For the upcoming holidays I need some new clothes, so I have been working on some blouses to wear and this is one I just finished. 

Butterick B0468/B5300

 Of course, if you pull this pattern it doesn’t look like this.  I added the collar and the sleeve ruffles.  The fabric is from Michael Levine’s Loft in LA.  I think it was $2 for the whole bit I bought.  In order to make the ruffles, I used the directions in Roberta Carr’s book, Couture: The Art of Sewing (ISBN 0-935278-28-1).  Since the ruffles are all cut on the bias it is very difficult to make a rolled hem, so I improvised and used what we used to call a ‘baby hem’.  In order to get the fabric ’stiff’ enough for me to sew and press I ‘painted’ Pefect Sew’ on the edges and let it dry.

Perfect Sew

I then stitched around the circumference of the ruffle and then pressed and sewed again.  Probably not the best instructions; however, the ‘baby hem’ is demonstrated in lots of sewing books.

And, thus I have a new blouse.  The buttons are from my stash.  Once completed I just hand washed the Perfect Sew from the blouse.  The fabric was difficult to work with, but I like how the blouse turned out and I am sure I will wear it many, many times.

Thanks for visiting!

My niece spent the weekend and besides the two hours of Trick O’ Treating we did, we also did some sewing!

She made two pairs of leggings.  This time, I only made the casing for the elastic- she did everything else.  Of course, in the end, she really doesn’t like to sew. She would rather go shopping for clothes than make them. She just humors me about sewing.  She would like to ‘play’ with the sewing machine sort of like ’surfing’ on the internet. 

So now back to my own projects.  I have quite a stack of unfinished projects waiting and waiting for me!

I have finally finished the Trio pattern.  I purchased this and some of the fabric at the ASG Conference in New Mexico.

Trio T-Shirt, Top & Pants

The fabric for the top is from the  Project Sewing Workshop and is linen.  Ugh! It was really difficult to work with.  Also, it does not launder well – as you can see, it needs a good pressing.  The buttons came from my stash.  It is a cute top – sort of a lightweight jacket.

Trio Top and the Trio T-shirt

Would I make this top again?  Not sure yet.  I think I need to wear it a bit before I retire the pattern.  The T-Shirt pattern is really nice.  Fits well, too.  It has raglan sleeves, which I usually don’t  like because of my rounded back, but this pattern was (or is) well drafted.  Had some problems with the neck edge.  The pattern had some odd measurements, but I consulted my Easy Sewing Guide to Sewing Tops & T-Shirts, by Marcy Tilton, and I was able to get the neck edge.  The fabric is some I purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics some time ago.  The pattern is a little too loud for me, but I do like the T-Shirt and I really like the weight of this knit, unfortunately I have no idea what the fabric is.

Trio T-Shirt

And finally the pants,  they fit really well.  I made size medium and the length and the sizing is perfect.  So what’s wrong?  They are cute, but I don’t think I would make them again.  They’re a sort of ‘cargo’ pant style.  I took a class on pants from Linda Lee (who wrote/designed this pattern) at the ASG Conference.  Her lecture was all about drape of pant fabric.   If the fabric has a really good drape then the pants will be slimming (she wrote a Threads Magazine article about this, too).  I felt the fabric I used (some from my stash) had  nice ’slimming ‘ drape, however, this style of pant has this big pocket at the bottom and so the pants seem too heavy at the ankles – making me look shorter than I am.  I did add some side pockets and I do like the waist band treatment.  Would I make the pants again, no.

Sewing Workshop Trio T-Shirt, Top & Pants

McCalls M5138

Lately, my sewing has been tailored garments, most specifically wool jackets and coats.  However, now I am  turning to blouses and T-shirts (knits).  So to begin this quest, I started with McCall’s M5138.  Many sewers have already blogged about his pattern and there are several good reviews on Pattern Review (PR) about it- but how about one more!

What I Like: It is a great fitting blouse. Once I got it to fit.  Had to move the bust dart so it actually pointed to my bust apex and not some  other region on my body.  Also had to shorten the bust dart and shorted the front fish eye darts.  The shoulders fit well.  The armscye actually falls on my body in the right place. There is ample room in the sleeve cap for movement, but not so much that I had trouble easing it into the armhole when sewing.  

 The length of the blouse is good in the sleeve and the body and the collar rolls well.  I did cut the under collar on the bias, which helps get a nice roll on the upper collar.   When I wear one of these blouses (so-far I have made two) I have been complemented and gotten, “You made this!”  Always nice to hear.

What I didn’t like: Ugh! Multiply sized patterns are great, but I fall between two sizes: my bust/high bust falls in the AA (6-8-10-12) and my hips fall in EE (14-16-18-20).  So rather than just enlarging the pattern, I purchased two patterns and just combined the two at the waist area.  A little bit more expensive (with buying two patterns) but it saves a lot of time in drafting a larger hip size.  I know how to do pattern drafting, but I just want to draft enough changes to get the pattern to fit me beause,  I want to sew.

The first blouse I used a stretch woven.  Here it is on my dress form.  HONEST! It looks better on me!

