Vogue Issey Miyake 1052

This is Vogue's latest Issey Miyake pattern. I have loved Miyakes from the beginning. The last few years they have not been designed my Miyake himself as he has retired. These more recent designs tend to be less innovative and more conservative. They are also scaled closer to the body which probably reflects current styles more than the change of designers. This pattern reflects this aesthetic and follows more normal construction techniques. However the collar lifts the design into the unusual that we love from the Miyake company.

Pattern Description: Here is Vogue's description: Loose-fitting, lined, above hipline jacket with double draped collar, welt pockets, princess seams and back ties. Topstitch trim and stitched hems. The pattern also includes very loose-fitting, below waistline pants, with front casings, fly button closing, back waistband, tie ends and carriers. Slightly flared above ankle length. I just made the jacket.

Pattern Sizing: 2 combinations: AA (6-8-10-12) and E5 (14-16-18-20)

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much except I changed some of the button and buttonhole positions to suit myself. The highest buttonholes would show one the collar all the time as I don't plan to button up around the neck.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Although this is listed as advanced I think that it is not that tough and the instructions are clear. If you eliminate the welt pockets and keep an open mind about how to button this it should be doable by an intermediate sewer.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Love the collar. The design has two layers of collar that are open at the outer edge. The suggested finish for this outer layer is to turn under, zigzag the edge, and then trim the seam allowance close to the zigzag stitch. This is time consuming and nerve-wracking as one has to worry the entire time you are trimming the 200 inches of collar edge. I was terrified I would cut a slash in the fabric. An easier, faster, and perhaps better looking edge would be to do an overlock or rolled edge. I tested these and decided I liked the zigzag with my fabric and felt it suited the look. Another thing to take note of is that the underside of the fabric will show as the two collar pieces are stitched wrong sides together. Thus the lower collar is wrong side up. As the collar falls into folds both sides show. Usually Vogue mentions that the wrong side of the fabric will show in the fabric selection area on the pattern. They neglected to do that this time.

Also I quite like the unusual sleeve. The undersleeve becomes the jacket side. Very cool. Although there are princess seams they are not very shaped so the silhouette is somewhat boxy. Be prepared for lots of top-stitching with a large size spool of thread. I had to run out and buy another one mid-stream.

Fabric Used: Silk/linen blend in dark brown. This style needs a fabric with body that also drapes well.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I made a few changes. The main thing was to eliminate the lining and welt pockets to make it lighter weight and more blouse like. This necessitated drafting a back neck facing. It also called for interfacing the entire front which I skipped on. I made my usual FBA. The other change was to eliminate some of the buttonholes because I decided I would never button it up high.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I think it is a great jacket/blouse. I probably won't sew it again as I rarely do that but I definitely recommend it.

Conclusion: I like it. This is how it looks open. And this is buttoned as high as I plan to wear it. This shows partial buttoning.

Haute Couture Fashion Show

Last Sunday I attended the annual fashion put on by a club called Haute Couture. This organization has been around for many years, started back in the days when ladies wore hats, gloves and suits. The women who started it were interested in learning more about sewing high fashion and couture quality garments for themselves. Years passed and now many of these women are still members but no longer sew for themselves. However they are still interested in learning about new sewing techniques and many sew for their daughters or grandchildren and of course, make quilts. We have meetings once a month with very interesting speakers, we have field trips to fabric stores, artists studios, and other related spots. There are charity projects such as sewing gowns for hospice. There are occasional classes such as shibori silk dying. All in all an interesting organization. We just need more younger members!

Last weeks fashion show was the annual fund raiser. 55 - 60 different garments were modeled, all sewn by members. There were two celebrity guests who modeled their own designs. And my own sewing friend Barbara modeled 3 knockout outfits. Here she is wearing the last outfit, the beautiful lace dress she reviewed on PR. Leslie (looloo44) wore her fantastic Burda 7783 dress also reviewed on PR. And I wore my Vogue Anne Klein ultra suede jacket with 4 ply silk pants.

