Finished Project: StyleArc Olive Spliced Tee

Bolstered by my February StyleArc order, I decided to dig into my StyleArc pattern stash for my most recent project and made up the Olive Spliced Tee.

The Olive was a freebie-of-the-month pattern a few years ago, and I placed this order back when I was purchasing nearly every designed-for-color-blocking pattern that I could get my hands on. Of course, I didn't actually get around to making this one up until the color blocking trend was on its last legs. (Color blocking is finally on its last legs, isn't it? I keep telling myself that, but then I keep seeing it stick around. It seems to be rivaling peplums in the the trend-that-won't-die department.) My goal for this project was to end up with a comfortable-as-a-sweatshirt long-sleeved tee that looked nicer than a sweatshirt.

Olive is a fun variation on a t-shirt with a hi-low hem that doesn't quite reach the mullet proportions that we're currently seeing everywhere. If you see the line drawing, you'll see a small pocket, which I omitted from my version. The pocket (as designed) is actually an in-seam pocket where the top and bottom front seams meet. I left it off of my version because A) it seemed like it had a huge potential for gaping, and B) I didn't feel the need to add the bulk to my already-large bust. Sometimes I'll not omit patch pockets in the bust area, depending on the size/placement of the pocket, but this pocket is too small to even hold a smartphone, and I figured it wasn't worth the trouble.

For my fabric, I used cuts of black and turquoise Sophia knit that I've had laying around for probably about as long as I've had the pattern.  Remember when Vogue 8805 was all the rage on Pattern Review? Color blocking! Multi-cup sizing! I ordered this fabric online (along with a third cut of Sophia knit in red) with the intention that I'd use them for Vogue 8805, which everyone seemed to love initially. Then, a few curvier sewists made up the pattern, and it was rather unflattering on curvier/busty figures in that the lack of shape to the dress made it look like a sack. So, I abandoned my plans for V8805, but since I only had one-yard lengths of the purchased fabric, I knew that it would have to be used for either color blocking or contrast, being too short for anything else.

For the most part, construction and fitting went fairly smoothly. Because this pattern had been sitting around from a time when I was about 15 lbs heavier than I am now, it's one size larger than I currently purchase from StyleArc. I figured that would be a good match for the Sophia knit, which is considerably less stretchy than your typical t-shirt fabric. When I placed the Olive on top of my TNT tee, the Olive showed about an inch more ease along the side seams and the armscye placement was similar, so I felt pretty secure that I could get the fit that I was looking for without too much trouble.

I did encounter one minor fitting hiccup, in that when I tried on the Olive for the first time, a flap was trying to form above my bust where the top and bottom seams met:

You can only sort-of see it in the bathroom mirror selfie, but trust me, the flap looked weird, and it was present on both sides of the t-shirt. I fixed it by first pinning out (to test) then sewing a horizontal fisheye dart at that horizontal seam line to take up the excess fabric.

The final top is very comfortable and very wearable:

StyleArc Olive spliced tee in Sophia knit

The back view:

This is a fun little pattern that presents a decent amount of room for creativity with piecing and color blocking. When I did a search on PatternReview and in the blogosphere, I saw numerous variations with color blocking and playing with fabric grain. If you have this pattern in your stash and are interested in making it up, I can't think of any major "gotchas" to pass along. Note that it's not a particularly fitted top (as also indicated by the line drawing), so if you do prefer more shaping or more of a fitted top, you'll have some pattern alterations to do or might want to look at a different pattern.

Up next...

Since completing my Olive tee, I've gotten started on the Oliver + S playtime tunic and leggings outfit for my daughter. I've nearly completed two pairs of leggings and have one tunic cut out. I also dug out the pieces of a UFO trenchcoat to participate in the Trenchcoat Sewalong that Lynelle is hosting.

