Some nightgowns (Burda 5/2016 & 1/2016)

We've all read it (or said it!): Sewing is therapy. 

I needed to sew. I also knew my focus was nil. I'd been working on the Lisette vest and trouser pattern from Butterick, but no way could I go back to that. I was about to have houseguests for 2-3 weeks and decided I'd make some nightgowns since I'd be required to actually sleep in clothing (TMI LOL!). 

Burda 5/2016:

Way back in 2016, I used this dress pattern from spring issue of Burda, to make a nightgown (https://sewing.patternreview.com/review/pattern/125146). My fabric was a very lightweight cotton or linen knit and it's still my favorite nightgown! The pattern is 5/2016 #113 (there's a top version as well). It's an A-line shape with an inverted front pleat and braided straps. 

I was using a lightweight french terry and thought the three layers of fabric might be too heavy, so I instead used some plain white rayon knit to make binding. I cut a size 40 neckline and armhole and graded out to a 42 for the rest. I did not add hem allowance (both adjustments are standard for me with Burda mag). I did not make any adjustments to the pattern to account for binding instead of hemming. 

I cut the binding at 1 7/8" and attached with a 3/8" seam allowance on the sewing machine. I topstitched with the coverstitch. Sewed the side seams, hemmed it, DONE! 

It's my second favorite night gown :)

Then, I made another one! But this fabric is a rayon blend, super drapey, and it is NOT my favorite.

The only difference from the yellow one is that I cut three narrow strips and braided them to make the straps. I cut it on the cross grain and it is still extremely limp and stretchy. The easiest adjustment I can think to make is to just cut off the straps and maybe use a plain black knit sewn into tube (like the yellow one). 

Burda 1/2016 #105:

A dear friend sent me a giftcard to Fabric Mart and I bought a piece of lightweight french terry for another gown! Why did I decide to switch it up? Because we just like to be difficult, don't we? 

This tank top pattern from Burda gave the same vibe but with more stable straps/shoulders. I cut a size 40/42 as outlined above and added no hem allowance. But, I made the mistake of largely just tracing down from the waist to lengthen it. Err. That's not going to work! It's snug through the hips :( And while it otherwise is very comfy (it's not uncomfortable to sleep in), I just don't wear it nearly as much as the two favorites from the 5/2016 pattern. 

The inset is cool and presents an opportunity to add interest. I used a lighter part of the tie-dye fabric here, did a face binding (at least that's what I think it's called! I stitched a strip of fabric to the front, turned it to the inside, and coverstitched in place), and did a rolled edge on the inset with my serger. I used a matching thread and edge stitched the inset in place. It's so cute!! 

You see how it's snug on Lily's hips? Sigh!!!! 

Sewing Plan: Style Arc Monty Shirt and Burda 7/2017 Shorts

That's a mouthful of a title! But using the full pattern name makes things more searchable in the google :)

If you've been following my sewing adventures of the NL6692 dress (Plan here) on IG, you'll know that I officially HATE sewing this pattern! There are some annoying aspects of the pattern, combined with the shifty rayon challis, and it just hasn't been an enjoyable experience. However, it looks cute on, so I persevere!

I got a stash influx from a knitting friend (almost all natural fibers) and I immediately pulled out a few pieces of fabric to sew. 

A silky cotton woven, a linen (enough for shorts), and a cotton and/or linen(?) double gauze (?)

We had a high of like 65 on Saturday, so fall is on the way! But, I also know it will for sure warm up again, so I decided to go for it and make another summer addition to the wardrobe. 

I wanted to make a 2-piece set and settled on this short pattern from the Burda 7/2017 issue right away. I will probably exclude the trim that's sewn to the side seams and serve as a sort of tab. I definitely plan to include the cording with beads though! Very cute!!

In my very humble opinion, the Russian site is the best organized for viewing magazine issues and line drawings. 

This is a direct link to search by year and month, and view the full photos for each issue: Russian site by year

But THIS link...far more helpful!! Tech Drawings by year

This links to all of the at-a-glance sheets of the tech drawings from 2022 with links to each year back to 2014. I stopped subscribing after 2022 so I don't have the link for 2023, but I'm sure it's there. 

