Jetsetter Poncho by Hot Patterns

I've long been eyeing this pattern.

I thought it might be a fun piece and a possible project for my sewing group. I bought the down loadable version of the pattern to save having to pay the  $23 shipping fee. It's not fun to tape all those pieces together, though !

Here's my version on Antoinette

and here is  what I think ...

As you can see by my photo, there's quite a difference between my resulting poncho and  the drawing on the pattern envelope and yes I was disappointed. I really loved the lines of it on that drawing. But seriously, there's no way that would ever work. The slope of the shoulder would have to be so sharply downward that you wouldn't be able to move your arms. The  drape below the arm is just what allows arm movement.

I still like this poncho and a couple of my ladies want to make one. Also, I'll probably use it as a design for my next Fashion Show which will be in May.

This gorgeous fabric is  a quite heavy quilted look  polyester knit I bought at Fabricville a couple of years ago. It was suppose to become a coat but I decided against that because of the busyness of the print. But don't you think that there are great polyesters on the market today?  I would still prefer to sew using all natural fibers as I did  all though the 80's but they are just not that  available here nowadays.

I ended up making size 12 because that seemed to be similar to my measurements but that ended up  too big. However ,when I made a 2" fold down the center front, I was satisfied . I had bought these wine buttons for the coat I had planned and so I added them and I like the effect.

The collar isn't doubled in the instructions but I did . It sits very nicely on my shoulders and away from my chin and I really like that.

This is a really warm piece and I hope to be able to wear it soon when the winter temps warm up a little .

I've been making new tops to replace the ones I'm tired of wearing so I'll show you those next week. I've also auditioned a simple but cute cardi pattern that I could make for my next Fashion Show, Butterick  6393 and I'll show you a couple of those so please come back to see.

Thanks so much for stopping by and for leaving comments . I love reading what you think.

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Vogue !385. a Jacket.

Hi everyone. I want to send out a big thank you to all who visited or left a comment after last week's post. I was very gratified that I hadn't been forgotten . I appreciated so much all the kind things you said. It made me want to continue my blog for sure !

This post will be much shorter than last week's and that's probably a good thing, Lol. I'm showing a new version of Sandra Betzina's  Vogue 1385 this week.

This one came about when I was thinking of sewing projects for my Winter Sewing Group . I've made this a couple of times before and I always enjoy wearing it and get lots of compliments so I thought my ladies would love it and they did. Here it is.

I made view A but omitted the pleats on the bottom of the sleeve. I also added a couple of inches to the sleeve length.

The fabric is a stretch  cotton ? or rayon ?  jacquard from Fabricville that is so pretty in real life. I'm not sure the camera does it justice.

The trim along the outer edge is actually the selvedge. How lucky was I that it had some stretch too and was able to lay along the curves really well. I'm just so happy with this perfect trim for my jacket !

I want to assure anyone who has been afraid of trying this pattern that the neck treatment isn't anywhere near as hard as you would think, . It just requires careful marking of the darts which make up the ruffle. The neckline  lays very nicely along the neck. Oh, I just love this pattern !!!

Although the dominant colour of the fabric is red with blues, black and grays mixed in, these silver buttons were by far the most complimentary of all the colours I tried.

This jacket is a fairly quick make . I'd estimate that it took me six hours from beginning to end. I didn't do anything special to the inside. I simply serged the seams and resisted the urge to Hong Kong finish them..

This piece looks well with black, navy and gray but I only have pics of the pairing with black. My camera ran out of juice and I couldn't make myself do another photo shoot.

I gave my Sewing Group two other choices but that's for another post so please come back next week. I'll show you Hot Patterns Jetsetter poncho for one thing
and what I hope will be a glitzy surprise.

Thank you again for supporting my blogging efforts.

I'm Back !

I really disappeared this time , I know. It's been over three months of not posting, no reading of other blogs and no sewing for myself. How did it come to this ?

You see, my sewing life has really changed in the past year. It all started when I got the idea of holding a Fashion Show featuring a Four Way Wrap, that a friend gave me the idea for, to raise money for our local Food Bank. After raising almost $800  after paying for my fabrics and after realizing how much people enjoyed my afternoon event. I decided to have a late spring show.This time I added a simple top to the array of wraps and a simple poncho type topper. This one raised almost $1200 and I was able to divide the proceeds between the Food Bank and the school breakfast programs in my community. I should say that my Sewing Group helped with all the little details of putting on  events like these including the modelling .

On Nov. 30 , we held a Christmas Fashion Show and raised almost $2000 !This time, I developed three main designs, as well as ponchos , capes,and a twist wrap  in addition to the original wrap. This show was the best one yet and it was really amazing how much the audience enjoyed themselves. My friends tell me I'm becoming famous and these fashion shows have become social events ! I think I've created a monster! There will be another one in May. In the meantime, I'm sewing a few things for myself.

I would love to show you the designs I came up with for my last Fashion Show. I hope you enjoy them.

We called this one the butterfly top. I've shown you this style before. The one below is made out of stretch burnout velvet.

Here is my own top made for Christmas . Isn't it pretty !!! My whole sewing group wants to make the exact same one. I bought a whole bolt of this fabric on sale for $3.00 a meter !!!

The next style was called the slouch top and I developed the pattern using this out of print Vogue pattern that I don't own. A lot of guess work and experimenting went into this one but I think I figured it out in the end and it sold very well. This one is a little crooked on the dress form.

This one is my own and I've worn it to death. I love this thing !

I found the inspiration for the next one in my daughter's closet. Here is what I came up with .We named this one  the pop top.

This one is reversible

The twist wrap came from one of Peggy Sagers' videos. It was fun to sew but needs a two sided fabric or at least a fabric that looks good on both sides like these.

I made a few of the short sleeved relaxed tops that I featured in my spring show and was surprised at how well they sold even in late November ,

This style is so flattering and slimming. It's a great cover up for a bathing suit too.

 I made various styles of ponchos and capes and they sold out so I don't have any to try on to show you.

Here is  the silent auction reversible cape I made . It fetched $135.00 and I was pleased  with that. Pictures aren't great though. 

I hope you enjoyed the mini fashion show I showed you. I want to do a post to show how to make the butterfly top because it's really easy to draft if you have a dolman sleeve top pattern. I can't tell you how much I enjoy wearing my tow verssions which I kept for myself...the one above and this one made last summer.

This week I made a couple of things for myself which I love. I'll show you next week so please come back. I appreciate any feedback , comments or suggestions you may have about my Fashion Show items.

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