Simplicity Early Spring 2011 patterns

I keep hoping that my next blog post is going to be me glowing about my completed HotPatterns Camden coat, but with all of the pieces/seam, top-stitching, and life distractions, my progress has been very slow. As of this posting, I have the shell mostly complete except for setting in the sleeves and placing/stitching the pockets. The lining should go together quickly, though, and I'm really, really, REALLY hoping that I manage to finish the coat this weekend.

In other news, the new catalog recently became available for the Simplicity Early Spring 2011 collection. I don't usually sew very much from Big 4 patterns, but I'll hit a few of the pattern sales each year and often pick up a few from each company that really grab me. (Whether or not I actually get around to sewing them is a different story.)

I hit the Simplicity sale the other day and walked away with three patterns from the new Early Spring 2011 collection, plus one pattern that it seems like everyone has been sewing and loving, so I thought it would be good to add to my stash.



First up are Simplicity 2263 and Simplicity 2261. Both of these are wardrobe-type patterns with several options.

I picked up Simplicity 2263 primarily for the jacket with the princess shoulder seams and epaulet details. Jackets/toppers are currently a decent-sized hole in my wardrobe, and I plan to sew a few of them over the coming year. (I'm NOT going to try to tackle that 12-jackets-in-a-year sewalong, though!) With my large bust, shoulder princess seams are the easiest style for me to fit, so I'll usually pick up any pattern like this that there's any remote chance that I'll sew. This one is unlined, and I could see myself making it up in one of my stashed linens for spring.

Simplicity 2261 caught my attention for the neckline details on the v-neck knit top. Nothing earth-shattering here, but this is the type of project that I tend to gravitate towards after finishing a longer/more intense project.


The other two patterns that I picked up were Simplicity 2262 and Simplicity 2369.

Simplicity 2262 instantly got my attention for View A--the cute long-ish cardigan with the pockets and sleeve tabs. Not only will this fill a "topper" hole in my wardrobe, it looks like it will be very fast and easy to sew, as well. I suspect that this will be the first pattern that I sew out of this group.

Simplicity 2369 has been around for a while. I think that half the members of Pattern Review have made either the wrap top or dress from this pattern. Usually, when a pattern is really popular, it makes me less likely to want to sew it--I think my adolescent need to be a non-conformist kicks in or something. However, this has looked great on everyone who has made it, and I haven't bought any wrap top patterns in a few years. This pattern just seemed like a good one to add to my stash.

Hopefully, I'll actually have time to sew up one or two of these in the next few months!

The Hoodie Experiment

I fell in love with the menswear collection in the October 2008 issue of Burda World of Fashion as soon as I saw it. I showed it to David, who while not particularly into fashion, seemed excited that there was actually something in BWOF that I could make for him.

Unfortunately, the BWOF men's sizes go only up to a 42.5" chest--about the equivalent of a men's Large in RTW. David's extremely broad shoulders alone usually call for an XXL, so I knew that actually sewing one of these garments would present a bit of a challenge. I'd have to grade up at least two sizes to get a decent fit with any of these patterns.

I chose the hoodie pattern as my first experiment in pattern grading. For the most part, I followed the method recommended by Threads magazine. I traced all of the pattern pieces (all 13 of them), and held them up to David to figure out how much I'd need to add where. I then split the main body pieces along the lines shown in the article (neck, shoulder, side seam, etc) and added the appropriate amount at each slash line.

Once I felt that I was going to get a decent fit through the shoulders and back, I used the alteration method described in Off the Cuff for a prominent abdomen to get enough ease through the abdomen area.

On top of some of the fitting challenges that this project provided, it also required that I tackle welt pockets for the first time. I'm not particularly happy with how these turned out in the final hoodie, so I won't show a closeup of them, but each practice try turned out a little better, so I'm pretty confident that after a few garments with these, I'll get them looking decent.

Of course, the big thing with this hoodie that I'm proud of is the fit. It's not tight or pulling anywhere...and it's not baggy (and therefore pound adding), which is more than I can say of most things in David's closet.