Butterick 4527 Maternity top

I decided to sew some maternity clothes for my DIL. She especially needs tops for hot weather as she is due in early September. She liked the empire waisted  top on this pattern so I dove into my stash to find something appropriate. It is amazing how few things seemed right in a stash of 700+ pieces. It appears I have mostly silk, wool, velvet,knits,  etc. Not much for a simple summer woven top. I found this piece, circa 1960's I think! She liked it so I stitched it up.

I widened the straps because we felt a 7 to 9 month would want to wear a bra. Even with wider straps the top of the top doesn't cover the top of her bras. We decided she would wear a tank top underneath. 

Fit was the big issue with this pattern. I understand that you use the non-pregnant measurements to choose the size so I did this. Doing so resulted in a garment too big at the bust. I think she has done most of her growing there already so they allowed more than she needed. That may be hard to gauge as it is probably very different from woman to woman. The bigger issue is the size around the bump. Not really enough for 8 and 9 months. I took tiny side seams but I fear, just when the weather really heats up in July and August, she will have outgrown the space allowed.

Other than these issues, the top is easy to make and a cute, current style for the mom-to-be.

Sewing Workshop Village Bag

This was so much fun to make. I haven't made many bags in my sewing years so some of the process was new to me. I bought this bizarre fabric on the Pattern Review LA weekend. The shop owner told me it was real leather (have you ever seen leather with a selvage?), gave me a bargain instead of $60 it would be only $30. I had this type of bag in mind though I didn't have a specific pattern for it. I guessed at needing 1 1/2 yards and paid for that... $45 plus tax. When I laid it out to cut I found he had shorted me and I only had 1 1/8 yard. Maybe he didn't intend to (???) and that happened because of the stretchy quality of the fabric. It is all puckered up in a design by stitching with elastic thread on the back side of the "leather". Anyway I had just barely enough to cut out the big main piece of the bag.

I wanted a fun lining for the bag so I chose a bright red brocade with an Asian design including panda bears. In studying the pattern ahead of time I did not realize that the lining would show. I thought there was a facing at the top but that pattern piece was the lining. When I got to the point of sewing it all together I discovered that the red would show. At first dismayed, I thought I would need to cover this somehow. But I quickly came to like the hint of red at the top. It makes the bag more playful.

Sewing Workshop suggests upholstery weight ultra-suede for the straps. I found some at a reasonable rate on-line and ordered it in dark brown. The color looks alright in person but photographs looking lighter. If I did it over I would use black as the brown faux leather reads as more black than brown. Or I would cover straps with the flat selvage area of the fabric. I would redo the straps but that was the hardest part of the project. My poor machine really did not want to sew through 4 layers of faux leather, 4 layers of lining, 2 layers of interfacing, and 4 layers of ultra-suede. I made it do it but I had to hand turn the wheel. This would have been a good time to have an old, sturdy mechanical machine on hand.

The heavy duty magnet closure I ordered with the pattern from Sewing Workshop. It was so strong I needed my DH's help getting the 2 pieces apart. When sewing it was an amusing struggle as the magnet attached itself to the feed plate and wouldn't allow sewing to continue. Also trimming the threads with scissors was an interesting problem as the magnet grabbed the scissors. But, now that it is sewn in as instructed, the magnet is not strong enough to hold the bag together.

The bag is very big as you can see but hangs in a nice, comfortable slouch. It has handy interior pockets, 2 zippered and a third with pleated space for the cell phone.

I think this will be really fun to carry especially on outings where I need to carry a wrap, extra shoes and a water bottle, a guide book, and my knitting.