It took me awhile to decide on a shirt but I knew I wanted a loose fitting, somewhat boxy, button-front top and :lightbulb:! I remembered I had the Style Arc Monty.

Style Arc, like Burda is one of those pattern companies that just works for me. From their site, "Style Arc patterns are drafted for a B bust cup size and a height of 167cm (5'6")."

Personally, I think they draft for a slightly narrower shoulder too. Now, I get fussy about their instructions (I've found a mistake or two), but the draft works and their designs are always fresh.

I'll be using Fashion Sewing Supply's Tricot knit interfacing in white, and buttons I bought from M&J (who is going out of business!!!) on my 2018 trip to NYC. I also have beads in my stash from a Fabric Mart order some time ago. 

Happy Anniversary to Me!

Today, I had one of those Facebook memories pop up and today is the 10th anniversary of when I bought my first sewing machine!

I bought a Singer Talent 3321 from my local JoAnn that day. And as you know... the rest is history! :)

I sewed on that machine from January 2013 until around April 2015 when I got a Singer Stylist 7258 (it was SUCH a great machine at its price point). I kept that until spring 2017 when I treated myself to a Singer Quantum Stylist 9985 and Brother 2340CV coverstitch for my birthday. 

During the pandemic, I got the Janome Skyline S5 (and upgraded my Brother serger to a Babylock!).

I haven't sewn much in the last year but boy was a busy little bee that first 3-4 years. I sewed HUNDREDS of garments. Some are still in my wardrobe. 

I made this coat on that little $120 Singer!

And these jeans!

And this quilt!

I was so fearless in my sewing! I didn't shy away from anything! Nothing felt "too hard". I just kept sewing and sewing and sewing and one day, I got really good at it :)

I am always so grateful that I took the leap, and always wish I'd started sooner. It truly is a lifelong skill with infinite opportunity for development. 

So while I haven't been sewing a lot, the craft remains such an integral part of my life. Here's to many, many more years of sewing!

Most recent project: 

Burda 8/2017 skirt in an eggplant/plum wool. I wore it for the first time today and I LOVE it. I should have lined it but I was being lazy. :)

And I've started some more knitting! 

We had two baby girls born into our family this month, and of of my closest friends became a grandma to a baby girl as well. So expect a couple more things to pop up! 

WIP: Burda 6/2022 Vest

I don't actually have much to show :-p

I have been itching to sew but not motivated enough to do it. I had SO much on my list for summer and didn't get much done. I'm ready to move on to fall sewing considering how slow going things have been. I decided to work on the vest/tabard from Burda 6/2022. I am using a wool suiting that I scored from SR Harris (2 3/4 yard for $8!). It's a medium weight and is perfect for this pattern. I may make a matching pair of shorts from the pattern I'm using for my daughter. 

I have pretty standard Burda pattern adjustments. I tissue fit the pattern to my dressform and so far, the changes I made seem to be working out. 

This weekend I traced, made pattern adjustments and cut the paper pattern out. Today, I started cutting the fabric out -- I cut the fronts, side fronts, back and tabs. I interfaced all the bits that needed interfacing. Then I got ahead of myself and sewed one of the front and side fronts together - I forgot the pocket!!! DOH!

Looking good!! I LOVE this color!

Still have tons to do...but I hope that I can finish the outfit and the jackets for the babies before the end of September. 

In other news...

I WON FIRST PLACE IN THE MINNESOTA *~STATE~* FAIR!!!!!!!

Y'all! I was too excited! And if you follow my IG, you know this already! LOL!!

I have Blue. Ribbon. Socks.!!

Here is the Rav page for them: Blue Socks

I ALSO placed for my sweater (3rd place)!

Rav page HERE

I was about to melt trying this on for pics though! LOL!!! 

The wool is toasty warm! Can't wait til December!

Joy.

Is it possible to correct my posture at this late stage in life? LOL!!!

Also, these jeans are MY FAVORITE and their from American Eagle and I laugh every time someone says a store is "too young". Pfft. Buy what fits/works for you!

