWOF

Yes, I took the plunge and traced my first BWOF pattern. I chose pattern #108 as it was to my mind a simple pattern to start with. A front, a back and two sleeves.

Unsure of the size to use I ended up using the largest size and decided I would need a FBA. I also went back and forth on whether the dart was in the right location or should I lower it. For some reason, still unknown to me, my inner voice said not to lower and I chose not to listen. The dart sits to low and some of that could be the knit fabric I chose to use for this test garment.

I did a swayback adjustment but the back length is still to long. I have the same issue with Jalie patterns as well. More work to do on that problem.

I decided to follow the instructions for the neckline hem/topstitching and that created a sewing issue for me when it came to sewing the shoulder seams. Their way has you turn under the neckline seam allowances as first step and topstitch. Then sew shoulder seams. When doing that, the neckline was wonky and did not lay right. So I think I will do it another way. I just wrote (ranted) about this at the "burdaenglish" yahoo group. I am hoping someone will tell me if they used their method and how they got it to work.

So I am disappointed with my first try with this pattern. I will not give up and will tweak the pattern further and still use knit stash fabric that will not be painful to me if I ruin it. I did ruin this test knit fabric due to removing stitches one time to many. It now has holes in it.

More later.

Jalie tops

Well I completed another Jalie top today. From start to finish sewing time, I completed this in about two hours. I made Jalie 2806. I used a knit fabric I purchased from EOS about 18 months ago. The knit was not what I thought I purchased after it arrived and I have had it just laying in the knit stash. It was a bit thinner than expected. It also wrinkles rather easily and I have not experienced that with a knit before. Not sure of the blend. So I decided to use it to make this and if things did not work out then not a real loss.

I am pleased with the fit of the pattern though I think I may take deeper seams through the waist area on the next one. I like the gathered fold over piece. I saw a similar top in Macy's several weeks ago. I plan to make another top or two using this pattern and the fold over as well as the ruching scoopneck style.

Here are photos of me wearing it after sewing it. It has not been fully pressed.

My DH and I went shopping and dining. Here is my second Sweetheart Neckline Jalie top I made about two weeks ago. I really like this Jalie pattern and see more of this top in my future as well.