Happy New Year and time to catch up!

I have been off for the holidays since Friday, December 23.  I have gotten a lot of rest, spent time with family and long time friends during Christmas weekend in my hometown of Danville, VA.

My DH caught the "crud" that has been going around so he ended up being home several days last week.  We both return to work tomorrow.

I completed the Renfrew top by Sewaholic using stretch velvet knit from Style Maker Fabrics. This is my fourth version of this pattern since it's release.   Here is a photo of me wearing it with my husband's niece where we celebrated Christmas afternoon/evening in Halifax, VA.

I also completed another Vogue top pattern, one I had made previously.  This too included fabric from Style Maker Fabrics.  The texture winter white (cream) knit is from them.  The solid is from Fabric Mart. Both worked well together.

The pattern is now out of print.  I made View B previously and decided to make View C.  My cowl neck does not drape like the view on the pattern envelope.  I think that the fabric is heavier and the cowl is not very wide.  I am okay with this.  I did use the cuffs from View B on the sleeves using the textured knit.

I will most likely wear this to work tomorrow or either the velvet knit top.  Both are warm and though the weather is expected to be in 50's my office always feels colder.

I have started on another project which will be my first for 2017.  I am making a sweater duster using Simplicity 8059.  I was going to make the longer version with some adjustments for my height.  I did not have enough fabric so went with the shorter version which will be longer on me as I did not adjust the length  for this view.  I am using a sweater knit fabric from EOS. This is a  heather pink/purple with black.

I have a bunch of patterns I purchased in December taking advantage of Simplicity sales on Pattern Review and Club BMV for year end.  I plan to go on a pattern diet as well as fabric diet for several months.  I did make some fabric purchases before year end and will post about these next.

I plan to sew from my pattern and fabric stash more in 2017.  More later.

Where have I been????

I have a been a bad blogger of late.  Between spraining my ankle and recovering from that and working, I have not been very motivated to sew until last week.

I cut out the Renfrew top and have finished it in time for the weekend Christmas time with family.
The fabric I used was a stretch velvet from Style Makers Fabric.  It was a lovely piece of fabric. Some small difficulties in cutting it out, sewing it was a breeze.  I mostly sewed it using the serger.  I even liked the selvage on this fabric so kept it intact to use somehow on something else.

I have a picture of the completed top on Instagram, user name is danvillegirl and you can see it on the blog under the Websta Widget on the right side.  I will post some photos of me wearing it soon.

I am not on vaca and holiday returning to work January 3!!!  Plenty of time to do some serious sewing.  I am going to put myself on a fabric and pattern buying sabbatical come the first of the year. I have more than enough of each to keep me going for sometime.

More later.

Current project

I am currently working on another Renfrew top from Sewaholic. This will be my fourth top using this pattern.  I have just about worn out my last one made about two years ago.

I am using this lovely velvet knit fabric from Style Maker Fabrics called Expresso. A very rich brown color.

It was an easier piece to cut out than I thought it would be and sewing so far has been good.  I am using my serger to complete most of the sewing since the top has all the fitting issues complete. That's the great thing about a TNT pattern.

I have tried to do a little sewing on it during spare moments before or after work.I have so many other projects that I want to start on after this one and not sure which one to do first.  I will have some vacation time the week after Christmas for more sewing.

Thanks for stopping by and always appreciate your comments and feedback!

Holiday Sales and Muse Jenna Cardi

Making progress with the cardi.  Using a real fiddly knit fabric for this test version. Here is the cardi on Alma Marie with neckband pinned to neckline.  Alma Marie has much wider shoulders than I do, so fit is off.  Speaking of shoulders I used a 38 for the neckline, shoulder and upper chest.  The shoulders were just too wide and I cut off 1/2 inch and fit is better.  I still may need to shave off more on another version. The bust to bottom I used a 42 for the front and 40 for the back.

I am making the waist length, 3/4 quarter sleeve version.

I took advantage of Black Friday and Cyber Monday sales following Thanksgiving.  I purchased several patterns from Sewaholic which arrived yesterday. Here's what I purchased

I also saw a review on Pattern Review of a flared leg pant that I liked. McCall's 6515 is now OOP and I found it on Etsy.  I also saw a cute jacket pattern, also OOP by Vogue.  

