A Reto-esque Spring Outfit

What's more spring/summer like than navy and white. Today I'm showing a dress/jacket set which to me announces the end of winter clothes and hello Spring. Here it is.

The fabric is a cotton/poly blend knit with no lycra so it just barely stretches. And I know that crosswise stripes are suppose to make me look wider but in real life they don't really do that. Just in the photo.

The dress is yet another version of McCall's  6355 which has become a favorite TNT pattern for me. I've stuck with View D because I feared the sleeveless version would be too bare.

 Here I'm wearing it to my oldest sister's 70th birthday party.* I'm the youngest of four sisters)

At first I was just going to make the dress with sleeves, but I thought I'd get more wear out of a sleeveless version and decided to make a little jacket to wear with it to church. For this I used McCalls 6708 View A but longer.The neckline was much higher than it shows on the pattern drawing so I had to lower the neck to add the band.


My fabric isn't very stretchy and the neckband wouldn't lay against my neck on the jacket although it worked fine for the dress. I thought I'd add little tucks a la Marci Tilton and that turned out OK, I think.

One challenge I faced for the jacket was matching the stripes to the dress. It took some manoeuvring but I managed quite well, I think.

For closures, I've decided against buttons so I don't have to worry about buttonholes . I'm going to use these white plastic snaps instead. I got lazy and will sew those on later.

 

I really enjoyed the process of making this outfit and I'm more than ready to start wearing warm weather clothes but it's so darn cold here! Ugh!!!!

 I hope you found time to sew this weekend. more later from

Hooray for Ann Rowley

I'm in Ottawa and I just got the chance to watch the final episode of the Bee so I'm so excited that Ann won.

She is such an inspiration to not only someone nearer her age ,like me, but especially to the young who are perhaps just starting to sew or to someone who hasn't jumped in with both feet yet.

I so wish we had a program like this on our side of the Atlantic!

Sorry I can't include the link to Episode 4. I'm writing this on my tablet and I can't figure  out how to do a link on it.

Butterick 5826, a Second Version

B5826! Well, I've gotten this pattern out of my system.  Disappointing, really. But It's my own fault, a matter of wrong fabric choice.

Ok, the first version, my muslin  was. pretty but the fabric had me screaming in frusrtation. A polyester satiny thing so what could I expect, right?

My second version is a poly crepe with a nice drape and would have worked in a lighter colour but see how it is very blah in this navy print. There are no  styling accents visible.

I like it better with the sleeves rolled up and fastened with white contrasting D rings.

The print and colour of my first version was more suited to this very simple pattern.

I had added a couple of inches to the length in the first version but decided to stick to the pattern length in the second one. I prefer the first version.

And that's the end of the story.

I have other things to show you but I don't have time to post them. I'm leaving for Ottawa Wednesday and have a lot to do before I get there.

More in a couple of weeks from

The Great British Sewing Bee, Episode 3

 I just finished Episode 3 of the Great British Sewing Bee ( I love it!) and of course I'm rooting for Ann Rowley but I love the other two contestants who are left too!

Oh well there can only be one winner so it might as well be Ann.

Can't wait for next week!

Haven't seen any of it yet? Just click on the links below. You're in for a treat!

 Episode 1
 
 Episode 2

Episode 3

Enjoy!

The Great British Sewing Bee

Thanks to Ann of Ann's Fashion Studio, I've just finished watching Episode 1 of the GReat British Sewing Bee and I so love it. What a trhrill to see Ann Rowley on whom I've had a sewing crush for years and Tilly of Tilly and the Buttons as contestants.

If you haven't seen it it, check it out. I promise you will love it! Here is Episode 2 as well

A success and an Almost unwearable Muslin

I hope you had a good Easter. We did and I'm glad Lent is over! But thanks to Lent, I lost 6 pounds!! It feels good!

I've been busy in the Sewing Room. First is a muslin for B5826



I decided to aim for a wearable muslin. I had this really pretty polyester charmeuse type fabric which in my mind looks like a Monet painting. It was suppose to be used for lining a future project and many times ,I wished I had left it that way.

The Paul Simon song "Slip Sliding Away " kept running through my head while agonizing through this top.
I won't elaborate, but suffice it to say that I swear to never making a slippery polyester garment of any kind in the future.

Here it is. Pretty ,huh?

The workmanship is so bad on this muslin, that I doubt my pride will let me wear it in public but it will be part of a Sunday after church outfit.


I intend to make it again in a drapey crepe type poly which I have on hand and I think will be less troublesome to work with.

More successful was this pair of skinny jeans which was a pleasure to make up.

The fabric is a cotton twill with no stretch and I know looks camouflage but I like them any way.
I was keen to jump on the printed jeans band wagon.The colours are dark brown and lighter brown with a light green.

Last fall, I made this pair out of a light grey stretch cotton denim which I loved. The calves are a bit too snug on this pair.

I combined V1234, S.Betzina's first jeans pattern , with Mc1234, ( both OOP)  drew my new pattern and although they fit quite well, I still have a glitch with the front crotch on the non stretch version.