McCall's 3404 Kimono top and SW Plaza pant

I found this wonderful 4 ply silk with Kodiak designs at the recent PR LA weekend. I was very pleased to discover that the 4 ply black silk that I've had for years in my stash coordinated with the new silk. So what to make? I definitely wanted an Asian influence in the top and I had planned to make Sewing Workshops Plaza pants ever since I heard Linda Lee rave about how much she loved wearing her 4 ply black silk Plaza pants. Here are my reviews:

Project Photo:
Pattern Photo:	Pattern Info provided by Ann Smith
Pattern :	Easy & Great for Beginners
Pattern Description: This is designed as a loose fitting wrap top with dropped shoulders, tie ends and sleeve variations. You can choose standard or traditional kimono type sleeves. Pattern Sizing: Two combinations: Y which includes Xsmall through Medium or Z which includes Large and XLarge. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes although I would not use the description "loose fitting" as they did. It looks fitted in the drawings and is fitted on me. Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions are basic and fine What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? I wanted an Asian looking top that did not pullover my head. This was one of the few in my stash that fit that description. I chose the traditional kimono sleeve to emphasize the Asian look. I think the ties are a bit too short and would lengthen them if I made it again. Fabric Used: A 4 ply silk with Zodiak designs. 4 ply is a wonderful fabric to use as it usually handles well and drapes beautifully. I had some trouble as I started with silk thread because I was out of my regular black thread. My machine really did not like it and puckered all the seams and darts. I changed needles with no improvement. Eventually I got a hold of some regular cotton wrapped poly thread and redid all the stitching. No problem with that. I don't know if my machine needs an adjustment or what the cause of this problem. Silk thread should have been fine. Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I shortened the length by 1 1/2 inches. Also I changed the tie to go around the back underneath the garment. To do this you leave the seam opening on the left instead off the right. I like the garment to fall loosely down the back. Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I made this once before but it was quite altered as I lined it to be a jacket. I like it better this way as a blouse. I definitely recommend this to you. Conclusion: A simple but effective top with that Asian influence I like.

Project Photo:
Pattern Photo:	Pattern Info provided by Ann Smith
Pattern Rating:	Highly Recommend
Current Tags :
Pattern Description: This is Sewing Workshop's wonderful Plaza Jacket & Pant pattern. I have made the jacket several times and the pants once before. It is a very loose-fitting unlined jacket with dropped shoulders, one piece sleeves. The pants are semi-fitted with straight legs and a flat front waistband with back elastic. The pants have a tucked front seam detail. No side seams on the pants. Pattern Sizing: Sizes XS through XXL in one envelope. I made the medium with no alterations except for length. Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes indeed. Here's the back. Were the instructions easy to follow? Excellent instructions. Sewing Workshop does a great job with their instructions including interior finishing. What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? These are basically a one seam pant that has the added tuck down the front. This is created with a seam but you could eliminate that and have a regular one seam pant. I love the slimming effect of the tuck. Fabric Used: 4 ply silk. Years ago I heard Linda Lee of Sewing Workshop rave about her 4 ply silk pants from this pattern. She wore them several times a week. So I have intended to make a pair myself. I finally got to it when I realized the black 4 ply silk that I had in my stash coordinated with my new Zodiak silk from the recent LA PR weekend adventure. Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: None Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? I will sew this again for sure. Highly recommend.

Sewing Workshop Salsa Blouse

I originally reviewed this 4 years ago and highly recommended it. Somehow I wrecked that blouse in the wash and I've been wanting to make another one ever since. My new version was made to go under the Anne Klein ultra-suede jacket. I wanted a soft, draped front to fill in the lack of closures. This fabric, from my stash, is a rayon crinkle with a border print. That is why one side of the front looks empty of the print. I arranged the print to be featured on the wrap over part and the back. The fabric was a nightmare to work with. Very wiggly and unstable. It also was flawed in the printing and had white streak areas I struggled to avoid..

Pattern Review Weekend in LA $1 fabric

I was excited to get to my new fabrics from the PR weekend. Not that I'm short on fabrics but the newest stuff always gets my attention. First I attacked the $1/yard fabric from the FIDM Scholarship store. These were my first purchases.  I wish we had been able to go back there because the fabrics were interesting and quality for no money.