Stretch woven McCalls 5138

Here is the second blouse I made from this pattern.  This is a oxford-type cloth – no stretch.  Both these fabrics I picked up from Jo-Anns.  I do have some better fabric to work with (that I purchased at the ASG Conference) but I wanted to refine the pattern (and my sewing skills) before I move on to those fabrics- besides, it never hurts to have some fabric ‘aging’ in the stash!

Well, this doesn’t look so great on the dress form, but it does look nice on me.  I really didn’t like this fabric. It frayed really nicely and is a little thin, but it was inexpensive at Jo-Anns so I don’t have much invested in either of these blouses.

As to the buttons for both blouses – they came from my button stash. 

 So tomorrow I will be teaching my ASG Neighborhood Group.  We are making this blouse.  The other participants are just getting started with fitting their pattern.  Should be an interesting sewing adventure.  Have a great weekend!

Citrus Bracelet

Yes, I have not blog’d since June. Why?  Well, busy with ASG, busy with the Museum and just busy with life.  But I have been creating.  I have several blouses I need to blog about, but I wanted to show my latest piece of jewelry.  I made this bracelet – I call it the ‘Citrus bracelet’ a couple of weeks ago.  I admit I have not worn it. It is a little too ‘jangle – jangle’ for me, but I did get it all done.  Sometimes, done is good!

I have ‘heard’ and seen much success with Sandra Betzina’s Today’s Fit pattens from Vogue – so, in need of some blouses, I thought I would try one:

 But, I have found that I need to make some major adjustments to  the bust area.  The bust darts are pointing some where other than where they should be:

You may not be able to see the bust darts, but I had to shorten them by about two inches.  I am hoping this will fix the problem, but in the meantime -

 I was getting ‘too much help form the cats’ so I gave up and will begin again tomorrow night.

I came of age in the ’80’s -  and over the years  I’ve given up the big hair, the big shoulder pads in jackets, but I still love a good pencil skirt and this is it:   I recently made two of these.  This one is from home dec fabric I purchased at M&L Fabrics in Anaheim.

The pattern is very easy and I purchased it through Lanetzliving.net, which is a great website for fininding out-of-print patterns.  The pattern is Butterick 5390.

I installed a lapped zipper:

I used Kenneth King’s lapped zipper method from his book.  I know there are LOTS of sewing books to show the lapped zipper, but I wanted to try the ‘King’ method.

I have ‘lots’ of items to ‘blog’ about, but rather than just dumping it all at once, I will take it one-step-at-a-time.  First off: Simplicity 2958 is the pattern I chose for the American Sewing Guild Creativity Contest.  I didn’t place, but they did ask to ’see’ the outfit. So, I sent it to New York to the Simplicity office.  It was sent back with no comment – I guess they didn’t like it.  For a sewer like me – mosty self taught- with lots of classes under her ’sewing belt’ I feel that Idid pretty good if they wanted to see it.

I changed the pattern, too.  First I eliminated the sleeve seam (it as a two piece seam) and made the seam into a very large dart.  This was a little tricky, but actually worked really well and I think gave a better fit, too.

 I also added bias cuffs and a bias band at the bottom of the jacket, too.

The dress I used a hand-picked zipper and I moved the darts, deleted the pockets – ugh – they were right on my tummy – Who needs a pocket there?!  Now, that I have received my dress back I can REALLY state what  I think about this pattern – ugh!  I would have passed it over if it hadn’t been designated for the ASG Creativity Contest.  Since this is the ONLY chance I will have to go to an ASG conference I decided to participate as in as many things as I could.  I think if ASG and Simplicity want to encourage new sewers they should really update their view on these patterns.

Of course, I have several unfinished projects, but I am eager to make some pants.  So I started on this pattern on sunday- I glanced through the reviews on Pattern Review and saw what others had done with it. I will be adding pockets, but other than that no other major pattern alterations- the muslin fit fine.  So I am sewing View B.  More on this later – Stay tuned.

Today I send off my outfit for the ASG Creativity Contest.  Once I receive the outfit back I will dutifully post it here (with lots of pictures) and review it on Pattern Review.

The process for this contest is that you make the outfit as per the contest requirements and then send in a 300 word report with samples about the outfit you made.  If the selection committe is interested in it, then they ask you to send the completed outfit to them for review.  I really wasn’t expecting to get that call – but I did.  I am quite honored; however, I am also very apprehensive, too.  For me, sewing isn’t a goal – it is a process.  In sewing, I am ALWAYS learning – with each project I gain some improvement, but I am FAR from being an expert.  I truly enjoy the process of sewing an outfit.  Some clothes do turn out better then others, but in the end I love this hobby.  So entering a sewing ’contest’ is a little stressful for me because I put all these “I-am-not-the-expert-sewer-I-wish-I-was” expectations on myself and I think it is the unknown about the  judges and the judging of my sewing that stresses me the most.  No one wants to be ridiculed by ‘The Seam Police’.  But, even with all that, I still went a head and entered this contest.  And, the next contest is the LA County Fair – entry forms due in June (I think).  Do I want to stress myself out for that, too.  Maybe? We shall see.