Shapes Crazy Eight Top

I was hesitant about this pattern design for myself as I didn't think it would be flattering with the wide neckline and wide sleeves. My friend Dorothy made it so I had an opportunity try it on. I was right.... I didn't like it on me. However, worn backwards I loved it. So here it is, my Crazy Eight top worn backwards. I love having the diagonal drape across the front. This fabric is one that has languished in my stash for many years. I really had no clue what to do with it. I started to cut the top from another fabric (jersey with a one way design) but realized that the flowers would all be sideways as the pattern pieces are cut out across the grain. At the last moment I pulled out this fabric and threw it out on the cutting table. Funny how these things happen. I had spent hours trying to find the perfect fabric and in the end pounced on something with 30 seconds thought. However it goes down, I'm happy with how this turned out.

Ruffled fabric tube skirt

A few weeks ago I had a wonderful day with a Pattern Review friend shopping for fabric in San Francisco. I call her a PR friend because I met her at the May Portland PR weekend but we had followed each others reviews for years. It was so exciting to meet Harriet and get acquainted in the real world. She had a trip planned to SF which is about 90 miles away from where I live. So we got together. I showed her my favorite fabric haunts. One of these is FabriX which is a tiny shop with a chaos of discounted fabrics. You never know what will be there. This time I fell in love with several pieces before we even got all the way inside the store as they have barrels with good stuff spilling out the doorway. This is one of these..... a knit backing with knit ruffles already applied. I've never seen anything like this. It appears the ruffles are knit in, not added. I quickly decided to make a tube skirt, wrapped the fabric around my bum to see how much to buy, and made off with one yard at $9.99. I had thought it would be a ten minute project with one seam and elastic serged on for the waist. But as I fiddled around with the fabric I realized I would like the seam sewn to the outside to create a cascade of ruffles. This took a bit more fiddling to figure out how to do this. I started and stopped each part of the seam under a ruffle to keep it flapping free. At the waist, after applying the elastic I stitched down the top part of the ruffle to keep it flat. Fun don't you think.

McCall's 5752 The Perfect Knit Dress

This very popular pattern deserves its reputation and title as "The Perfect Knit Dress", so dubbed by Pati Palmer. It lives up to the suggestion that it is flattering to everyone and easy to sew. I had hoped to finish this before attending the PR weekend so I could wear it on the Pati Palmer day. I didn't quite get it done in the hectic weeks before the event but here it is now.

My pattern was size BB which is 8 - 14. It is also available in size FF, 16- 22. I made 10 in the shoulders and neck, and 14 at the sides. This is my usual combo. I found this fit better than most without additional tweaking or FBA. I lengthened the skirt 2 inches. In the photo I have knotted the front drape but it is constructed just as the pattern shows.

There are extensive instructions on how to alter. I did change the order of construction as suggested by Barbara V in her review on Pattern Review. I see that others have done this also.

I love the ruched waist that hides body issues, especially in the back. I love the cross over that doesn't gap or reveal. I love the soft drape in the front which also helps hide body issues. Maybe I'm dillusional but it does seem to flatter. I think this is a rayon knit, perhaps blended with cotton as it is very soft and cotton-ey feeling. I purchased this 6 years ago from Fabric.com for less than $10. From that I have made this dress plus a maternity top last year for my DIL. What a bargain! I would love to have more of this type fabric.

I really like this dress. It is so comfortable to wear and goes together easily. No wonder many have already made this dress and reviewed it favorably.

Simplicity 4095 mesh top

This must be my most used pattern ever. I have made the skirt 3 times and now the top 3 times. And I rarely use a pattern more than once! This review is for the top and since I did a few things differently I decided to write a new review for Pattern Review. The pattern has a wrap over top with gathered forward shoulders and gathers where the top wraps to the side seam. There is also a 6 panel skirt and elastic waist pants and a second top pattern that does not wrap. That's a lot in one pattern.

I used a mesh which I'm guessing is probably nylon. I decided to copy some RTW mesh tops I've seen which have double layers in the bodice and no hems. Doubling the fabric is very useful with the mesh as it is on the sheer side. It was a little confusing to sew the doubled pieces together as it is very easy to loose track of which is the inside and which is the outside. I changed the order of sewing to make this work. First the neckline gets sewn and turned. So instead of binding the edge and topstitching you just stitch right sides together and turn. I did this with the serger so that I had a very narrow finished seam inside. This is nice with the sheer fabric. I then sewed the shoulders so that all seams would be hidden inside. Sew up the side seams and set in the sleeves. The sleeves are a single layer. And thats all. No hems at the bottom to stretch out.

I got this fabric out of my stash to make an alternative top to wear with the blue cotton knit Sandra Betzina skirt. However once finished I have decided that there is too much going on with the print and the busy skirt plus the color doesn't go quite as well as I originally thought. So I will wear it with jeans.