That's all there is for sewing this weekend.

Renfrew Version 3

I completed my third version of this top.  I did not add the hem bands with this one and coverstitched the hem using a 5/8 hem allowance.  I added an inch to the bottom when cutting out the fabric in order for it to be the length I wanted without the bands and after hemming.  I also shortened the shoulder length by 1/4 inch and I think that is perfect for me and future versions of this top.  I am going to give it a rest for now!

Just finished cutting out M6796 and plan to sew it this afternoon.

Weekend sewing

Two days on the road this past week and long business meetings yesterday, can make a girl go crazy!  At least that is the case for this girl.  I was so happy to leave work on Friday and to start the weekend.  DH and I had dinner after doing a little bit of grocery shopping Friday evening.

After putting up the groceries I went to the sewing room to finish the Renfrew 3 top.  I attached the sleeve cuffs and then set up the coverstitch machine.   I still have to hem the bodice as coverstitch and I were not working well together. I knew if I kept fiddling with the machine I would get cranky so decided to wait another day.

Next up is M6796.  I steam finished the fabric in my dryer and it came out softer to the touch.  Why I had not thought about this previously, I don't know.  I read a post on another blog about how they were pretreating wool fabric by using the steam feature on their dryer.  I also learned I could wet two worn lint free towels to put in the dryer with the wool and put on high heat setting to pretreat.

This top is my Garment of the Month for February.

Renfrew Top #3

I have made great progress on my third version of the Renfrew top.  With this version I cut it an inch longer and decided that I would not add the hip band to this one, will coverstitch the hem.  I did keep the sleeve cuffs; I still need to attach them.

Here is the work in progress:

I took a close up of the neckline to provide a better view of the textured knit fabric.

This knit has great stretch and recovery; it has been a very nice knit to sew.  This is a knit I purchased from Waechters in Asheville, NC a few years ago.

Since I have made two previous versions I felt that I could whip this up by serging all of the seams.  Previously I stitched using the sewing machine, then edge finished the seams with serger.  This definitely reduced sewing time.

Getting ahead

This morning I planned to sew the grey Renfrew top.  Yet reading Pattern Review digest this morning and reading several reviews of McCall's 6796, I decided that I would cut out the pattern pieces, make pattern adjustments to cut out a lovely sweater knit fabric I just purchased from EOS earlier this month.

The weather continues to be frigid in my neck of the woods; I wear a lot of pants or skirts with tights and boots when it is like this.  I need new tops and I bought this pattern when it was first released so why not make it up now also.  So pattern pieces are adjusted and I hope to cut out the fabric this evening.

I was glad I decided to do this as I am now getting ahead on my sewing by having two projects ready to go.

Renfrew 2 Complete and worn

I decided that I wanted to wear my new Renfrew Top, version 2 today.  I got my DH to take photos after we got home from having dinner and shopping.  I used a photo editing feature to highlight the photos to showcase the bright colors of the fabric.

I really like this version of the top.  The fabric is a soft but slightly heavier knit than the knit I used for the first version I made about two years ago. 

This was the first version; I used a lightweight metallic knit from Mood.  I love this knit, not scratchy as previous metallic knits I acquired in the past.  It was also a little see through and I wear a camisole or tank top under neath normally.

This new version is from a knit I acquired in 2013 from EOS.  I am liking this pattern so much that I am getting ready to cut out a knit fabric I acquired from Waechters Fine Fabrics in Asheville, NC in 2011. 

It is interesting how each version has a different look depending on knit fabric chosen.  This gray fabric is textured.

More updates later.

Ending on a positive note!

My last post was rather negative.  I decided I needed to end the day on a more positive note and wanted to show you the Renfrew Top #2 work in progress.  For a cowl neck top with nice drape but not so low, this is the better top for me. 

The only thing left to do is sew the hem band and sleeve bands.  That will have to wait for another day. 

This is a nice feeling knit; it was a little fiddly at times to sew but it stitches up well.

Next up is a skirt using a Sandra Betzina Vogue pattern that I have had for several years.  I purchased a nice Italian wool fabric from Mood late last year.  With the continuing cold weather I think I will get some good wearing time from it.

