Summertime!

Sewing in the summer always seems more fun somehow.  Or maybe I'm just using it as an excuse to escape the heat and stay in the Air Conditioned house!

I've actually been sewing quite a bit and will share more soon.  Today I'm just sharing my Sis Boom Jamie/Carolina Mae mashed up muslin for the the dress I'm going to make for dd's baptism a week from Sunday!

I love how it turned out.  I used an embroidered white cotton from JoAnns.

I struggled a bit with it the top.  The Jamie front is an XL with regular bust for the top, the waistband is 1X and the skirt is self-drafted, very poorly though.  The Carolina Mae back is size 16 with added length and self-drafted skirt.  I also modified the back to have the zipper on the side as I like to dress myself most days.  All those sizes are per my measurements.  I did find the Carolina Mae to be too big.  I've printed the 14 for the next round.

I started with a longer skirt and just kept pinning it up until I got the length I wanted, which turned out to be 8.5 inches, plus 1 inch hem and .25 for SA in the front, 7 inches + 1.25 for the center back.

Oy!  The zipper makes me so mad!  It looks fine but I had to pull the original invisible zipper that looked better out after breaking the pull twice!  It was one of those make your own so when the first pull broke I was able to take a second pull and jimmy it onto the zipper.  Unfortunately it also broke.  Urrrrrrr... so I just pulled the zipper off and used a standard zipper.  Its not too bad since its under my arm.  

As you can see in the picture above, the skirt was a little too tight.  So to make the top wearable for now I just added little triangles to both skirt sides.  It worked and will have to do until I decide if I want to make another top.

See how nice and straight that hem is front to back.  I was pretty happy with that.  But you know, the back skirt is a good 3+ inches shorter than the front.  Guess that's what a belly and a sway back do for you.

I've already worn it with my new Iris Shorts and love it.   Definitely see a lot of wear out of this.  Now to buckle down and make the dress.  Wish me luck.

Copy Cat Patricia

So I was getting out the Patricia pattern the other day, and checked out all the changes I made for the January Challenge.  Can't wait to sew up the new one.   It should be perfect.

Of course that made me realize I'd never blogged the final week- the Copy Cat version.  Yes, I know its June but hey, its my blog, so whatever I want!

The final week of Just for Me January was to Knock it Off.  I chose this gorgeous dress from JCrew.

you can see the rest of the collection here- J.Crew Spring and Summer 2015

Anyway, my inspiration was wonderfully beaded and decorated but I wanted to use the inspiration for a swim coverup.  Something much simpler.  So I chose a floral voile fabric I found in the Red Tag Section of JoAnns.

The inspiration had a cut on sleeve or dropped shoulder thing going on, I decided to do the cut on style for simplicity.  I took the shoulder seams and drew them out.  

Easy peasy.  Then I cut the floral pieces out and skinny-ed up the facing to match the inspiration.  

I used the pockets from the nightgown Patricia.  I topped the with some white fabric and ta-da, my Knock-it-Off!  

While I do love it, its a little more mumu than chic dress.  Oh well.  I am planning to add elastic to the back to shape it a little bit.  Hopefully that looks better otherwise it will end up as another comfy nightgown.  

Comfy & Cozy Patricia

This week's Patricia is my favorite so far.  It really is Comfy & Cozy!  I made a nightie with easy access for nursing and pockets.

I adjusted the pattern back a little more to narrow it.  No picture for some reason.  I basically cut the pattern across the back about 3/4 of an inch below the armscyle, then took 1/4 inch off the fold and redrew the side to match.

I then added a shirt tail hem on both front and back.

For the pockets I just folded the side pieces at an angle about 12 inches from the bottom.  I made a fancy top for the pockets but didn't photograph it.  I'll add the picture to my next post since I used the same style pockets for the Knock off.

My little one still nurses before bed and in the morning, so I needed the nightie to have access.  I just did the same as I'd done with my original Patricia- lengthened the front opening.  This time I used elastic for the button closures instead of ties.  Works really well.

I added the elastic as I was sewing the facing so the ends are between the facing and front fabric.  You can see the elastic under the facing in the pic with my hand.  I sewed the front facing opening along that side only, then cut it apart and sewed up the other side.  

I did 3/4 sleeves only because that was all I had left of that fabric- thats also why I color blocked instead of made it fully patterned.  I put knit on the cuffs of the sleeves to make them extra comfy.

Adding a modeled shot- sorry for the wrinkles I've been wearing it to bed.  

And the back- definitely a better fit than the first.  

Date Night Patricia

Oy!  This one was a disaster.  I still haven't actually finished it, although I think the final version is okay.

I had this vision of this cute knit tunic with a light flowy gathered back.  I'd seen woven versions of what I wanted so I figured I'd try it.  Well we all have to have some fails, right?