The judges commented on the different stripes on the sleeves - they called it very attractive! And they noted how well the stripes were matched :pats back:

I lost points on the marled ribbing - which was not a design choice, it was a mitigation. I'm happy with it though, but was frustrated that it pooled differently on the second half. 

Also, they didn't like my band of light pink on the right sleeve...but I always add some little tweak or detail to things that are just for me. 

I also placed 3rd for the girl's ballet sweater (photo HERE, Rav project page HERE)

I am so grateful for the wins and proud of myself for entering (I almost talked myself out of entering!). I can't wait for our next MK meetup so I can hear all about other's projects and wins. <3

I finally finished up the sideways knit that I'd been blogging and it's CUTE! Woohoo!

I'm Still Here!

I have an answer to my complete lack of energy - I am anemic. I am not surprised...but it explains so much about why I'm barely functioning at times. 

I really had to push myself to get my project done for the State Fair, and there were tears! But I finished it and dropped it off last Monday. I also entered a pair of socks, the lilac baby sweater I made, and a sewn garment; I entered the top I made for the Rebecca Page tutorial on gathering with the serger. I'll find out on Thursday if I placed with any of the entries!

I used my standard gauge Brother with lambswool yarn from Colourmart. They sell these sets, referred to as "flops", and I paid $30 for this 300g (about 10.5 oz) set. The sweater clocks in below that. I actually mixed two sets of flops - one was reds and pinks, the other varying shades of brown. 

My original plan to was to do the lower ribbing in the light pink and the neckband in a very light tan. The light pink yarn gave me DRAMA AND GRIEF! It had so much more twist in it compared to the other colors. I ended up combining it with the pink and I love how that turned out. I also intended to insert the sleeves the other way - with the sleeve that has a pink cap on the brown side but I messed it up and there was no way I was going to redo it!

I used a custom pattern from the Knit It Now site. I made swatches and washed them up and the fabric that felt the nicest was the tension I went with. You enter your tension, size and dimensions and it spits out a pattern. 

For the front, it suggested 174 stitches. I divided that number in half and added 1 stitch to account for seaming. 

The two pinks pooled differently in the ribbing which is mostly okay but it is very noticeable here!

For the wide stripes, I calculated based on the number of total rows (286) and found the factors and decided on chunky blocks of 22 rows. This meant I had to weave end the start/end of each color change - WHEW! For the narrow stripes, I did the same but wanted to carry the yarn (really, more than 2 or 4 rows becomes a little tough). I included the band of plain pink and wish I'd bordered it with the brown but...it's fine. I did 4 rows of pink and 8 rows of brown. In the sleeve cap, this caused a problem. I didn't have as much give in my cap because of carrying the yarn and could NOT fit the sleeve into the armhole when I was trying to link them together. Lightbulb moment -- I placed the sleeve first and then eased the armhole in. Once I steamed it, it was perfect!

I THEN had some issues with the neckband. I wanted to do a doubled band but I could not understand the backstitch technique. THERE WERE TEARS! I came home from my trip at 1 a.m., woke up that morning, knit the neckband and attached it, seamed it up (I'd weaved in most of the ends on the car ride to/from Chicago) and drove to St. Paul to drop it off at the fair...all to be back home in time for a 2 p.m. meeting. WHEW! LOL! 

Speaking of, I was in Chicago for a bridal shower that had a tea party theme. I had some cute Burda options, but just couldn't muster up the energy to sew anything new. I scored this dress last summer for $40 and it was really fitting for the occasion! It helped that I found a fascinator in a blue that was close enough to work.

I also got more yarn to finish up this sideways knit that I started at knitting camp. I posted a video to my IG grid (@dressmakingdebacles) showing me knitting the lower ribbing. It took about 5 minutes and I said it's my recruiting tool to get people in MK! :) Just need to weave in ends!

Not a new project, but I wore this silk blouse recently (Burda 10/2021) and my goodness, I need ALL the silk tops! It just feels so good on! 