The red/khaki/cream circle fabric is a 4 way stretch probably poly with lycra. I had only 2 yards but it was 62 inches wide so I was able to squeeze out the Sandra Betzina skirt Vogue 2933 with one side panel and a crossover top from Simplicity 4095. I had to cut the sleeves sideways to fit them on my small yardage and I couldn't do any print placement. As a result the circles are not attractively placed on my bosum. Too bad cause otherwise I really like this top. I like the skirt too but not together so much.

The red fabric became New Look 6929, a longer faux wrap with crisscross bands and a wrap around sash. I think if I make this again I will go shorter as this longer tunic length isn't the best for me.

Pattern Review Weekend in LA

What a great time we had meeting each other, shopping for fabric, and creating fashion at the Pattern Review weekend in LA last week. I realized I've been neglecting my blog what with travel to Jackson Hole, flu, and then a whirlwind trip to LA to connect up with on-line sewing friends. I was still coughing and dizzy but my friends Kelly and Barbara took care of me. I sat in the back seat of the car for the drive down and back vegging out while they chattered in the front. We got to the Sheraton Hotel in downtown LA Friday early afternoon to find many of the group engaged in hands on sewing with Susan Khalje. We met Deepika who greeted us warmly and gave us gift bags and info booklets. We set out down the block to FIDM (Fashion Institute of Design and Marketing.... or something like that) to see the amazing exhibit there of costumes from movies including Oscar winning Elizabeth, Atonement, and many others. Great to see these beautiful garments up close.

Around the corner was the scholarship shop for FIDM which had lots of youthful clothes at bargain prices. We found the bolts of fabric in the back which led to some exciting purchases at $1 a yard. Barbara had commented on the way over she was on a fabric diet so she wouldn't be buying any. That vow lasted about 15 minutes. I've sewn up 3 garments already from my two purchases there so those reviews will be coming soon.

In the evening it was out to dinner with half the group and then a trunk show with Susan Khalje. Lots of techniques shown and Kelly modeled lots of them. Somehow neither Barbara nor I remembered to bring out cameras this evening. Sorry Kelly.

Next day off early to the fabric district for shopping. How overwhelming!! 100s of little shops with all variety of fabric and notions. We all bought stuff. Deepika added up the yardage at the end of the day and 56 shoppers bought 645 yards that one day. In the evening it was out to dinner with everybody and then back to the hotel meeting room to share and play the crazy design an outfit game. Each of us brought 1 yard of undesired fabric. 8 teams of five set out to create with 5 pieces of this fabric. We had duct tape, clips, pins and sticky back tape plus scissors at our disposal. We could cut but had to use some of all 5 fabrics. 30 minutes allowed. 

My group with BarbaraV, KellyD, Leslie (loohoo44) and SusiM created a "Krakatoa Geisha" outfit quickly before we realized we had 30 minutes so we spent the rest of the time enjoying watching the others create.

Now at home once again I will try to catch up on my sewing reviews. I think I have 5 things I haven't photographed yet.

Vogue 2987 Anne Klein ultra-suede jacket

Whew!! I have finally finished the ultra-suede jacket I started in September. What an ordeal. I worked on it a lot, first at the Sandra Betzina week-long sewing camp and then during the week that followed at home. At that point I hated it and put it aside to sew Halloween costume for bambino and something else quick. Then it was off on several long trips, chaos, Christmas and another trip. Finally this week I picked it up again and just about decided to give up on it. Thanks to my friends Kelly and Barbara who were here, saw it and encouraged me to continue. They had several helpful ideas. Kelly suggested I use heat and steam to unglue the fused together seams that I needed to alter. That worked. And Barbara suggested I leave off the buttons and buttonholes as it looked best open. With these suggestions I moved ahead and mostly solved the problems. I'm still not crazy about this but I'll wear it.

