Swing Skirt to Work

Today I wore my new Sybil Illusion Swing Skirt.  I was going to wait until I completed the red tank top and cardi, I wanted something new to wear so I knew a RTW teal/aqua colored top would go with the skirt as well.

I took some photos before work this morning and decided to take them in a diffferent location instead of the second bedroom or the hallway.  The kitchen became the new location.

Front view-I played with the lighting on Cyberlink Photo software

Side view-this is truer color of teal top and skirt

Waist line

I wore the white crochet type cardi just for a little warmth in my overly cooled office

I enjoyed wearing the skirt; it is a style that I don't wear often, normally sticking to pencil style skirts. In a previous post I spoke about the control panel.  After wearing for a few hours, it became annoying.  It rides up and even though I tacked it to the side seams it rising up and pulling.  I think the panel needs to be larger through my stomach hip area, it stops at my hip.

For a quick fix I plan to insert a gusset in the front area to give a little more width; the other solution is to add a piece at the side seams to let it out some.  There is a dropped yoke skirt in this collection and I think the control panel would work best for that one and perhaps for the pencil style.

Other than the control panel annoyance, I truly like the skirt and the quick and easy sew.  My fabric feels good also.  I think there will be a next time for this style for fall to wear with boots, I will leave off the control panel.

I think the size runs true to size.  This was based on using your waist size for the correct size for this swing skirt.

I have some other Love Notions patterns to try.  But first will complete the red tank and cardi.

Love Notions-Kwik Sew-Muse

As I posted earlier, I completed Love Notions Sybil Illusion Swing Skirt.  I hemmed the skirt last night using my coverstitch machine.  I was still trying to decide what pattern I would use for the red pepper rayon knit fabric that I wanted to make to go with this skirt.

I viewed several long skirts with tops images on Google and determined that a shorter, more fitted top would look best with this skirt.  I thumbed through pictures of patterns and went through a box and drawer of top patterns.

I  found three KS patterns with top and cardigans, two I have never used.  I finally found the one I have made previously with good success and is a top/cardi that I still wear.  I decided I am going to use this pattern for the tank top.  I then decided I will use the Muse pattern to make the waist length cardi that I made previously with good success, with the exception of the length.  I added an inch and 1/4 to the length of the bodice.

I wanted to show you the control panel attached to the skirt.  I think this may be something I will try with other skirts when I need a little tummy control.  It is a power mesh knit from EmmaOneSock. Elastic is sewn to the seam allowance where the panel and skirt waistband is sewn.  It leaves a nice finish to the waist line.

Here is a closer look of the skirt waist and hip area from the outside.

I looked through my closet and found two RTW tops that will go well with this skirt also.  It's nice to have a skirt of so many colors.  It is also a style that I don't wear much, but  I like the look and swirl/swing of it.  Photos wearing coming soon.

Sybil Illusion Skirts by Love Notions

I have purchased several patterns from Love Notions.  I had not sewn any of those patterns and last week I decided that I wanted to make a skirt using print knit fabric I recently purchased from JoAnn's as seen on Stitches and Seams blog.  Fabric not shown on JoAnn's website, perhaps sold out.

One of the Love Notions pattern I acquired was the Sybil Illusion Skirt Collection.  One has several choices to choose from with this collection and I decided to make the Swing style skirt.  I even decided to make a midi length which is about as close as I will get to making a maxi skirt.

I read through information about this skirt collection on the Love Notions website and was intrigued by the use of  a control top method for the waistband.  There is an alternative method as well.  The article also provided several sources for the control top fabric.  I ordered a yard from EOS several months ago.

The instructions for this for control top method are excellent and include photos of the process as well.  I like the layered printing for this pattern as you print only the size(s) you need.  I followed the directions for selecting the size for this particular skirt choice and they were spot on.  For this skirt I printed out the medium and large, flat pattern measured and decided I did not need to trace the pattern and just cut using the printed and taped pattern piece.  I needed large for waist and medium from hip down and for skirt length though I also shortened the length by one inch.

I only posted a picture thus far on Instagram and you can see the skirt by looking at the Websta Widget on the right side of this blog.

I tried the control top method for making the waist band for this skirt and it worked beautifully.  I only need to hem this skirt and will use coverstitch machine to hem.  I cut and sewed this skirt yesterday with some interruptions planned and unplanned, DH was home also and there were a lot of "Honey can you help.......!  This is the fastest sewing I have done of later, going for immediate gratification and got it!

Most of the skirt was sewn using my serger.  More updates with photos to follow.

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.

Cold Shoulder

Simplicity 1363 is complete!  Finally!

I really like this top and wore it yesterday with pants and open toe shoes to work. The top felt good while wearing and the fabric was perfect for hot summer day, yet cool in the office. Hardly any wrinkles.

I took pictures Tuesday evening of the top and it looked good with shorts as something casual, it looked business casual for work though our work place attire is very formal.  With planning discussion with staff from two mission related programs, this was perfect for brainstorming, no suits or panty hose needed.   A certain someone in the agency may think otherwise.

I digress--here are shots of the top.

A few notes about this pattern that you may want to consider if you decide to make this.