The shorts for my daughter are coming along except, they are just going to be too big for her. She has lost some weight and she is already very thin. I couldn't take them in too much without distorting the features. So I'm going to finish them and we'll see what comes! 

I just need to stitch in the ditch, secure the belt carriers and add a hook & eye. I also have to decide how I'm going to hem them. The pattern includes separate pieces for the turn-up cuffs, but I'm not sure I have enough fabric for that. And, I tried to just do a deep hem that I'd fold back, but there is a lot more fabric at the stitching area compared to the cut edge. But I don't think a regular hem will look good with this length. 

Next up, another pair of Burda 2/2013 pants (HERE) that will transition into fall well. And I'm going to make the boys some matching jackets using this Ottobre 4/2022 pattern:

I'm looking forward to them! I ordered fabric from Mood in 2 colors and plan to colorblock them and hope to incorporate some of the leftovers from theirs into my Style Arc Kennedy jacket :) I also ordered some swatches for lining choices for my fall blazer plan. 

I should get the shorts finished, but there may not be any other sewing this month. I have a BUSY workweek ahead, a doctors appointment on Thursday that may take me out for the rest of the day, grandson's birthday on Friday, friends coming to town that day too and a visit to the State Fair on Saturday, and my husband's birthday on the 31st. 

As always, more later!

A Couple of Birthday Dresses!

I almost always make a new dress to wear on my birthday each year. For 2022, I was seeing a musical production of Twelve Angry Men, and I wanted to have a "special" day dress and something for the show. 

I went to a recent make, M7834 for the day dress. When I finished the paisley version, I knew I'd be making it in this cotton clip dot from SR Harris, and leaving it sleeveless. It's such a cute pattern and I loved how the original turned out. 

I made no changes other than narrowing the shoulder as I mentioned in the last post, but I should have! I've said it myself a thousand times, FABRIC CHANGES FIT! The first one was made in a heavier rayon challis with beautiful drape. This cotton one pulls a bit at the bust. 

A woman stopped to tell me I looked very pretty, and that she's inspired to get a white summer dress now. 
yes! yes! yes!!

And the pretty blue purse I treated myself to as an early birthday gift! 

It turned out pretty-ok and I loved wearing it! I started the day with a trip to my favorite bakery for a pastry and a latte, then I went and got the Benz shined up! :) Afterwards, I worked that day until about 2 or 3 and started to get ready for dinner and the show.

For evening, I sewed Burda 7/2022 #106. I know I've gained some weight, it was endo-belly time, and this dress is fitted. So I traced a 42 neckline and armholes and a 44 for the rest. I should have known better but I was short on time. I ended up having to blind stitch the surplice down in front because it was huge and gaping. I am a 42 on top in Burda with the waist graded to a 44. Doh. The ties were tied really tight, too! LOL!

I used this rayon challis that I got when I visited SR Harris back in 2018. I sewed the side seams a little larger through the bust, did not add hem allowance on the skirt but hemmed at 5/8", and tacked down the front as mentioned. 

Since the fabric and lining (cotton voile) are so lightweight, I used the "trick" learned some time ago and trimmed 1/8" from the neckline edges in lieu of understitching. It works well when both fabric are very light and takes a press well. 

I don't know what point the surplice serves though as it has a side zipper. I think it would work fine as a v-neck. 

Speaking of...I've read lots of "fear" type things about side zippers, but it was easy peasy! I tacked the bodice lining to the waist seam by hand.

And it has twirl factor!! Woot! 

I just spent 3 days at a machine knitting camp and it was AWESOME! I'm going to do a separate write-up for that.

Burda 10/2021 #114

Finally photographed my first completed garment of 2022. Me? ONE item in a month. WHEW :)

I needed a palette cleanser while working on S1325 for A Dozen Drafts and this was one of a few patterns from the October 2021 issue that jumped out at me. I had this piece of brown silk (charmeuse? georgette? crepe de chine? IDK!) from SR Harris on hand. I'd gotten 1.5 yards forgetting that silk tends to be 44-45" in width so I couldn't make the tie-neck top I'd planned. I figured this color would be nice layering, a neutral that could stand out or blend in depending on the rest of the outfit.