Shapes Plus One Tunic

I am excited to try out the new patterns from Linda Lee and Louise Cutting. The simple but interesting shapes are right up my alley. Just the thing to use some beautiful stash fabric. First I used a lightweight linen. As I anticipated it made me look very wide with the horizontal collar and straight across hem at tunic length. I experimented a bit and discovered I liked the affect of the diagonal hem. I trimmed it that way and stitched it up. I left the flange at the side the full length. This is a quick, easy garment.

Then, thinking how it would look very different in a knit, I plunged into my stash once again and found a nice, drapey jersey. Both wovens and knits are suggested fabric choices in linen, cotton, and rayon/viscose. You can see how very different it looks in the knit. I chose to keep it long but belted to give me some shape. This time it was even easier and quicker as I liked the look with no edge finish. A couple of short seams and it was done. 

Vogue 8251 top

Vogue calls this pattern EASY. Ha ha, I say. This is a tricky design. Perhaps view A and B are easy but view C, that I did, is NOT EASY. The back twist is inadequately described and at least one of the illustrations seems to be wrong. It didn't help that there is only one teeny, tiny drawing of the back. When my DIL saw this fabric that I was considering for a top she suggested I should make something really edgy since the fabric is sort of out there. So, after searching my pattern stash, this is the one I chose.

I cut a 14 at the sides and 12 at the neck and shoulders. I compared the flat pattern with another close fitting top I have made to check the sizing and decided to go with no alterations. The 14 is 2 inches less than my bust measurement. If I make it again I will cut size 10 at the shoulders and neck, which I usually do, because that should pull up the back more snugly. I took a major deep seam in the center back of the twist to make it all pull together.

Except for where they are almost inexplicable. I was sewing this at the recent sewing retreat with my friend Barbara, a very experienced seamstress, sewing beside me. It took both of us some time studying the instructions and drawings to figure out the front tucks and steps 31 through 40 regarding the back construction. I think step step 40 is just wrong.

I used a cotton jersey with only crosswise stretch. The pattern calls for 2 way stretch. This is important to be aware of because, if you follow the cutting layout, the pieces are laid sideways to the selvedge. This will be okay if you have 2 way stretch. If you don't and follow the layout you won't have any stretch around your body.

My fabric drove me crazy with its desire to roll to the right side. I kept trying to press it into submission but it would not cooperate. Finally, I gave up on that and decided to go for the deconstructed look, leaving the hem unfinished so it would roll like the other areas. I figure the back side color occurred on the right side of the fabric here and there so it looked deliberate.
I hope to sew this again in a more cooperative fabric that is the same on both sides. Now that I understand how to make this it should go more easily.

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.

Christine Jonson Ruffle Top and Swirl Skirt

I was thrilled to hear that Christine Jonson will be at the Sandra Betzina sewing camp next week. A surprise! So I just had to rush to make up one of her patterns to wear. I only have a few and haven't used them so I had nothing in the closet to drag out. I decided this skirt and top were the best candidates of the 3 patterns I have. I found this wonderful tie dye flocked with chenille velvet flowers in my stash. I believe I purchased it from Casual Elegance a few years ago. My photographer is out of town so I will make do with Fertilina.

It is a bit dressier than I think is appropriate for a sewing workshop but I will wear it anyway because, well just because. Hopefully it won't be too warm in SF next week as this is a heavier knit and with the double front and long sleeves it is cozy.

I cut the top in a medium and the skirt in a small following the envelope measurements. The skirt is a wee bit snug but really ok. The top is a wee bit large. I took in the underarms and sides but next time I will cut a small and use a small seam allowance.

The ruffle is unfinished on the edges as per the pattern design. It looks good except my jersey wants to roll under some. I guess it still looks fine. The only change I did was to hem with the cover stitch on my Evolve and to shorten the top and sleeves about an inch.

Vogue 8386 Dress

I've been so preoccupied with my photo situation that I forgot to write up about my latest sewing project. This is Vogue 8386, a soft summer dress sewn with a stash knit from EOS, probably what she calls buttermilk, a poly jersey. It has a self lined bodice that is lapped and gathered. The skirt has 5 panels with the center front panel gathered a little bit. I made view A but when I got done it seemed incomplete somehow. So I made a sash with the remnant (it's length was determined by the available leftover piece) and attached it as an after thought. It is not like view B which has a sash set into the side seams. To make it stay in place and not twist all the time, I stitched it to the skirt seams, gathering up the fullness of the skirt.

The bodice is very low cut on this dress. I raised to neckline a little bit when I cut it out. Then I overlapped the fronts more than suggested and stitched the overlap together for about 3 inches. If you don't do this the opening will be below your bosom.

I also eliminated the zipper. I don't get why it is suggested since this is for stretch knits only. Since the neckline is so wide open so low it is easy to get into it without the zip.