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Monday, April 20, 2020

McCall's 7976



Yet another "OMG I WANTED TO SEW THIS THE MOMENT IT WAS RELEASED!" pattern :-p
 

And I was absolutely fixated on pairing *this* pattern and *this* fabric. I got this piece of crepe on the trip to Ginny's Fabric in Rochester. I'd also like to pat myself on the back for having sewn 4 of the 5 fabrics I bought that day! And the 5th is on tap to be sewn. Woot!

If you recall, a sewing friend had snagged this 1 7/8 yard remnant and then decided last minute not to get it. I happily scooped it up because the colors were just. so. me.
  
pants are NL6459 that I never reviewed (and are now a touch too small. shhhhh!)

I cut a size medium which is typical for me with Big4 SML patterns. I added 1" to the arm opening and 1" to the back via slash and spread.

The finished bust on the medium is 46" and I'm about 39". I think people see a big number like that and think it must be huge. I think it's important to remember the difference between wearing ease (necessary) and design ease. It's an oversized top, it's meant to be loose fitting...but as you can see, it isn't huge or sloppy or anything like that. So I'd say go with your normal Big4 size for the intended fit.

 
gah. my posture is atrocious. 
The fabric is light enough to tuck that long back in if I want. 
 
I'd planned on view D (red) and the medium called for 1 3/4 yards.

of 60" fabric.

DOHHHHHHH! I had 1 7/8 yards of 45"(!) fabric. I was 1/2 yard short and it mattered. It mattered! It has cut on sleeves and that tie front so the front pattern piece was huge.

I ended up having to cut the front tie separately and sew it to the front after the fact. I just folded the pattern piece up, added 3/8" seam allowance on both sides, and sewed. Whew.

THEN, I had to cut the back in 2 pieces so there's a CB seam.

THEN I had to cut the facings slightly off grain to fit them on the scraps I had left. Now, there was always the option of using a different fabric which I considered, but wanted to use the fashion fabric and they're only *slightly* off grain.

And THENNNN lol! when I tried it on, I couldn't figure out why the pleats were made the way they were. Well, there was a shoulder notch and the pleat. I notched the pleats and folded front pleat end to notch instead of pleat-end to pleat-end. DOH! So I had to undo the serger stitching and stitches and resew those and then the fit made sense!

Love, love, love the buttons I ended up using. I originally planned on plain white buttons but the stripe is so dominant (and I managed to match the stripes pretty well even with not having enough fabric!) that I needed something that popped and these gold buttons were it.

Making a forward shoulder adjustment is new to me and I keep forgetting. You can see it rolling back in these pics. Doh!

Lastly, I could have sworn I was told that the fabric was a viscose crepe but I could be wrong. I took pics of all the bolt ends of the fabric I bought but this one was tacked on at the end. This is definitely a poly crepe. Maybe (Mayyyyyybe) a blend but it behaved like poly and I cursed it every single moment. But I love the top (AND THE BUTTONS!) so all is forgiven :-p

I had a mini fashion show and this top worked with bottoms that were:
yellow
navy
camel (admittedly kind of boring but with fun shoes - could work)
red
salmon/peachy color
deep pink
olive
denim
and will work with white

SCORE!

I really like this top and could see making it again - even this view - but with a MUCH shorter length in back. Aside from all of my mishaps, it went together rather easily and is super cute on like, EVERYONE that makes it. 

I've made a couple knit dresses that I will hopefully photograph this week:


S2246 on the left, a "hacked" M6754 on the right. Both in double brushed poly 
(I KNOW! I thought I'd never touch the stuff again but the prints sucked me in!)

And I'm working on a slow-sewing project - Burda 4/2019 #102. An unlined, raglan jacket in a cotton twill from Mood with a few creative touches :)

I'm really excited about this one!  

I've been posting my progress on the jacket on Instagram stories. I keep getting excited at each step and then stop to think about what I have left to do, then remind myself this IS A SLOW SEWING PROJECT! lol!!!!!!

So yeah, I need to press the side seams and attach the sleeves and press and serge and attach the collar and do all that fun stuff and hem it and I have to do the buttonholes (which I fixated on these buttons and my machine can't make buttonholes that large so I'll have to do some work) and sew on the buttons and then I think it'll be done. :)

Hope you are staying sane and safe <3