I started by going down 2 sizes- this was arbitrary as I just chose 2 sizes since I already had the Large printed, cut and taped.  I narrowed the back a little as I wanted it more t-shirt fitting- here's where things went wrong.  I should have pulled out a t-shirt pattern before cutting the fabric as I only had enough to cut once.

I basted everything, except the sleeves together to see how it fit.  Well the back was too narrow.

At this point, I pulled out the t-shirt pattern and realized it was just not going to work.  I decided to try something different to add width-

I didn't like how this looked on.  I went ahead and added a rectangular strip to the back in order to widen in and sewed up the top with the original straight across gathering.  I then tried it on and it was awful!  I'll try to work up the courage to take a picture to share later.  

I still wanted to submit an entry so on to take 2.  

Again I went with a knit, this time a slinky sweater knit.  That really would not be my first choice for this pattern but it actually fits fairly well.  I fixed the back before cutting this one.  

So, I looked at the tunic and decided I'd made a boring black tunic sweater.  I didn't necessary want to jazz it up with color as I have no problem with black but I wanted something to make it more "date night."  

I decided to make the collar in suede and reshape it just a little bit.  

Turns out though my machine just did not like sewing this so it was giving me tons of fits.  I used a leather needle and had it on the leather setting but still it was just not happening.  I did manage to get it on the tunic but now need to go back and hand stitch it down.  

I used my serger to add sleeve cuffs.

I'm not in love but if I ever finish it, I'm sure it will get worn.  I need to stitch down the collar and do the hem.  Sometimes sewing is not all that fun.  

Chic & Casual Patricia

So this is why I don't blog!  I'm just now getting around to putting up my entry for week 1.  

I started by taking new measurements.  I'm terrible about taking new measurements when I know they've increased.  Still I wanted to do this right, so new measurements and a new print out of the pattern.  I did some stash diving and found a print that had most of the colors from this spring's Panetone colors.  Perfect!  I, however,  didn't have enough for the full tunic so I decided to make the back in a matching color and to lower the back to do a hi-low hem.  Fun.

I started with the same sleeve adjustment to this one as I did to the one in the spring.  Basically I brought down the sleeve cap and re-drew the curve so I could sew the sleeve in without a pleat.

I also narrowed the sleeve as it went down since the straight sleeve still bells out on me.

Then I tackled the neckline, very willy-nilly.  I added an inch to the inside neckline of the front and the back.  I did smooth it out after.  

I also wanted to narrow the shoulders as I knew it would be to wide across.  I decided to do a dart on the back shoulder similar to an Ottobre pattern I'd just been sewing over the holidays.  I liked the way the back of that shirt sat on me.  

I redrew the entire back with the hi-low hem.  I used the Marco pattern for the curve.  

I also took in the front shoulder along the princess seam to match the new back shoulder.  No picture, it was a little trial and error as I had to keep taking it in to the bust point until it was smooth.  

These pictures are the basted version, I wanted to make sure everything fit nicely before I sewed it up.  I muslined the sleeve because I have larger biceps and needed to make sure the sleeve was going to fit before I cut the last of the fabric I had.  

I think it turned out almost perfect.  I love the look.  I am modeling with a turtleneck because its still too cold around here to wear it without but I like it better without.  I'm waiting until it warms up a little to wear it.  

Its still a little wider across the back than I'd like, so I'll correct that in the next version.  I also think it can come in under the bust on the princess seams as it stands out a little there.  Of course that might be the weight of this particular fabric.  Overall I think it worked out great.  

Just for Me January

Okay take 2- I'd written a nice post to start off this month and its disappeared!  Uhm... wonder if 5 years between posts is just too long.

Anyway, I have decided to document my month's endeavors for the Scientific Seamstress' January Challenge.

Just for Me January

To make this easy for me and, hopefully, satisfying I decided also to work on just one pattern for all four weeks.  I'm using the Patricia.

The Patricia was my first Sis Boom pattern.  Its one I've always wanted to LOVE but only just like.  The style is great and the fit is forgiving but somehow it never turned out how I wanted.  I did blog about one here- My first Patricia Tunic.  I loved the fabric, the style and even the fit at first.  Something about it bugged me so I really only wore it a handful of times before giving it away.

I did make a more recent version last Spring.  Again I loved the idea of the tunic and do wear it quite a bit.  However I find myself fussing with it constantly.  Tugging it here, tugging it there, all leads me to conclude the fit just isn't working.  I do think the style looks good on me so I'm going to turn this pattern into a TNT!

Some of the things I've decided to work on are- the boat neck, its not working for me, I find myself tugging it over all day long.  The other is the front opening, the way it swings open like that.  In addition its just too high when closed, which could be why its constantly opening  And the sleeves, which I'd actually fixed for the Spring version.  I don't really like the pleating on the top of the sleeve, makes my already broad shoulders broader.  

Okay, so if there are so many things, why this pattern?  Because I love it!  The pieces come together so nicely, the style is easy-breezy, the directions and options are amazing, plus I already own it.  

Stay tuned for the journey.