The top-stitching on this took forever. Or maybe after recently finishing a pair of jeans, I'm just really burned out on top-stitching. I think it adds a really great detail, though, and really elevates this from your standard hoodie. I think I need to add a snap or two to keep the top pocket flaps from flying up, but it's not an urgent alteration.

Overall, I think the pattern grading experiment was a success. There's another sweatshirt/jacket (a non-hoodie) in the same issue that uses the same body pattern pieces, so after all of the fitting work that I did on this, you can bet that I'll be making up that view, too.

Pants!!!

I just completed my first pair of "real" (i.e. fly front) pants recently, and I could not be more excited. After going through such an ordeal to fit my upper body (lessons learned: stick with princess seams and use patterns with different cup sizes, if possible), sewing pants (even with the fly) was a piece of cake. Given that I've barely bought any pants or jeans over the past two years, I'm pretty bored with every pair that I own, so I think that I'm going to go on a pants sewing kick.

My next project (I already have these cut out) are these linen pants from the July 2008 issue of Burda World of Fashion:

I'm not sure how those pleats will work on my body, but they are stitched down to reduce bulk, and I love the wide waistband. Given that my fabric was about $3/yard, they're a pretty low-risk experiment.

If those go well, I'm contemplating to sewing my first pair of jeans, using this jeans pattern from the August 2007 issue of BWOF:

This is only, of course, if I don't get sucked into sewing other things, first. I'm loving the idea of sewing up some of the new menswear patterns from the upcoming October issue of BWOF for my fiance. Finally--some fashion-forward patterns for men!

And I also love this faux Persian lamb coat from the September issue (love the wrap dress that it's over, too):



This would be a bit of a splurge for me, fabric-wise, but I'd really love to make this up in a similar faux Persian lamb fabric. I do have a birthday coming up...so maybe this could be a birthday present to myself. ;)

Taking a step back

I'm sick of fitting. I've said it.

It took me 3.5 muslins (including one wearable muslin...that wasn't supposed to be a muslin because I loved the fabric) to get a passable version of the Emily blouse. I'm still not thrilled with this one. In the photo, it looks like it's pulling across the bust, but I think it's the way that I'm standing because I don't see the pulling when I'm standing in front of a mirror. I guess it's okay, but I'm pretty "meh" about this, especially after all of the work that went into this. Obviously, this is a lot better looking than that first muslin that I posted a picture of, but I can't say that I'm particularly excited about it.

And with that thinking in mind, I decided about a month ago that I'd stick to sewing princess seamed tops/dresses for a while. I know that I have a higher chance of success with princess seams than darts (especially with having to cut chunks out of bust darts and rotate them elsewhere and all of that other fun stuff).

So...as part of my contribution to stash reduction, I recently sewed up New Look 6457. This was the opposite of frustrating. For pretty much the first time ever, I was able to simply follow the fitting instructions in FFRP and lower the bust fullness, do an FBA, and I wound up with a really cute sundress.

I LOVE how this turned out. It fits me like a glove, and I don't think the picture does justice to how waist-defining and flattering this dress is. As soon as I tried on the finished version, I decided that I wanted to make up several more of these. It's the perfect dress to throw on after work when the condo is still friggin' warm or to wear around town on the weekend. It's ridiculously comfortable, and I don't feel like a shlump in it.

Still riding the high of NL 6457, I decided to tackle the very similar (from the picture) New Look 6805. It's got a similar princess seamed bodice and a pleated skirt...and without all of the piping, it should go even faster, and therefore be a recipe for success, right?

Wrong. Of course, this couldn't actually be easy for me. Given the similarities of the bodices, I used NL 6547 as a sloper, thinking that I could just transfer the changes. Well, I transfered the changes, but apparently not the fit. And because I'm a masochist and enjoy suffering, I didn't make a muslin of this one because I was so sure that it would fit. Ugh. Bad idea.

Really bad idea.