I traced a 40 front and 42 back. I tissue fit the pattern to the Beatrice form and realized I didn't have enough back neck room...I never have enough back neck room. I posted to IG and got tons of suggestions and LIGHTBULB! High round upper back adjustment - yes! I'd considered whether or not I needed this before but never have made the adjustment. Now, the instructions for this adjustment have you create a dart, but I don't need the dart sewn, I need the extra width. Apparently, I have a larger than average neck at 15.5". I googled "average neckline circumference for women" and found lots of info and then head to a sewing resource that I'm familiar with.

In-House Patterns (which I love!) has a very comprehensive size chart. I pulled it up and without worrying about the height/cup size side, just highlighted my body measurements (if two are highlighted, I fell in the middle):

Now, part of my lack of alignment is due to my reduction. In some ways it results in a very different relationship and in other areas, it completely changes things. Like my FB measurement hasn't changed much, but the volume has decreased and the relationship of FB to HB and UB has changed (avoiding using the b-word to try to stave off spam).

But my neck and biceps have always been larger proportionately (even as a skinny teen), I just didn't realize it. 90s choker trend? PFFT. There was no way those things were going around my neck. I mean, my 18" necklace falls 1.5" below my collarbone. I have a large neck. My biceps are actually much closer to 14.5" than 14.25" so again, completely outsized in comparison. 

I have this short armhole depth (hello armhole dart!), short back length, I'm all over the place! I'm sure the larger measurements (neck, waist, bicep) are partially due to fat accumulation. But again, this isn't really new info, I just had no words for it in my pre-sewing days. I just knew that shirts that fit my body didn't close around my neck. And sleeveless garments needed to be "pulled up" at the shoulders. And dresses never fit quite right. I'm SO glad I'm doing this project now!

And *I* know it, but lest you forget it, NOTHING is wrong with my (or your) body. A clothing or sewing pattern company makes decisions about what measurements to use and just because I don't fit within those predetermined measurements doesn't mean my body is the issue. Another plug for In-House, Alexandra has some great free content and that is one of the things she discusses often, how sizing is created in the industry. It's basically a law of averages! Who wants to be average!?! :-p

Back to the pattern review, I used this Threads tutorial to make the adjustment of 5/8" and just as their tutorial says, the back adjustment that resulted was about half the width of the neckline adjustment.

where I notice the issue

Adjustment according to Threads 

(though now I will sometimes cut right thorough the back armhole and narrow it a TINY bit)

The finished length on the top was 25". I happened to have just purchased a similar style top that I felt was a tad too long (but I'd be tucking it in most of the time) and it also measured 25". I shortened this top 2" by folding it out on the pattern (1.5" would have been better). I made no other adjustments.

Paired with a wool B5760 skirt and teal shoes, which match everything!

It's so hard to maintain the color and light balance when taking photos solo!!

The armholes are finished with french binding (cut on the bias, folded in half, stitched to the right side, folded in and topstitched).

The neckline is more complex than it looks! The front has the collar attached. It's sewn at CB and the neckline sewn after the shoulder seams. Then, I pressed in the SA and turned to the inside, handstitching from shoulder seam to shoulder seam. 

The front edge that's sort of on the bias is left raw. I had to press that edge really well to stop it from flipping out, and hand tacked CF just a tad. I don't know a better way to finish this area if you don't like raw edges. Burda instructs you not to press the collar/front fold.

I did french seams and had a fun time sewing it all...until it got to the hem. It was SO freaking bouncy and difficult to press into place. It took forever to hem this dang thing

I'm almost done with S1325! I did all the hand sewing this week (bodice lining to skirt and lining to zipper. I just need to hem. I'm putting it off because, semi-circle skirt! Wah! But I will be topstitching this hem, I can't do that much hand sewing. 

Next up is McCall's 7834 in this rayon challis I got from Fabric Mart when I went to Sew Camp in 2018. This bodice? OOOOOOOH buddy! It's what led me to a bunch of the discoveries discussed above. 

More later!!