I'd like to stress the importance  of making muslins to new sewers. Even if you've been sewing for 50 years like I have, muslins are often crucial to a good fit!!

Lastly, I made this top.

I made it specifically to wear with my much loved caramel topper (V8605)

I used SP Sweater Set, which is  one of my TNT patterns for tops. . I wanted a turtle neck but my fabric, a rayon knit, was not very stretchy. I decided to split the collar and add a zipper closure and  that worked very well. I really like it.

I plan on taking all of these pieces (except the pretty failure) to Ottawa in a couple of weeks.

Last year's poncho matches perfectly with the printed jeans.

Sorry this is so long. I just had a lot to show you. Thanks for sticking it out though ! Lol!

More pics here,  here and here.



Thanks for stopping by! I hope you 've found time to sew lately. More later from

 

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Transition Pieces, Sort Of

I had the two pieces I'm showing today cut out and didn't want them to turn into UFO's so, in spite of being anxious to to start spring sewing, I plodded on and made one more classic top and one more Yoga pant , but with a difference.

For the top , I used my already discussed M6533.

My fabric is beautiful ,I think. It is a very fine, soft and pricey sweater knit with various width stripes which posed the problem of how to match them and still use a quite deep bust dart.

 I took my time with the cutting out and so managed fairly well to match my stripes. The only place I found it impossible  was the back sleeve/upper back area. Otherwise, I'm very happy with my result.

I added a cowl collar  which isn't part of the pattern so I used this method to create it.

I think the pink and white help make this piece appropriate for spring !?.

I love new black denim jeans with emphasis on the word "new". I found a great cotton/spandex black stretch denim at Fabricville and since I absolutely love the Silhouette Yoga pant, I decided to make them with a difference. I added  back pockets and some top stitching.

 To make them more spring  friendly, I decided to use white top stitching thread on these.  I like to design my own pattern for the pockets of the  jeans I make. (look here to see what I do). I really love this one. I'm sure it's been seen before but to me it's new.

For the design, I used this decorative stitch  with top stitching (Gutterman) thread. It's called "saddle" stittch on my Janome and "sculpture" stitch on my Kenmore. For the rest of the top stitching, I used a stitch length of 4.

After finishing the pockets ,I decided they are a bit too far apart, but I wasn't about to move them,so a note for next time.

I solved some fitting issues with this pant which I will put on my other blog. It took me a whole day to get them to fit as well as they do and I'm very pleased with the fit.

I decided to change the waistband on these. the pattern piece is a long rectangle which you fold over lengthwise,sew to the pant and then requires you to insert a 2" wide elastic. I'm not in love with that method so I omitted the elastic and used side seams and a center  back seam which I shaped and it  made all the difference. As long as your fabric is stretchy enough, this should work. I want to draft a contoured waistband for next time.
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As winter returned to us this week, on the  east coast of Canada , my new outfit didn't seem out of season when I wore it to a meeting I attended.

I'm now working on a UFO before I start my spring stuff.

I hope you found time to sew this week. More later from

My Anne Klein Jacket (V1264), At Last

I spent many, many hours on my Ann Klein jacket, almost four weeks.  A reminder of what the pattern looks like.




I loved this pattern from the first time I saw it . Here is my version

The fabric is a wool/poly blend for which I payed $7.50 in total! The leather is from an Isaac  Mizrahi skirt I bought for $10.00 at Value Village. It looked brand new and I had a hard time to make myself cut into it.In the end it helped that it was too big for me.

I made a muslin first and found that I had a diagonal drag line from waist level to bust. I decided to change the bust dart to a French dart and it helped but didn't get rid of it entirely. I have a feeling I didn't need my FBA on this one .

I used my teflon foot and a regular 80/10 universal needle to sew the leather because I didn't have a leather needle and surprisingly , that gave me a perfect stitch!

I lengthened the sleeves but not quite enough to make them full length . Why? I have no idea!

I lowered the neckline by 5/8"all around because I don't like a too high neck and I really like the way the collar sits.

I added a center back seam  because I think a center back seam with top stitching makes a coat or jacket look more expensive.

Now for the lining! I love my lining! I think it really goes well with the outer fabric. It is a polyester charmeuse.I bagged the lining but hand sewed it at the sleeve band.

I used grosgrain ribbon as a trim.

The inside of the jacket is where I spent many hours hand sewing but I really enjoyed the process.
I used all the techniques that I described here and here on Diana's Sewing Lessons.

The closures are large covered hooks. The pattern calls for only one at the neckline , but I used four  stopping at the bottom of the leather piece.

I had to stitch in the ditch to join the leather piece to the facings for the hooks to work.

I decided to add a chain ,which I've had in my stash, at the bottom of the coat and it really makes it hang well. I used dental floss to sew it so now the bottom of my coat smells like mint! Lol!

Although I wasn't sure I liked this piece as I was making it because it seemed quite shapeless, I really love the finished garment. It feels expensive on, you know, like a well cut coat that hangs really well.

That's all for now. Next, I'm going to finish a UFO. Just not sure which one.

Hope you found time tom sew this weekend! More later from