At least the skirt in NL 6805 turned out cute, but the bodice is wonky in a ridiculous number of ways. I futzed and futzed and couldn't get the straps to lay at the same angle (I suppose this is because these are true "straps", whereas NL 6457 was more of a tank style.) The back on this thing gaped initially, and I had to add a center back seam to fix that. The princess seams themselves needed to be taken in on this (I guess it runs large in the bust and my transferred FBA from NL 6457 was overkill), and I'm still not happy with how those look.

So, in the past two months, I've had one raging success, one meh (after way too much work and fitting work), and one I-can-wear-it-around-the-house result. I really feel like I need to take a break from fitting for a while. My confidence is shot. I recently got engaged and had hopes of sewing my own dress, but I'm really not feeling that at the moment. Granted, I have just over a year until our wedding (during which time I'm going to try to lose weight, also, but that's another story), but I really don't think I could pull off the dress that I want at this point.

I've decided that I'm going to take a step back and just concentrate on things that I know that I'll enjoy SEWING for a while...things that don't require much fitting work. Next up in the queue is a pair of Simplicity drawstring cargo shorts for my fiance. After that, I'll work on a few more cotton versions of NL 6457.

If I'm feeling up to it, after that, I've got a few versions of Simplicity 2930 that I'd like to make. I'm thinking that this will be a good one for me because it has both princess seams and separate pattern pieces for different cup sizes. I should be able to get away with using a 16-D-cup, doing a narrow shoulder alteration, and a normal-sized FBA (instead of a huge one) and should be able to get a couple of nice, flattering tops out of this. Famous last words, right?

Next up: Emily

I'm currently about 1/3 of the way through sewing up 5 pairs of boxer shorts for David, assembly line style. By the time that I'm done with these, I'll have totaled making 9 pairs of boxers in the past year. Yeah, I'm a little burnt out on boxers at this point. At least I won't have to look at my boxer shorts pattern again for another 6 months or so after this.

And, after I'm done with these, I'm back to sewing for myself again. I entered the Advanced Beginner sewing contest on PatternReview. My goal is to make my first fitted (although the pattern says "semi-fitted") blouse for myself. If I'm successful, it'll be the first time in years that I've had a shirt that buttons without being huge elsewhere.

I'm using the BurdaStyle Emily blouse pattern for this project. It's your basic darted women's blouse. I tissue fitted it over Memorial Day weekend....and it was a total PIA. I needed a huge FBA on this one (shocking, I know) AND had to lower the bust dart more than normal. I wound up combining the new Palmer/Pletsch Y-shaped FBA on this *and* still split the bust dart and rotated part of it into an armhole dart to avoid Gigantidart syndrome on this one. I've got my muslin cut out, but haven't sewn it up yet. We'll see how this looks in the muslin and if it looks like it'll be worth working through.

If it *does* turn out okay, I'd love to make up a few of these. I went on a mini-spending spree that was funded by my recent Etsy shop windfall at Fashionista Fabrics and picked up a couple of really nice stretch cotton lawns there. If the muslin shows promise, I'm planning to use these for my "real" version(s).

My new summer jacket

After having somewhat mixed feelings about how my last few garments have turned out, it was quite a relief to make something that I really love: Jacket 131 from the May 2008 issue of BWOF. It's a little overcast here today in San Diego, and unfortunately, my flashed washed out my gorgeous fabric a bit: an Italian Metallic linen from Fashionista Fabrics. The fabric has subtle little silver threads running through it, and in person, I think that the silver buttons really help the fabric pop. Granted, with the flash, I think I look a little washed out, overall, in this picture, but in person, it's a really cute jacket.

Even better, I feel like I really nailed the fit with this one. There are no weird wrinkles anywhere, and nothing is pulling or feels tight anywhere, and it isn't too large across the upper back or chest. I used the Burda Plus 44 as my starting size and didn't even have to make many adjustments (just an FBA and full bicep adjustment). This is the first time that I've made up a BWOF in a 44, and I think I'll be using this as my starting size from here on out (although in patterns that only go up to a 42, I'll probably play around with that and just add to the places where I need the extra fabric).

