A Little Animal!!

I saw this fun ,a little furry and a little burnout fabric one day at Fabricville and I immediately thought it would be cute as a vest to go with the blue pieces I made in November and my navy pants as well as jeans.

A picture came to mind of a drapey collar somewhat like this one courtesy of Coldwater Creek.



and a soft finish rather than the firmly interfaced tailored kind of vest we used to wear.

I started out with this pattern from the 90's ( View ).




This piece was a real challenge! It took me a lot of pondering and experimenting before creating a collar that even remotely resembles the Coldwater Creek jacket.It's not perfect but I am satisfied with the results so here it is.






And a close-up of the collar treatmant. I stitched the collar on the outside across the back of the neck and left it open from the shoulder point.



After I was finished ,I realized that this Marci Tilton jacket had the desired collar and I could have used the front pattern piece to draft my collar because this is pretty much what I came up with



I lined it in a fun print and used hook closures. I think it looks good with jeans and this turtle neck top (which is a favorite of mine made years ago. I always get compliments on this every single time I wear it for whatever reason).






I don't have a lot of strength due to an on-going allergies related respiratory problem but I'm working on my coat a little at a time.I'm enjoying the different phases of coat construction very much.I'm hoping to post on the various steps this weekend but on my other blog.

Hope you have time to sew this weekend!

Close Fitting Pants and a Split Cowl Top

I had planned on starting my coat this week but I decided that all I could handle was something easier.

I've been wanting a pair of black leggings-like pants and I found just the fabric at
Fabricville. It's a heavy Rayon/Polyester/Lycra ponti knit .

I had to morphe together two patterns to get the look I wanted and these are the ones I used.





The Today's Fit V1034 jeans fit just right through the hips and thighs and the Anne Klein pattern had a side closure ,back darts and a plain front. To get the right ankle width I measured a pair of RTW skinny jeans that I own. I decided I would make them 12" wide at the ankle.I wish I had taken photos but what I did was to taper the legs from the knee down ,taking an equal amount from both the inseam and side seams.I also made sure that the Anne Klein pants had the rightn crotch depth which they did.



It's so hard to get a decent pants photo but here is what they look like on the bed.



and with flats.




I decided that I wanted the waistband to fit above my muffin top and added an inch to the length at about the middle of the upper front and back pieces. I had planned on an invisible zipper but the fabric is so stretchy that I realized they didn't need it. I sewed the regular (not contoured) waistband and then inserted some elastic through that.This is how they look.




I wanted another warm,cozy knit sweater like top ,this time in the same dark pink as my DD's Christmas gift. I wanted something different and got the idea to do a split cowl when I was taking pictures of this dress to add to my "A Few of my Favorite Things" section on my side bar.I no longer have that Burda pattern but found this one .



When I compared the pattern to the dress, I found that the dress was simply a longer version of the top. I measured the collar and decided to make it an inch deeper and to place it so it opened at the sleeve seam instead of the shoulder seam.Like this.



I joined the collar together on the inside a couple of inches so it would stand up better. ( The bee pin is by Joan Rivers bought at The Shopping Channel).



This top is almost tunic length and is a good partner for the narrow pants.



I've worn this outfit since this afternoon and I'm thinking the pants could have been a bit narrower. I want to make them again in brown so I'l adjust the pattern for a slimmer fit next time.




This week.,I'm hoping to feel well enough to start working on my coat.If not, there's another vest in the works out of this furry burnout stuff I just bought.

I hope you all had a restful weekend and that you found time to sew!

A Much Needed Piece ( Butterick 5394 ) and Vogue 8356 For Me

I want to make a few quick pieces this week because Wednesday ( my big sewing day ), I'm going to start a long coat.( Butterick 5295 ).I'll be keeping you posted on my progress on my other blog.

I'm always cold and so I decided to take advantage of the vest's recent popularity.I bought this gorgeous brown and gold lurex sweater knit at C&M Textiles in Ottawa a while back and it was perfect for Butterick 5394.



I've been loving View B and the vest was quite easy to make.I only had a meter of fabric but it was 72" wide.



Here it is paired with a silk and gold lurex turtle neck sweater.



The only change I made was to the pockets which I dressed up by gathering the top.



The knit isn't substantial enough to hold the collar up although I interfaced it with light fusible knit. But I like the collar like this.



...or like this



This is a really comfortable ,cozy vest and I'm already loving having it in my wardrobe.Here, I'm wearing it with my Marci Tilton skirt made last winter.





A few more pics here.

I also made Vogue 8597 View B in a polyester sweater knit in a charcoal heather colour.I decided on a tunic length to wear with narrow (but not quite leggings) pants that I've just cut out.




A view of the improved cowl .



That's all I've got for now. And yes I am feeling much better.

I hope you had time to sew this weekend. Have a great week.

Catching up

Isn't Christmas hard work?

Once again my DH has asked me to promise to simplify gift giving, decorating.etc. for next year and I really,really intend to keep my promise this time. (?). But can you really teach an old dog new tricks? My problem is I don't know the limits to my strength and I push myself too much until I get sick which I am and have been since
Christmas day.

Enough of that. I hope everyone in sewing Blogland has had a peaceful and happy Christmas surrounded by your loved ones. We surely did. and a belated happy New Year to you all!

On to sewing stuff. This year, I only made two sewn gifts . For Tamara,my DD, I made this.



The top is a poly/acrylic sweater knitin the perfect colour for DD and she's promised to send me a photo. The pattern is V8597
I altered the cowl collar and it sat beautifully on the neckline unlike the one I made DD last winter.


To see how I altered the cowl collar on this top, please visit my other blog where I've posted the details.

The skirt is S1234 but is OOP.The fabric is black Ponti knit and it worked really well for this style. DD loved the whole outfit and would now like a gored dress with a cowl collar.

The second sewn gift I made was for my step grand-daughter Jessica who is 17 and lives in Ottawa. She innocently asked if I could make her a "boyfriend" blazer and how could I refuse! Armed with her measurements which i took during my October trip ,
I decided to give it a try. Here it is and she tells me it fits her perfectly. Now that was a relief!!



The pattern was McCall's 6172 by Palmer & Pletsch and I highly recommend it.
The fabric is an RPL and worked beautifully for this style..
The lining was a poly satin in shades of grey and black ( I can't think of the term for this shading process).







That's all I have in me for now.
Have a great week and Happy sewing!