Cordova complete

I finally finished this jacket.  And I am not really happy with the outcome.  I decided to complete it and most likely I will give it to charity.  Here are a few pics of the completed jacket.

Front view has separating zipper

Close up view of zipper and neckline

Back view

Inside view of lining-jacket not pressed

So far from what you have seen have you noticed the peplums that go from front to back?  Yeah, me neither.
And that is the issue and the reason I am not happy with the outcome. It is not really a problem with the pattern, it is my choice of fabric, it is rather "busy" so you just don't see where they are.

Even trying to show you the peplum you just can't see it.  If I had given this more thought I perhaps could have added piping in black.  I even pulled out some black ric-rac after the fact and that does not cut it. Another lesson learned and something I need to work on.  If the fabric was not so loosely woven and ravels just looking at it and because of the loose weave thread gets embedded in the weave, I found it most difficult to remove stitches.  I decided not to undo the peplum area stitches to add piping.

As to this jacket patten-it runs large!! I even went down a size in upper area and then went to larger size from waist to bottom.  This was my focused concern about this jacket once I began sewing and fitting.  Before making the final lining attachment, I made several fitting changes to earlier ones.

1. Biceps are huge, ended up taking a one inch seam from about an inch under the arm to about 3 inches above wrist.
2. Took a deeper center back seam earlier on in the sewing process.
3. Took an additional 1/2 inch seam in the front/side front seam area from shoulder down to upper bust area.  Then took an additional 1/2 inch seam from right under the bust to top of front area peplum.
4. Took an additional 1/2 inch seam  right above and below waist area.  

All of these adjustments helped fit the jacket better and definitely helped make it look less boxy.  Nonetheless, because you can not see the distinction between the jacket and the peplum due to fabric choice it just looks more like a semi fitting straight jacket, just as it looks on the hanger.

You win some, you lose some.  Next up skirts!

It's almost a completed jacket

I have completed the lining unit and attaching my way instead of per instructions.  I don't like hand stitching and the instructions call for catching stitching the lining hem and sleeve linings by hand.  I prefer to "bag" the lining and eliminates a lot of hand stitching.

I had attached one of the sleeve linings to the sleeve yesterday.  I decided to try on the jacket to be sure that the sleeve lining and sleeve were hanging right.  I realized at that point just how wide the sleeve was and even if I wore a sweater top under the jacket I would have more than enough sleeve room.  So I have some more tweaking to do with sleeve width in the upper arm area, at wrist sleeve is okay. 

I did not get to do any sewing after work last night so jacket is waiting for my undivided attention on the sewing machine.

Photos and more to follow.

It's looking like a jacket

I have made good progress with the Cordova jacket this weekend.  The jacket unit is complete with sleeves attached and separating zipper installed.  I began working on the lining unit and will attach that somewhat differently than the instructions call for.

I still need to tweak the bodice portion some in the front.  I took a deeper center back seam which helped fit better and you can actually see the peplum from the rear.  The front looks rather boxy still and the peplum is not so noticeable; the pattern drawings show this as being more distinct and more of fitted waist area.

I will make this adjustments before attaching the lining unit.

This fabric has been a true bear to work with.  Stitches get lost in the fabric and having to take apart seams have been troublesome. Now that I have most of the fitting issues resolved, a jacket in another fabric may be in the future. 

Jacket update

I decided that I would use "Design Plus" fusible bias stay tape for the remaining edges of the jacket.

If you look at this fabric wrong, it ravels! 

I discovered that I was looking at View A peplum instructions; this view has double peplums.  So the lining of the peplum yesterday proved to be a waste of time.  I also realized this morning when fixing my first cup of coffee that I had not adjusted the front area of the peplum to match the added length due to FBA.  Thankfully I had enough fabric to cut out another peplum.  Here is the adjusted peplum piece with the 1.5 inch adjustment.  I had added 5/8 to the side back pattern piece for hip fluff and had added that to the peplum piece when I first cut out the pattern.

I attached the peplum pieces to front and back.  I tried on the jacket for additional fitting.  My jacket is looking more boxy than the drawing of the patterns on the pattern envelope and instruction sheet.  It looks like I really need to take deeper seams at center and side back seams as well as side seams from waist to hip area. 