This was also my first successful project with princess seams. I'd played around with another pattern that had them a few months ago and through a botched FBA and failing to stay-stitch and clip the seams, I wound up with a pretty ugly wadder. I feel a lot better now that I have something princess seamed under my belt...especially since about half of the patterns in my stash have princess seams. With my full bust and generally curvy figure, I think that these are a lot more flattering on me than patterns with only a few darts (or ugh, dartless patterns).

I'll be wearing this jacket open most of the time. I think that it looks particularly cute with a brightly colored top underneath. In fact, this outfit with the green t-shirt is exactly what I'll be wearing when I head out to see the new Indiana Jones movie with my mom in a little bit. (Gotta show off the new jacket to her, too.)

Catching up...

Ahhhh...it's been a bit of a whirlwind of a month:

1. I changed jobs and no longer work at a company that expects me to be on-call 24/7 as a "trade off" for "letting" me work from home (the story behind this is that my old company relocated to the Bay Area but kept me on staff). Yay. Of course, this means that I'm back to commuting into an office again.
2. I've been getting a lot of custom orders through my Etsy shop. It's wedding season, and I knew that my styles have generally been popular for wedding party orders, but wow, I never expected things to take off like this. I'm not trying to brag, but I've been a little overwhelmed with my spike in orders.

I'm still trying to sew when I can. I'm currently working on Jacket 131 from the May 2008 issue of BWOF. I'm absolutely loving the fit that I'm getting with this. It's a little loose in the waist, but I can take it in a pinch, and that semi-empire-waist band hits me right at the thinnest part of my torso. This has been my first successful experiment with princess seams, too, so I'm also really proud of how those came out. Not to mention that the fabric that I'm using for this is gorgeous: Italian Metallic Linen from Fashionista Fabrics.

The only bad thing is that this is a really trendy/distinct style, so I'm not sure that I'll want more than one of these, but with what I've managed to sew so far, this jacket has done a ton for my fitting/sewing confidence. I think you'll be seeing a lot of princess seamed garments from me in the future.

Caity, I did actually finish the dress that I talked about in my last post. The fit is really nice (I'm loving these Burda Plus patterns for those of us who are a bit curvier), but the fabric that I chose turned out to be a bit conservative (in the quantity that it's used in the dress) for my taste. You can read my review of the dress on Pattern Review. Don't get me wrong, it's a cute dress, it just reminds me of something that I'd buy at Ann Taylor Loft...a look that I'm trying to get away from a bit, since it seems like everyone my age does most of their shopping there.

Dress decision made

I wound up going in a different direction from either of the dress possibilities that I posted a few weeks ago. I've been so ridiculously busy that I decided that it was probably safer for me to go with something that would be easier to fit/sew.

I'm now nearly finished with Dress 413 from the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Burda Plus. It's a fairly simple dress with a chiffon-type fashion fabric and a lining. Between the outer dress and the lining, the dress has twelve darts (!) total. I felt like I was sewing darts for forever on this one. The rest of the construction was pretty easy--it only has 6 different pieces, total, including the lining. Other than the darts, everything else was pretty much just sewing seams and a little bit of hemming. I managed to use my serger for just about all of the construction, other than the darts and the hem.

I'm not sure that I'm liking the fit on me. I started with the smallest size available--46--and did a moderate FBA, but I'm feeling like I should've graded down probably by about two sizes and done a much larger FBA (although that probably would've meant getting into dart rotation and such-- something that I'm not real confident with). I think I need to take it in a bit in the waist or something-- it still feels a bit "big" all over. Depending on if that works or not, I still have enough fabric left over (I think) to make a tie belt--that could help, although I don't generally like how I look with belts.