• Pattern has lots of ease.  I normally use size 14-16 in Vogue and Butterick patterns. For this one I used small for neck, upper chest, shoulder.  Transitioned to medium for bust to bottom.
• I did not do a FBA-yeah-because of the ease.  There are princess seams for the front so adjusting there would be easy.  I did take in an additional 1/2 inch from under the bust to waist for the front.
• The back is long and I cut off about an inch on the back band piece from the center and tapering off to the original cutting line at side seam.
• I made a 3/4 inch swayback adjustment to the back and ended up taking the center back seam deeper going from 5/8 to 3/4 seam.
• I did not make a forward shoulder adjustment but will next time and will cut off about 1/2 inch from shoulder length as I think that the shoulder/ sleeve opening does not reveal the top of the should as most "cold shoulder" patterns do.
• I eliminated the opening in the back, only after sewing neckband and attaching loop to button. I had gaping in that area and decided I could sew this up all the way as I could easily pull this over my head.  That was a lot of frog sewing to fix this.
• I stabilized the arm/shoulder opening before stitching the hem for this area.  Instructions did not call for this.  I thought fabric needed it.
• For the bodice hem, I used a rolled hem on my serger for this.  I trimmed another 1/2 inch off the center back band tapering to nothing at side seams; the top still seemed long in the back after my initial trimming.  If I make this again, I will reduce that back band center area before stitching.

That's it for now.  Washed some fabric last night for upcoming sewing for the holiday weekend. More later.

Patterns Recently Purchased and Sewing Progress

I mentioned in a previous post that I took advantage of McCall's and Simplicity pattern sale. I finally got around to taking some pictures of the patterns.

Here are some pictures of the patterns:

Today I have been working on completing the Simplicity top. I had to make some fitting adjustments after I had basted the side seams and the shoulders. The top is rather full and based on the finished bust and hip measurements I did not have to make any fitting adjustments in those areas.

I ended up taking deeper underarm seams and this is sometimes necessary with this type of type sleeve. I took a deeper seam right under the bust curve and ended up taking deeper back seam as well.

I used a small size in the neckline, shoulder and upper chest area. I ended up with a gap at the back neck closing. I had to make an adjustment in that area which resulted in the elimination of the back opening as I could easily pull the top over my head without a button and loop closure.

I only have to hem the bodice of the top and I will finally be finished with this pattern. I like the outcome, it has just taken be more time to sew this than I anticipated.

I hope your sewing weekend has been productive.

Some progress

The weather has been great this weekend and that means DH and I are out and about.  So sewing has been sparse and sporadic.

The neckband is attached to the Simplicity top.  I had some issues with this as the directions say one thing but illustrations show something else. I chose to follow the illustrations and ended up with neckband facing on the right side and neckband on the inside.  Not a big issue except I had trimmed and notched the seams before discovering the error.  It was solvable, though added a few more steps to a simple project.

I had to stop at JoAnn's to get a tube turner while we were out  as I have no idea where my current one is located.  Shame on me for a messing and cluttered sewing room.  Normally when I buy a replacement I end up finding the one that was "lost".  So far it has not shown up!

Simplicity, McCall's and Vogue patterns were on sale and I tried hard to walk away without looking but several patterns on my wishlist captured my attention and for $1.99 or 3 for $5, what's a sewist to do.

Updates on current project and patterns purchased to be posted later.

Sewing progress-Simplicity 1363

Yesterday and today were bright summery days with temps in the low 90's. DH did some shopping chores for us yesterday AM which gave me time to cut out the fabric for my new top-S1363.

I made some adjustments to the pattern.  With this pattern there was two side front pieces with xxs-s sizes on one piece and the other piece was for m-xxl.  Simplicity patterns seem to run large in the upper chest/shoulder/neck areas on me so I decide I would cut a small in those areas transitioning to medium from the bust down.  For the front I overlaid the xxs-s over the medium size for the front pattern piece and taped them together, as you can see here.

I lined up the straight of grain arrows and aligned the medium for the sleeve and bust area to provide the extra width I needed.  Normally with kimono sleeves like this I end up taking a deeper seam in the under arm area, so I made find the small to work better.  Better to have more to take deeper seam than less and have tightness.

I was able to sew the front piece before going out to dinner Saturday.  This morning I sewed the back pieces together with the back lower band.  I did make a 3/4 inch swayback adjustment and cut about 1/2 inch off the center part of the back band tapering to nothing near the side seam.  I know from the finished measurements for the back from waist to hem that this was going to be longer than I wanted.

I sewed the front to back at shoulders and began fusing interfacing to the neckband before stopping as DH and I planned to go out this afternoon to spend time doing some outdoors activities, just to pretty to stay in all day.  Here is the front and back on AlmaMarie

Back with back band attached.

Front view

I love this fabric!  Very light weight, yet not to fiddly to cut out or sew.  This I purchased from EOS in 2014.

Will share more as sewing progresses.

TGIF

This has been a heck of week.  So happy that it is now Friday.

My pattern is almost adjusted and plan to cut out the fabric shortly.  Looking forward to sewing time this weekend.

I hope your sewing plans are fulfilled this weekend also.  Catch up with you later.

Stash Shopping

The fabric I wrote about in my last post is now going to become something else.  After stash shopping I found another similar weight/texture fabric that the red matched well with the red in the print fabric. Yet it just was not speaking to me to use together.

Another blogger suggested using lace, which I did not have in a color that would go with the print.  So I decided to move onto another pattern. Working my way through my top/blouse patterns, I found this one.

I decided to try the cold shoulder look and will make the view of the floral print. This I think will be a good marriage with the print fabric and pattern.  I need to make a few adjustments to the pattern and hope to cut out the fabric later this week.

More sewing updates later.

Next Project

I want to make McCall's 7359 next.  I am browsing through my fabric collection to see if I can find something from it. One fabric I keep coming back to is one I purchased from EmmaOneSock, February 2014.

This is a rayon-viscose.  I wanted to make a top with contrasting fabric for bodice and yoke.  Just not finding the right color or texture to go with this fabric.  I am continuing to search through stash for other contrasting fabrics that I may use instead.