Mini Wardrobe Finished

I'm a little under the weather, and totally forgot to post my composite for the mini wardrobe I have been working on.  Now I really just have to pick a jacket and skirt and I'll be almost finished with the 10 essential pieces wardrobe.

Obsessed again..... Fabric APB

This is an All Points Bulletin....or BOLO  Be On the Look Out!!

While I was gone, I saw this fabric.... sigh, I've never been drawn to butterfly prints before but I MUST HAVE THIS. 



It's a silk twill, similar to what is used in scarves, it's lightweight, opaque, and the fabric floats around you.  From what I understand it's an Italian import.... This dress, is  not the one I saw but the first image that used the print online.  It's from a designer whose name is Lyn Devon, I had never heard of her before I laid my eyes on this print, but her collections are featured on Style.com.  There is another dress that I also find intriguing.... hmmm maybe when I finish making really practical dresses, I'll jump into the "pretty" projects.



Oh yes, and I forgot this one that makes me think of a matador costume for some reason...

I have a problem... I can't stop sewing...

or thinking about sewing, or fabric, or patterns....I need to clean the house again, and I have to do my taxes, and all I can think about is that pattern I won off ebay that's sitting on the dining room table.  So as I run around the house emptying the garbage cans, and cleaning bathrooms, I make a point of passing it. I need to decide which "bundle fabric" I can use to test it.  It's a YSL Cargo pant, and if it looks good on me, it will make some great summer pants.... and if it doesn't I can "borrow" the pocket pattern for a skirt or another pair of pants.  I really like the scale, and shape of the pocket.... and then there are the top patterns that are included that will be nice summer shirts...



Hopefully the house will be clean soon and I can dive right in tonight :)

Vogue 1159 Donna Karan puzzle dress

If you are looking for a pattern that will make you doubt that you are good at puzzles this is it.  There is not a lot of sewing but the construction is tricky.  I had to make a few adjustments, since the pattern calls for 2 way stretch, and I used a lightweight rayon spandex with minimal lengthwise stretch.

Made from a lightweight Rayon Spandex.

It is very sexy, and also very comfortable, lined from the waist down, but is so sheer I still need spanx to avoid that naked look, that comes from flash bulbs and thin fabric.

Happy St Patrick's day!!

May joy and peace surround you,


Contentment latch your door,

And happiness be with you now

And bless you evermore.
 

Vogue 1180 - Trench coat.... a Flat Fell practice garment

This project is relatively simple, the challenge was finding enough space to cut it out.  It is 1 1/2 sofas long and 60" wide.  I had wanted to practice Hong Kong seams until I realized that there are few seams here and they are all flat felled.... and it would leave me with the challenge of finishing off the edges, which are all just turned under and top stitched.  Have you ever sewn while holding your breath?  That's what this project was like, being careful to keep the edgestitching from falling over the edge, and the stitch lines parallel to each other.  My machine only has space for a 1/8" double needle and mine was closer to  3/8".



If you are working with raincoat fabric, when you are finished cutting out the garment, take a few scraps and try to iron them.  Even practice the seam finishes on the scraps and iron them.  You may get some permanent shine on the fabric.  I used a pressing cloth and tried not to press down too hard.  This fabric is like a tafetta, it's Technical Nylon faille that I purchased from FabricMartfabrics.com last year.  It is perfect for this project, it is very stiff, so you can mold the collar in any position and it stays for a bit.

 Challenges are as follows...
- the instructions are easy to follow except for the upper collar.  It's not easy to get the collar points at the same angle and reduce the bulk at the corner, especially when the collar is only 1 piece and not underlined in any way, so you have to know how to do a mitre corner to ensure a clean collar point.... and the fabric unravels easily.

You might want to practice the corners on the scrap fabric as well.  I did two collars, and contemplated cutting the same piece out of silk organza to treat it like any other typical collar but in the end decided, to finish it as the pattern recommends. Since silk organza really isn't waterproof.

If you do decide to finish the collar with another collar piece, you need to be aware of the seam at the neck which is turned and topstitched so doubling up the bulk at the neck seam might leave it a little bulkier than you might find acceptable.

- long stretches of edge stitch and top stitch
- working with rainwear
- Using a sharp or Microtex needle and topstitching thread

Am really happy with the results!!
It looks as good on the inside as the outside....

Topstitching a trench....

This is just a tease shot of the trench coat topstitching, it took some doing but with a Microtex needle and Gutterman buttonhole thread, I'm pretty please with the result I'm getting...



This pattern is only 7 pieces, The body is only 2 pieces, 2 piece sleeves and a collar.





I have finished only the cutting and marking and the first seam.  You'll notice even though the fabric is stiff, it benefits from being cut on the bias.

Simplicity 2339 Finished

TaDa!!  I like this shirt, it's cute, and cool, and of course since I started cutting to finish, the temperatures have dropped outside.  No project is complete without some mischief.... and for this shirt...

It was the buttonholer that left me a little reminder that it's been working too hard and needs to be cleaned.  It left me a little smudgy present, so this puppy will be cleaned today.