What were all the problems? First, the only fabric suggested to use is Ultra-suede. I have made 2 or 3 Ultra-suede jackets in the past with no problems. This pattern was just not designed well for this fabric. The biggest problem is the sleeve cap. Way too high with too much easing needed. After several attempts to set the sleeve in, Sandra helped me and couldn't do it either. We decided to cut almost 2 inches off the top of the sleeve cap. Then using lambs wool to help, set in the sleeves. They are still not pucker free but much better. Other big problem, no interfacing. Now this might be okay if you use the heavy Ultra-suede but imagine how impossible the sleeves would be then. I used the light weight suede called Facile. I had the collar all finished before realizing it was never going to look good. I had to go back in and add the interfacing after having trimmed seams and all. What a pain.

The seams all looked awful and there are a lot of seams. So I decided to fuse them down with "steam-a-seam". That helped a lot by smoothing and reducing puckering. Unfortunately, I couldn't tell until the lining and facing at the bottom hem was added that the back stuck out hideously, like a peplum but ugly. That is when I decided to take in the back seams at the lower back. I never knew fusing to hold so well! At that point I gave up until Kelly suggested reheating the areas. Doing this I was able to open the seams and do the necessary ripping and alterations.

After getting things back together again I decided that the hand tacking that the pattern suggests as the method to hold the collar together was never going to look good. So I stitched in the ditch at the collar to hold it crisply. Understitching as suggested didn't help the facing from rolling out and all the outer edges looked bad. So I added topstitching all around. The lower back facing was to be stitched only to the lining. Well of course it hung and sagged. So I stitched in the ditch at the back waist seam there also.

I had cut out the sleeves as per the pattern with the buttoned vents. By the time I got to that point I was mad at the jacket and didn't want to go to that trouble. Then I decided to leave off the buttons on the front and it made sense to not have buttons on the sleeves. I just stitched the sleeve together and cut off the vent extension.

I can't remember ever having a pattern that I needed to change so many things just to make it work.

Burda WOF 9/2007 jumper

This pattern is shown as a trendy update of a 60's look. Burda says: "We've always kept up with the trends! When the pinafore dress/jumper became popular in the Sixties, Burda had the pattern (9/1964). This garment is now celebrating a comeback, and we feature it, of course!"

Here's Burda's description: This saucy pinafore dress/jumper is shows loads of Sixties' swing? The hemline nips the kness, the waist seam is slightly raised and a wide, shaped, self-fabric belt cinces it to the waist. Wear it over a close-fitting turtleneck pullover for the true-to-style look.

Personally I don't think these garments look that much alike. The sixties jumper had the waist at the natural waistline with a leather belt, no pleats and pockets and a higher neckline. Oh well, I guess they think it is similar.

I wanted to make this garment when I first saw this issue of the magazine. Finally I have made it from a fabric I have had in my stash for many, many years. I bought it from my 87 year old neighbor who had had it for many years. No telling how old it is. Somehow it miraculously survived without moth holes or other damage. I thought I had a lot more fabric than I needed but this old fabrics are narrow and I barely got this cut from what I had.

I'm not crazy about how this looks on me although it fits okay after my varied alterations. It just looks plastered on me. However, the photos spurred me on to renewed vigor with my diet and I'm now 3 pounds lighter than when the photos were taken. Hopefully it looks a bit better.

It is easy to sew if you mark accurately. Of course I didn't so I had to fiddle a lot with the pleats to get them symmetric and centered. I wouldn't recommend it for a beginner as the instructions, although complete, are a bit puzzling when it comes to the bodice finishing which is very clever but hard to understand without illustrations. This is the instruction that befuddles." If you sew up to that point and hold the fabric in position this will make sense. In the abstract it doesn't. This technique gives a nice finish to the bodice at the shoulders and armholes.

I followed Diane's approach from her review on Pattern Review (http://sewing.patternreview.com/cgi-bin/readreview.pl?readreview=1&reviewnum=24594)for the rest of the finishing. This creates a really polished bodice. However, in spite of the alterations I did before cutting out, I needed to go back and take in the underarms. This was awkward to do with the nice finished bodice and would have been easy with the Burda approach. Maybe that is why they construct it they way they show.