I'm also second-guessing my decision to lower the bust dart by about 1/2". I definitely needed it in the tissue fit, and I know that darts drop in fabric and accommodated for that, but in looking at the dress on me, the darts seem a tad low. I'll be playing around with pinching things to see if I can figure out a way to raise the dart up a tad. It's definitely not a full-blow wadder, but I don't know if it's something that I'll feel "pretty" enough in to wear to a friend's wedding. I'll post pics when I've got the dress completely finished.

A whole new world

Bad Disney references aside (although, keep in mind that it's not a coincidence that I have a cat named "Jasmine"), I recently had the opportunity to take a sewing workshop that for me, I can see being a life-changing experience. The workshop? Anne St. Clair, owner of Needle Nook Fabrics visited San Diego a few weeks ago to give a bra making workshop for the local ASG chapter. I hadn't been a member of the ASG, but I joined specifically for this workshop.

Wow.

This workshop was so educational and so much fun! Anne, her daughter Monica, and her colleague (who I've embarrassingly forgotten the name of) helped fit over 60 women individually for the correct bra size during a Friday lecture session where we went over common fit issues and other bra-related things. On Sunday, I attended the "hands-on" workshop where I actually constructed my custom-fitted bra. Like the rest of the 20-or-so women in my workshop, I left class on that day with the best-fitting, most comfortable bra in my lingerie drawer. Like many of the women in the class, Anne moved me up a couple of cup sizes from what I'd been wearing (I had actually been sized into my RTW bras at Nordstrom a little while back)--now I'm no longer seeing cup "spillover" or feeling like my breasts are being smashed into my chest. You can really see a difference in my "before" and after photos:

Before (my previously most comfortable, best-fitting bra):


After: (the same t-shirt... wearing my workshop bra)


Luckily, with the handbook that we used in the class and the well-drafted pattern, constructing a bra isn't *that* difficult, although it probably helps to be very detail-oriented. I've already made two more bras at home (it went much faster the second time), and now I own my first "pretty" bra in years.

I couldn't be happier with my results from this workshop. I purchased a few more kits from Anne at the workshop (the black and toile bras were made from her kits), and still have two more kits to make up (these will result in black lacy bras--woo-hoo!). As someone who hasn't been able to shop at Victoria's Secret in over 10 years and who is limited to boring beige bras in department stores (if I can even find any that come anywhere close to fitting), being able to actually sew my own bras really opens up a ton of possibilities for me. And that makes me happy.

What to sew next?

I'm a little torn as far as what I want my next "big" sewing project to be. I did promise David that I'd make a pair of pajamas for him, and I do want to sew a couple of bras using the pattern/manual that I obtained in a recent bra-making workshop (more on that in another post). However, in early April, one of my best friends from college is getting married, and I'd love to sew up a new dress for her wedding.

The dress that I'm leaning towards at the moment is the Wong Singh Jones wrap dress from HotPatterns (at right). I'm fairly new to HotPatterns, but I've had fairly good luck with them so far. Their drafting seems to be pretty friendly to the curvy figure--I'm not running into the large back/ shoulders/ upper chest-but-made-for-only-a-B-cup issues that I've had with other patterns. And given that this is made for a knit, I could probably get away with a fairly small full bust adjustment with this dress or even just go up a size and sew it straight out of the envelope. I've had fairly good luck with wrap styles that I've sewn, so I think that this would be a fairly safe choice for me.

I doubt that I'd have time, but I'd really love to be able to sew two dresses and wear whichever one turns out the best and/or is the most flattering on me. The other dress pattern that I've been eyeing is a dress from the Spring/Summer 2008 issue of Burda Plus magazine. I really loved several of the dresses in this issue, but this one with the slightly empire waist and princess seams really caught my eye.

I love that the contrast band on this hits right at what is the thinnest part of my torso. I think that this could be really flattering on me.

