Sunburst Darts on a Top

Thanks to all for the nice comments on my last project! I enjoyed looking at your blogs too.

So I made the sunburst top with a matching gored skirt and I love both pieces.The top is today's fit V8151 and the skirt is new look 6509 and is OOP.Both were made in one day (on Wed.,my big sewing day) and were the last things for me until I finish my Christmas sewing.

Here is the top first.



I decided to use the plain knit on the body so the darts would be more prominent and the animal print for both the sleeves and the neckband. I like the effect and the only negative is that although I cut the top 1" longer than the pattern and faced the hem as well,it's still a little shorter than I like .When I made this version,



I must have added at least 3" because it's quite a bit longer.

The darts on the new one are quite a bit shorter because I thought the darts on the white one pointed too prominently to the bust. I like the short ones but the result is that the upper chest is a bit too wide as the darts didn't take in enough fabric in that area but I can live with it.




I thought you might like to see what the pattern piece looks like with the added darts.On the right is the front showing the bust dart and on the left,the bust dart is closed and opened at the neck.



In this photo, the darts are drawn in.


It was quite simple really. My bust darts were 2&1/4".( I know that's an awfully wide dart and I wouldn't ever make this top as is.Sandra Betzina made the change to this pattern at the workshop I attended but I didn't like the way it turned out.) for a total of 4.5"". When I closed them,the neckline was openend that amount.I decided I wanted five darts on each side and one in the middle. I divided the 4.5" by 11 and figured I could make each dart about 1/2" each ( I cheated a little).


The skirt has eight gores and I cut it 2" shorter than the pattern .I likt my skirts just below the knee. I skipped the zipper and inserted elastic at the waist because I got lazy. I don't particularly like elasticized waistlines but it will do in this case.

Here are the two pieces together .



And I wore the ensemble this way to church today.




A few more pics here.

I'm calling these pieces my "Blue, Navy Blue" mini wardrobe. Next up is this shirt .The fabric is a semi sheer polyester animal print that I've had in my stash for quite some time. It will have to wait until my Christmas sewing is done however.



I do hope you found time to sew this weekend and that you have a great week!

A New Favorite!

I had a great sewing week! I sprained my ankle last weekend so I had to stay off my feet for most of the last few days. Of course that didn't prevent me from sewing. I'm a slow sewer though so I only finished two pieces but I'm very happy with them.

I'll show you first and then give you a few details.



And here is my inspiration taken from the Coldwater Creek website a couple of years ago.



The only real difference is in the sleeves which I made full length rather than 3/4.

The stats,

Fabric ...polyester Ponti in blue and navy animal print.

Trim ...foldover cotton braiding by Domcord bought at Fabricville.

Interfacing... Fusi Knit. ( I only interfaced the front facing and the upper collar so as to keep the softness of the knit fabric).

Pattern....A combination of S2374 for the front and back, the sleeves from the Bacall Sweater by Lois Hinse (but I cut them wider at the bottom)and a self drafted collar. The sleeveless shell is my favorite S3604

I ended up sewing the braiding entirely by hand because the sewing machine tended to "spread " it and as I said ,I had to do a lot of sitting so it gave me something to do.

Here are a few detail shots.






Ouch! The colour in this one is awful!




I wore this set with navy wool gabardine pants (made with my favorite pants pattern, V2873) to church this morning.My DH took this pic and he said that this is a real Diana outfit.



More pics here.

Next up is this top and a gored skirt out of the coordinating plain blue.



The article on the sunburst darts is by Marci Tilton and was in the Vogue Patterns magazine in the Oct./Nov.issue,2006. The pattern is Today's Fit V8151. I made this before and love it.

Have a great week all and Happy Sewing!

Not Much to Post About

Hi all! Thank you for stopping by to see what I'm up to!

I sewed this week (of course!) but only finished my warm and cozy nightie. To see it ,look at my right hand sidebar at A Few of My Favorite Things
because it didn't warrant a whole post. But I can tell you,I love it and it is deliciously cozy and according to DH,very cute.My sisters, however, thought it was ridiculously big and too heavy. ( I have three sisters and we get together every year for an overnighter at a hotel and to begin our Christmas shopping).But enough of that.