McCall's 5529 Wrap top/jacket

This is an easy top presented as an unlined jacket. Suggested fabrics are silk, linen, gabardine, wool crepe, wool blends, AND stable knits. I made it from a sort of stable knit which makes it seem more like a wrap top than a jacket. I think all the other fabrics would be more jacket like.

I made this as a gift for my DIL who is 3 inches shorter than me and smaller all over. I fear that it may be too big for her as, in spite of attempting to make it smaller to her measurements, it still fit me except for being a bit short waisted. Hopefully it will still work for her as she can overlap the wrap more and sash it tighter.

The pattern has two peplum styles, gathered and smooth. We chose the smooth one. The pattern also has long sleeves which are pushed up in one view. She decided to go with 3/4 sleeves which was a simple alteration.

I like this top and may make one for myself now that I have the pattern fit to me!!

Vogue 2959 Sandra Betzina dress

I tried on Sandra's version of this dress at the sewing camp I attended last fall. I had the pattern already but wasn't enamored with it from the pattern pictures. However trying it on sealed the deal as I found it to be very flattering. I chose to do a similar treatment that she had done with a two-sided fabric, seamed wrong side together. This creates the contrast that highlights the seaming. After stitching the seams I topstitched them in place with a twin-needle. Trimming the excess seam allowance took a lot of time (especially because of the need to take care not to cut the garment fabric!!). If I hadn't done this, the dress would be rather quick to make and easy too.

Vogue 2949 Sandra Betzina Jacket

Finally I sew again. I wanted something quick and easy to get me jump started. I had a stack of patterns set out that I had in mind to sew, back in September before things got out of hand. Trouble was I couldn't remember what fabrics I had in mind for these patterns. I had to prowl through my stash to get a handle on this. Project ideas began to come back to me and I recalled this fabric/pattern combination.

This wonderful boiled wool had a fringed selvage that I wanted to use. I first thought I would use it for the hemline of a jacket. However this pattern called to me and I realized I could use the fringe for the center front edge which extends up to the collar edge. The opposite selvage had a smaller fringe which I used for the sleeve hem. I would have used the longer fringe but I didn't have enough yardage for the sleeves. So I laid the pattern sideways to use the selvage fringe. That worked great and I'm thrilled with my new jacket.

I spent a few hours fiddling with my serger, experimenting with edge finishes (blanket stitch, overcast, etc.) but nothing worked very well with this thick fabric. In the end I decided to use no edge finish, just rotary cut edges. The seams are stitched right sides together and topstitched open with a wide double needle. The construction of the jacket took less time than the serger fiddling!

I cut out but didn't use the bands at the bottom of the jacket. Sandra suggests in the pattern instructions that, if you are on the petite side, you consider leaving these off. I liked the look and length without the bands so, no bands.

Home again, again

Once again I have been gone, this time to visit our son, DIL and adorable grandbaby in Jackson Hole for the holidays. I've been frantically busy since our return from India with preparing for Christmas, ordering furnishings for our recently purchased town house in Jackson Hole, packing everything we could possibly fit into our SUV for the long drive to Wyoming. We had a very white Christmas there and I learned to drive on the snow. Our trip home was delayed a bit by the huge storm that hit the west and closed several of the highways on our route. But we made it home to California safely only to find the power had been out in our house for a week so all the food in the refrigerator/freezer has spoiled and smells. Plus the storm dropped branches on a faucet outside and it was flooding so the water had to be turned off. Maybe after a few days of dealing with all this chaos I can start sewing again!

Response to Nancy's question

Nancy, We went to Delhi, Varanasi (unbelievable place), Agra with the Taj Mahal, several villages in Rejastan, the National Park there where our karma was good as we got to see a tiger, Jaipur, Kochin and the Kerala backwaters, and finally Mombai. It was wonderful and very intense.