On the other hand, my one experiment with a princess seam FBA didn't turn out so well. I did get a bit of feedback from my sewing teacher, so I think I know what went wrong there (and how to not make the same mistake again). This dress would be a bit more difficult for me to sew, but with my fabric choice for this (a stretch, stylized black-and-white floral sateen), I think it could potentially look pretty decent on me. I love that this dress is already drafted for a "petite" also. (Granted, I'll probably have to lengthen the bodice as part of the FBA, but in theory, I like the idea of the pattern already being petite.

So, this isn't as "safe" of a choice as the wrap dress, but I think the payoff (at least in how I feel about how I look at the wedding) could be greater. However, if I screw up, I'm sort of screwed. You'd think that it wouldn't be all that big of a deal to try to sew two not-overly-complex dresses in a little over one month's time, but given the everything-is-an-emergency mentality at my company, I can never count on having much time in the evenings to sew. And, as I mentioned before, I figure that the next week or so of sewing time will be taken up working on David's pajamas and trying to get another bra or two that fits decently into my lingerie drawer.

The line drawing gives you a little better idea of what the dress could look like. I love the flare out of the skirt, and when they *do* fit me, princess seams are usually flattering on me. On the other hand, this dress has double princess seams (or whatever that additional seam is called). With my fitting skills, I'd be tempted to avoid doing an FBA on this (too many moving parts with all those seams) and just going by my full bust when I pick my dress size...and hope that I don't have a ton of extra fabric or gaping issues in my upper chest area.

I already have fabric bought for both dresses. I guess I'll have to see how I feel and how much of an adventure I'm looking for when it comes time to trace a pattern for one of these.

Simplicity 3732, Take 2

I really loved the way my green drawstring peasant blouse turned out (described a couple of posts below). My one complaint was that it felt like it took me much longer to complete than I think it should have. (Of course, several of those hours of work involved me wrestling with the drawstring before giving up on the method in the instructions and deciding to just top-stitch the thing.) Coupled with the fact that I liked my first version of the top and that I've been wanting a pretty cotton eyelet top all summer (although most of the ones in stores right now seem to have tiny, non-bra-friendly straps), I knew what I wanted to do for my latest sewing project.

Again, I used Simplicity Pattern 3732:


This time, I made View B (with the flutter sleeves) instead of View A. I'm just as happy with the result from this attempt as I was with the first. The sewing went much quicker this time, too--if I'd started earlier in the day, I could have completed this top in a single afternoon (including laying out the pattern and cutting). Here's the final result for View B:


The only alteration that I made from the pattern instructions (other than the drawstring) was that I laid out the pattern so that the scalloped edge of the eyelet design formed the hem. I think it looks pretty and it saved me from having to hem the bottom of the top.

Another Summer top: Simplicty 4123

When I first decided that I was going to take a sewing class, I hit the local Yardage Town and picked up a couple of easy-looking Simplicity patterns. (My mom had told me that Simplicity was probably the easiest pattern line to start out with.) I even made sure that the patterns that I picked up were part of their "It's So Easy" line.

The very first pattern that caught my eye was Simplicity 4123, a basic summer top that could either be made as a tank top or as a top with small flutter sleeves:


On the same trip to Yardage Town, I picked up some very pretty white cotton fabric with navy blue flowers. I decided that that fabric and this top would be a perfect match. Deciding that I wanted the yoke of the top to contrast, I also picked up some navy blue cotton fabric that matched the blue flowers perfectly.

Fast forward about a month or so, and I felt like I'd learned enough in my sewing class to tackle making this top. Based on my own measurements and the "finished garment" measurements listed on the back of the pattern, I decided that I would make the top in a size 14. (I made my previous top--the green peasant blouse--in a size 16, but this pattern looked like it ran significantly larger).

