A Little Black Suit and Swap is Finished

Let the bells ring out and the banners fly! I can take the black thread off my sewing machine! I'm done! Presenting my little black suit:





I used Vogue8543 for both the jacket and the skirt(which I've already posted about here)


I changed the back of the jacket. I made a mock-up and I didn't like the peplum so I just elongated the upper back pieces and I like it much better this way.




The fabric is RPL and I find it difficult to press without a shine ,so instead of pressing the seams open, I top-stitched each side of the seam with buttonhole twist.I threaded a second machine with this thread so I could use it as needed.As you know, I love to top-stitch so this was fun.




I lined the jacket with the same polyester satin as I used for the blouse.





For this blouse I used a combo of two patterns .For the body I used Burda 3087 and for the tie and sleeves, Vogue 2912 and I shortened the sleeves to elbow length.







The blouse is my last top for Swap and the jacket is an "extra"

My Salute to the trends, A Geometric Top

It's been a while since I posted because I haven't been feeling well. I haven't even felt like sewing. Now my husband would say "You know she's sick if she doesn't feel like sewing".

In any case I have finished my Swap. However I'm still working on an "exra" piece . But I can post on this top View C:



I love this geometric print. It's 100% polyester and only took two hours to make.

The only changes I made to the original design was to pleat instead of gather the neckline both front and back as well as the sleeves at the shoulder and the neckband does not tie at the back as in the pattern. I could see no advantage to that.







The sleeves are elasticized at the elbow and the hem is double needled.I finished the seams on the serger and used a .5 width and 1.5 long zigzag stitch to sew the entire garment.




I'm going to use it as part of my Swap. The black and yellow will go well with my grey and black bottoms. Also , it will add a punch of colour and transition into spring. I'm so ready for warmer weather and brighter clothes.

My Swap is Almost Complete.

One more top, a shirt , and I'll be finished but I am also working on a black jacket that,together with my black Swap skirt will be part of a little black suit.It will be another extra.

In any case here is another version of Butterick 3030 this time in a slightly stretchy embroidered polyester.



I shaped the sides a bit at the waistline and added bust darts to get a better fit.I find that I can wear this one with or without a hipslung belt which is a look that I love.Oh and I also made it about 5" shorter than the pattern.A long tunic isn't flattering on my 5'4" and not exactly slim body.

I sewed the facings to the outside of the neckline and the cuffs. I used a plain matte satin which didn't want to cooperate so to get a nice neat edge where the topstitching is ,I used organza to face the facing.



Here you see the cuff sewn to the inside of the sleeve and the organza sewn to the edge of the cuff.




The cuff is pressed to the outside of the sleeve.






After pinning, I basted the cuff in place then topstitched.





Because it's white, I can wear this one to work so it fits in very well with the Swap rules.
So Voila! I'm wearing it here with my black skirt.