Finished Project: Ottobre 6-2013 Pretty Basic Jersey shirt

I sewed my first Ottobre! It's only taken me two years into my subscription to finally make something from one of the magazines. Granted, I wasn't sewing much for Eva when she was a baby because it didn't make sense to me to invest the time in making her clothes when she was growing into a new size every three months. Plus, I felt that most of the Ottobre designs for babies were pretty basic. But, now that she's into toddler sizes, the fun begins!

Since this was my first shot at an Ottobre, I wanted to keep things pretty simple. I've had my eye on this simple raglan-sleeved top with a ruffle detail since the 6-2013 issue arrived in my mailbox last fall:

Ottobre 6-2013 "Pretty Basic Jersey top"

This top presented me with several "firsts" to check off my sewing list:

• First time sewing ruffles. (Hard to believe, I know, but I'm not a ruffly person for my own clothing. I've done flounces, but never a full-on ruffle before. They were a pain, but they turned out cute.)
• First time using the rolled hem stitch on my Babylock Evolve. This step took a while, but I think it was totally worth it and produced a really nice result. I will definitely be using that again.
• First time doing a lettuce edge on my Evolve. I opted for this finish to make the ruffles rufflier.
• And of course, first time sewing from an Ottobre magazine.

I traced the size 92cm for Eva, and when overlayed on one of her 2T t-shirts, it's nearly an exact match. The Ottobre appears to be slightly longer and slimmer fitting, which is actually a good thing given that Eva has a long, slim torso, but that was the only difference. I just finished the top this morning, though, so I haven't had a chance to try it on her yet (or get pictures of her wearing it). Based on how close it was to her t-shirt, I imagine that the fit will be fine.

As a technical writer, I was really impressed with the Ottobre instructions. The instructions were extremely precise while being concise enough to fit into half a page in the magazine. I love that they acknowledged that a home sewist might actually own and use a serger and coverstich. I found it to be a breath of fresh air that they suggested finishing the ruffles with a rolled hem finish, rather than giving me convoluted instructions to do a baby hem or suggesting an overlock over a rolled hem.

The fabric for this top/outfit was left over from the Oliver + S Playtime Tunic and leggings that I made last week.

I think that the finished top is really cute:

My ruffles take up less space on the front of the top because I goofed and folded them over, so they're doubled up. I'm not sure why I thought I needed to do this--it wasn't in the instructions, and there was nothing confusing in there, so I think it was just a brain fart. This top would have been much faster to construct had I made it the way that I was supposed to make it. Still, I like it, and I think that the ruffle detail is cute and girly without being obnoxiously so:

Ruffle detail

I made another pair of leggings from the Oliver + S Playtime tunic & leggings pattern to go with the top:

Ottobre top and Oliver + S leggings

Edit (1-April-2014): I did get a picture of Eva wearing her new top last night:

Ottobre ruffle top, modeled by Eva

Speaking of the Oliver + S outfit, I rather unsuccessfully tried to get some better pictures of Eva wearing her new outfit, but I figure you can get a better feel for how it looks on a "real girl" here:

Front view

Yes, she draped that IKEA bag around herself like that. No, I didn't let it stay around her neck for more than a minute when I saw what she'd done. The tunic is long-ish, but it looks longer from this camera angle than it really is.

Back view

Apologies for the messy, toddler-ized and dog-ized living room.

Mid-laugh

This was the best direct head-on shot that I could get. You get the idea. ;)

Ottobre Woman: Spring/Summer 2014 (2/2014)

I love the "magazine roundup" posts on other sewing blogs. I love both the pointing out of the what-were-they-thinking design or two of Burda and the hidden gems that I maybe missed in flipping through the previews.  Currently, I only subscribe to Ottobre Design (the kids' magazine) and Ottobre Woman and occasionally by single issues of other magazines, so I probably won't have too many magazine roundup posts, but I thought that it would be fun to write one for the current issue of Ottobre Woman.

The most recent issue of Ottobre Woman was published on February 25th and arrived in my mail box last week. This issue has a TON of nice casual basics and very few items in the "I'd never wear that column." Let's take a look, shall we?

The Good

I'm very intrigued by the rise of the woven t-shirt in patternland. I don't recall seeing these very often before a few months ago. (Sleeveless shells, yes, but tees with sleeves? No.) I love the idea of a simple, darted top that doesn't take much fabric and therefore can be used to show off a nice, expensive fabric. This issue of Ottobre contains its own version of a woven tee (with bust darts), and it's the first item on my to-sew list from this issue:

At first glance, this blazer/jacket might not seem all that interesting, but it's designed for sweatshirt fleece. I love a knit jacket, so this one is also one of my top picks:

An easy knit dress with interesting pockets. I need to double-check the pattern pieces in the magazine, but I wouldn't be surprised if this one works for border prints:

There's a similar (woven) version of this dress that does clearly use a border/panel print, too:

When the weather gets warmer, there's a cute maxi-dress with a princess seamed bodice:

 

The bad

This issue doesn't have many things that I flat-out wouldn't wear.  On that list, though, is this tank with the large ruffle. I can think of few garments that would likely be less flattering on a large-busted plus-sized woman. Even better, the version here is shown in a shiny silver fabric:

The Head-scratcher

From the line-drawing, this variation on the woven tee with a pleated neckline looks really cute, doesn't it?

But take a look at the garment photographed on the model:

What the heck is going on with that neckline, I thought? Then I looked closer at the neckline, and the tucks or pleats don't appear to be stitched down in the upper few inches. So of course, they'd open up, wouldn't they? In any case, I can't imagine wearing this top without feeling self-conscious about that neckline.

In other news, I finished my StyleArc Olive Top. I don't have pictures yet, but I'm happy with how it turned out. It's very wearable, comfortable, and I think I made good choices with the color blocking. I hope to photograph it in the next few days, and then I'll blog it.