Wow. I was wrong. Although I was anal about cutting out my fabric and my seam allowance, my finished garment wound up 3 inches smaller across than predicted by the pattern. I let the seam out a little bit, but there wasn't enough fabric to get quite the fit that I was going for. Additionally, the top wound up too short for my comfort level. I fixed this by adding a band of the leftover navy blue cotton to the bottom. (David actually suggested this, so I need to give him credit for the idea.) I think that the top looks adorable on a hanger, but it's not the most flattering style for my body type. I'll still wear it, but I'll chalk this one up to being a learning experience.

Here's the finished top:

My first completed sewing project

David had to work much of this past weekend, so I spent the bulk of Saturday and Sunday afternoons sewing. I'm working on a pair of drawstring pajama pants for my sewing class, but in the interest of practicing/improving, I'm working on a couple of additional projects, too. On Sunday afternoon, I completed my first ever sewing project: a drawstring peasant blouse.


Here's another angle:


It took me much longer than it probably should have, but I'm really happy with the end result. The fabric cost me less than $5 on sale at JoAnn's, and the pattern (Simplicity It's So Easy 3732) cost me $1.50 on sale at Yardage Town. Figure in the cost of the thread, binding (for the drawstring casing), and elastic, and this top easily cost me less than $10.

I'm planning to make another one in white cotton eyelet. :)

Learning to sew

One way that I'm going to attempt deal with the issue of most clothes not fitting me correctly off-the-rack is that I've signed up for an adult ed sewing class through a local community college:

http://www.sdce.edu/fam/sew.php

I realize that it will likely take some time and practice before I can wear anything that I make in public, but I love the idea of being able to make something to fit my weird proportions. Even better if I can make the exact pattern that I want in the exact style that I want!

So far, we've had two classes, and we've learned about basic sewing tools, how to read a pattern, and how to lay out a pattern over fabric. We'll be using our sewing machines for the first time in the next class. Our "class project" will be to make a pair of drawstring pajama pants.

I have to admit that I got so excited about sewing that when I saw that Yardage Town (a local fabric shop) had easy Simplicity patterns on sale for $1.50 each, I picked up four of them (one for the class, three for me):

• I'm making these pants for the class: http://simplicity.com/dv1_v4.cfm?design=4023
• I plan to attempt this babydoll top next: http://simplicity.com/dv1_v4.cfm?design=4123
• This top looks cute and easy: http://simplicity.com/dv1_v4.cfm?design=3732
• And someday, I hope to make this dress: http://simplicity.com/dv1_v4.cfm?design=4265

I'll be posting more about my sewing adventures as they happen...

Summer of the dress

They're everywhere this summer: dresses. In every women's clothing store, Old Navy ads, and pretty much every fashion article you see, the big "must have" right now is a pretty, feminine summer dress.

I love dresses, but most dresses don't love me. After having lost nearly 75lbs over the past year and a half, I want to be able to wear the new summer dresses. However, I'm short (5'2"), and have a very large chest, and trying to find a dress that fits me properly and is flattering is nearly impossible. Everything in Ann Taylor Loft currently has tiny little straps and really wouldn't look good on anyone with a larger bust than a B-cup. I'm SOL there right now.

A dress needs the following characteristics to make a dress wearable or preferably flattering for me:

• Straps. Real straps--not little tie things. I need straps that I can wear a real bra under.
• Can't be too low cut. Not everyone needs a free show, and I spill out of a lot of the current wrap-style and kimono dresses. Granted I could layer with a tank top under there, and some dresses are intended for this, but it's still frustrating.
• Fitted waist or some sort of tie belt. Because my chest is the biggest part of me, most of the time, for me to get clothes that fit in the chest, they're way too big everywhere else. Yes, I could get things tailored, but it would be nice to occasionally find something that fits without needing it.
  

The frustrating thing is that now that I work from home most of the time, the freezing office air conditioning is no longer an issue for me, and I'd love to be living in sundresses this summer.

Over the next few weeks, I'll be making a series of posts highlighting some of my clothing sources that I've found that work for us gals with large chests, but who aren't necessarily large anywhere else. Enjoy!