The summer trench is still sitting on my cutting table, uncut of course, I'm not excited about cutting it out, with my favorite scissors out of commission.  So I need to make a decision on what project to do next, especially since St. Patrick's Day is this week, and I have some lovely silk with pale green shamrocks embroidered on it.  It had been the dress I wore to my brother's wedding, and I have never been able to part with it, I just love it!!

I don't have a lot of this fabric, so it will no doubt be a pieced project.  Or I could just make another shirt!!

Simplicity 2339 White Shirt and button selection

 





This shirt told me it wants silver colored buttons.  So I went through the button stash to look for silver buttons and here's what I found...



ok, not silver but still a possibility....






I think the smaller square buttons are going to be the ones... it picks up the square weave design in the fabric better than any of the others.

You can see that little weave in this pic.


This was a good pattern, one of the few that did not have excess sleeve cap ease.  This will be a nice cool summer shirt, not fashion forward but very "neat".  I do have to say this for it, there is ease in the body, and the way it is constructed, there is a lot of shaping, waist darts (front & back), bust dart, yoke seams.  This is one of the few shirts in my wardrobe that does not strain over the bust.  There is ease where it is needed.
It's also one of the "Amazing Fit" series from Simplicity, so it gives you pattern pieces for different cup sizes.

What it really needs now is a good pressing, and finishing.

Vogue 1180 - LBBD - Little Black Bias Dress

This is my first LBD, it's a little shorter than I would have liked, but I really like it with the scarf.  Since the dress is cut on the bias this was one project that was cut on the floor.  It's a mid weight linen, lined with black acetate, it has lingerie straps, and the neckline & armhole was understitched with a pick stitch.





If you wear it without the lingerie stays it tends to ride forward, and creates a pleat width wise in the small of the back and cups the bottom.


With the lingerie stays connected...



 I love the way that the neckline and armhole cover everything beneath, and it is a flattering neckline.  It also hangs well, but for the next variation, I will be adding some length and possibly removing some width from the back or reshaping the side seams a bit.  The other thing I liked is that the only notions required were two snaps.  It has no interfacing, just fabric, lining, thread and two snaps.

It's a good basic bias project.... but before I make the next one, I'll be referencing this Threads Article for treating the side seams... I think there is room for improvement.

Vogue 1034 - finished finally

These jeans are my day to evening version.  They have NO pockets, because I didn't want any bulk anywhere.  They are nice and long, and I can wear them with all those super high heels in my shoe wardrobe.
Really, I have two RTW jeans that I wear with flats or sneakers, I was missing this version, a nice dark wash high heel dressy version.  Without all of the other details it also allowed me to concentrate on fit.





Here's a WIP shot of the inside yoke.  Even though there are no pockets, I popped in one layer of the pocket lining to control the stretch of the front fabric, giving it a better line.  You can also see all of the seam allowance markings before I settled on the final width.



I had fun with these, with the calico inside (my little secret), and the Dritz jean button.

New Storyboard Mini Wardrobe for Spring

I haven't completely given up on the LMB  trench coat, but it's going to the backburner.  I have some silk faille that would look better for that pattern and I'm in a Navy frame of mind.  So here's the next plan, and an attempt at coordinating pieces to lend a little more versatility to my wardrobe.  It also doesn't hurt that all of the pieces are also needed for my 10 Essential pieces.

Trench coat... moving on to LBD.

The LMB trench is not looking very good right now.... there's quite a bit of ease in the sleeve caps, I'll be honest with you, if it were a lightweight fabric or a wool I wouldn't hesitate to go forward with this pattern, but the fabric for this project is thick and heavy and the cap won't "shrink" well, I don't want gathers and I don't want to fuss with the sleeve cap.   I think I should look for a pattern that doesn't require sleeve easing... so back to the patterns I go....

Trench Muslin




NEXT!!
The Basic Black dress :)  or the White Shirt  or the skirt..... sigh, decisions decisions...

Vogue 1034 - we're getting closer.

Wow, working with some of these stretch fabrics is almost like working with knits.  Here's where I am with the jeans.  They have a 2" seam allowance from waist to knee.  I still need to hem them and finish the yoke, and I need to tweak the waist portion a bit, because the instructions call for stay tape at the waist edge and they are a little tight just at the edge, but the rest of the pants are fine.  I had decided to forgo all of the pockets because I wanted them to be without any bulk, and just plain this time around.  As a test garment they are pretty darn good.  Most of the fitting issues have resolved themselves with the seam allowance and the various adjustments made to the pattern, which included, swayback adjustment, flat bottom and reshaping the sideseams.

I've decided not to hem them yet, I'll throw them in the wash a few times to make sure all of the shrinkage is out.

Maybe I need to concentrate on some NVPL panties.  Tomorrow I cut out the trench.... hopefully.

There is another way to make these same pants, that I think I will try next.  It is not as hyper-fitted as mine are and have a the nice feature of creases front and back on the leg that helps with slimming (and I'm all for it).

From Mary Beth at "The Stitchery" blog  Vogue 1034.