I had the pleasure of running into Ann of Ann's Fashion Studio not once but twice over the weekend and dear fellow sewists, this lady is every bit as nice as she looks.We had great chats and I was very interested in hearing about her Uniquely You dress form.She has a link on her blog post so check it out. I'm just about ready to break it to DH that I would like to have one for Christmas.

I'm also just about ready to begin my on-going fleece Hats and Mitts project for children in need but I do want to finish a couple of pieces I'm working on using this blue animal print Ponti de Roma knit. So check back with me later in the week for more details.




Happy Halloween Everybody (We only got one Trick or Treater this year! Boo-hoo!)

Today's Fit ,Vogue 1197

I just got back from Ottawa where I spent six days with darling Riley. So I thought I'd show you a few pics of the little sweetie.



We got very attached to one another on this trip and we both cried when I left.Riley is now 11 months old and she is crawling and creeping all over the place. She is such a joy as all you grandmothers out there will empathise with..

Now on to sewing stuff.

I finished this top before I went to Ottawa.




It took me about six hours from start to finish including the cutting out which I did one layer at a time in order to match up the design.I did a fairly good job of matching as you see here.




Stats.

Pattern, V1197
Fabric, poly/wool blend very light,almost sheer sweater knit ( I have to wear a cami underneath).

Needle used, an 80/12 universal needle worked very well.

Stitch usedI used the stretch stitch for this piece but I basted the side seams first because as you know, a stretch stitch is pretty permanent.

Size used, I cut the upper back and shoulders size C and the front and side seams a size D.It's a good fit. My measurements are between the C & D.

Changes made,I combined the two views by using the cowl of A because I didn't have enough fabric after matching the front and back. I changed the finished length from 34.5" on view B to 25" because I really don't like a long tunic on me.

Problems encountered,The strange shape of the sleeves caused some difficulty.Here is a pic of the pattern piece.





You are suppose to make the shirring by sewing a length of elastic while stretching it along the bottom third or so of the sleeve. When I did this, I found the shirring to be lumpy.I decided to ditch the elastic and to sew double gathering lines, draw them up to the right length and secure the gathering with stay tape ( I used the selvage of silk organza to avoid bulk)




This worked better than the elastic but the result is still a little lumpy. Next time I'm just going to cut the sleeves straight and long and then gather both the top and under sleeve. I'm pretty sure,that will solve the bumpy gathers problem.



I also stabilized the neck with silk organza selvage before sewing on the cowl. I then ran a row of top stitching around the neckline so the seam would lie flat. This step is not in the instructions.



I'm pretty satisfied with this top although the cowl doesn't look anything like the drawing on the pattern envelope. I would like to try it again and try my idea for the shirring on the sleeves.



Other Pics here.

My next project will be a nice soft and cozy wool knit nightie/lounger out of this fabric and loosely based on the pattern shown .



Have a great week and I do hope you found time to sew this weekend!

Messoni Knit Twin Set

I hope all my Canadian Blogger friends had a wonderful Thanksgiving. We sure did here in New Brunswick.

Thank you to all who stopped by to look or left a comment about my last project. I've worn my jacket a few times already and it's going to Ottawa with me on Thursday.

I finished my cardi set. I had a few issues with this pattern, Simplicity
2474 (for the cardi) but it turned out very well and I really am happy with the end result.



Here is a pic and then I'll reveal where the problems were.



The fabric, is a Messoni sweater knit bought at C&M Textiles in Ottawa. I don't remember the fiber content but it doesn't act like a polyester . It's more like a natural fiber.

I didn't do my usual FBA because I usually don't need it in a knit garment but I should have as this knit is quite stable.

The length was fine but the front band was a lot shorter (about 3") and that required a much deeper hem than I like. I solved this by adding another 1.5" to the band.When it was sewn on I didn't like the way the two side fronts hung (sort of on the diagonal) so I ended up reshaping the center fronts so that I cut off a piece that measured 1.25" at the bottom CF amd tapered to nothing at about chest level.I had to baste the band on a couple of times before it hung straight down but now I like the results.

I should mention that when cutting out the cardi and tank that I didn't double up the fabric but cut one side at a time likr this. That's the only way really to assure that the stripes don't end up uneven at the hem.




For the sleeveless tank I used S3191 which is a really nice pattern for the cardi and the tank.I made the neckband and collar band from strips cut crosswise in the direction of the stretch and I think it adds a nice touch to this simple top.