I realize that this pattern line is drafted more for a pear shape person and I am definitely not that shape.  I cut the shoulder and upper chest at size 12 tapering to 16 at bust down.  Big mistake on my part, yet that is what I usually do with Vogue and Butterick.   All in all it is better that it is too large then too small.

More updates later.

Cordova update

I have made considerable progress on this jacket.   Of course I have chosen a fabric that ravels very much.  I used "Hug Snug" on the various seams.  I made the decision to do this as I knew that the edges needed this even if I am lining the jacket.  The weave is not real loose but loose enough to have a lot of raveling.  Serge finishing the edges did not go very well at all.  Sewing the bias binding to the seam edges took more time but in the end worth it.

The front/side front and back/side back pieces are sewn.  Peplum pieces are lined.  Next step sew the shoulders and sides seams; attach peplum; install separating zipper; sew front and back lining; insert sleeves in jacket and jacket lining; attach jacket and lining units.

Here is a collage of the various stages of the jacket in progress:

Upper left photo-showing how the fabric ravels
Upper right-Hug Snug attached
Middle left- front pieces pinned to Alma Marie
Middle right-back pieces pinned to Alma Marie
Bottom left-peplum
Bottom right-lining side of peplum

This is the look of progress

I am making headway on my Cordova jacket.  I was able to get all pieces cut out this AM and applied interfacing to the facing pieces.  Lining is cut out also.

 Interfaced front, back and peplum facings

Front, back and sleeve lining

Progress-ready to sew

Cordova progress

I finally finished making numerous pattern fitting adjustments this evening.  I started on these last evening.  I had to make my usual forward shoulder adjustment, 1.25 inch FBA.  Just these two adjustments required numerous pattern pieces to be adjusted.  Other adjustments included narrow back and adding additional width at hip area in the back.

The separating zipper I had on hand just was not the right one for this jacket.  I did not want metal teeth zipper for this jacket.  This required a trip to JoAnn's where I found exactly what I needed. 

As noted previously the fabric is one I acquired from EOS  over a year or more ago.  I had black lining fabric in the stash as well.  I am now ready to cut out the jacket fabric and lining.  More information later.

Next up-Cordova Jacket

I purchased this fabric from EOS many months ago, perhaps close to a year. 

I decided that I was going to make the Sewaholic Cordova Jacket pattern.

Actually this was the pattern that drove the purchase of the pattern and surprisingly I kept with that decision.  I have cut out the pattern pieces and have pinned the front and back together to try on for fitting purposes.  I chose the sizes I used when I made the Sewaholic Renfrow top.  I will have to reduce the length about 1 to 1.5 inches.  Sleeves will need adjusting as well. 

I have black lining and have separating zipper but not sure if it is the right length or not.  It is good to be starting another project. 

Wearing Renfrew Top

We had a great visit with family yesterday.  It was good to see my cousins, their spouses and children. I did wear my new top-Sewaholic's Renfrew Top.  The knit fabric is a little thinner and a little more clingy than I had anticipated; yet it wore well and I like the fit.

On me the top looked a little more like a tunic and I may shorten the next one.  I did like the look of the top as a tunic.  Here are two shots of the top that DH took before we left the house.

I have another fabric picked out for the next top.  But first will make the Vogue top, fabric has been cut out and is ready to sew.

Holiday Mood

I am calling this my Holiday Mood top.  This is the completed Renfrew top.  The knit fabric is from Mood and my intention is to wear it for a holiday event with family members today, thus Holiday Mood.

Holiday Mood

This is a lovely knit fabric, super easy to work with and wish I had purchased more.  The wrong side of the fabric, IMHO, I think could be a top as well.  I remember making a knit top many years ago that was a gold metallic and it made me itch where the metallic threads would touch my skin.  Metallic knits have come a long way baby!

Here is a close up of the collar. I wish I had draped the left side better.

And this is the waistline cuff, though it really sits at the hips; and the cuffs for the sleeves.  You can make this without using the cuffs for a design change.  I liked the look of them.

I will try to get my photographer to take photos before we visit family.