While I was at it ,I decided to make a tube scarf after reading the article in Vogue Patterns Magazine.I only had a 12"wide strip left but it was enough and I think it will be a useful accessory.



Sorry no photo of me wearing the set . I just didn't feel like doing anything to my hair today!

Have a great week!

Next I'm working on this.

Another new Coat/Jacket...Vogue 1060 #2

If you've been following my blog from the start (since July 2008!!) you might remember this coat made from V1060 (Today's Fit by Sandra Betzina..



Well I liked this coat but was disappointed that it was just too tight. When I compared my measurements with the Today's Fit chart, I was well within the size C
range as I had been when Sandra herself measured me in Aug. 2006.And although I almost always add one inch at the side seams for insurance,this time I forgot. To be honest I've worn this one very little.

I've had this piece of really stretchy and soft two sided denim that I bought from Julie at Timmel Fabric ( I miss you Julie),since 2006 and suddenly it told me it wanted to become Vogue 1060!I don't know why it didn't tell me this before because IMO, the pattern and fabric turned out to be a perfect match.

First thing was to alter the pattern. I had no idea how to do an FBA on a dolman sleeved garment so I winged it .This is what I did.



It worked fine except that I over did it a bit and could have used less space in the bust area. Live and learn.

I decided to cut the shoulder and neck area in Size C but the chest and hip area in a size D with an extra half inch fit assurance and that worked very well.
I also had to cut the coat about 4" shorter than the pattern because I just didn't have enough fabric.

After sewing in the darts I found the the waistline was too low so I simply raised them a bit (I didn't have to unsew them for this,but just reshaped them and they ended up a little longer but that didn't affect the look of the coat.)


I omitted the front and collar facing as I wanted to show the other side of the denim.I serge finished the edges and then top stitched them into place.



This is how I dealt with the collar.



I used the rust side for the cuffs. ( I know I didn't match the stripes but I just didn't have enough fabric)



I omitted the tie belt and added machine stitched buttonholes. First I sewed oval cuts of interfaced fabric to the wrong side and top stitched them in place. Oh yes and I used rust thread in the bobbin so it would show on the right side at the pockets, hem,the center back ,top of sleeves and around the buttonholes.



I chose buttons from my stash that had large holes. They were big enough to accommodate suede lace also from my stash and this is what I came up with. I think it makes for interesting closures don't you?.





So here is the finished product.




I really like this one and have a feeling it's going to get a lot of wear for a long time to come
.


More pics here.

I hope you've found time to sew this week.Next up for me is a cardi set made out of this yummy Messoni knit bought at C&M Textiles in Ottawa last year.

Back From Paris (Already)

I knew that our time in Paris would fly and it did! It was everything we thought it would be and more.Here are a few of pics and then on to fabric related musings.

In front of the gates to Versailles



The Louvre



In front of Chanel and yes I went in, and was very courteously treated.



One of the windows at Chanel.



Another one.



I examined every piece with hungry eyes. .The workmanship was so exquisite that I almost felt discouraged for my own poor garments.No photos allowed of course.

A very nice young sales person even unlocked the door that leads to Mademoiselle Chanel`s workshops and apartment to show me the famous staircase where Coco used to sit and watch the "defile" of her creations. I was very impressed with the treatment I received there in comparison to the Ritz.


My husband in front of the Ritz before we went in and were promptly escorted out!!! (Ce n'est pas permis)

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On our last day,we went to Monmartre where there are streets of nothing but fabric stores! I was so excited I couldn't concentrate on what I wanted to buy. I also forgot to take pictures but everywhere you saw signs that said coupons. Coupons had a different meaning here . It meant cuts of fabrics left over from designer workshops.This nice gentleman kindly explained this to me and suggested a piece of cashmere coating (3 metres for 30 euros) and I also found this gorgeous coupon of rich red wool double knit, again 3 metres for 30 Euros at his shop.That's all I bought as there simply wasn't anymore room in my luggage for more and my poor Dh was the one who had to lug these pieces around.



A few pics of fabric stores.This one was called Reine and the fabrics were yummy.








The week went all too fast but we were both glad to come home as we were exhausted and we decided we should have taken our dream trip to Paris when we were younger.

I'll leave you with a lovely view of the Eiffel Tower at night taken from our boat ride on the Seine.