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.

Mid Year Check-In and July Plans

The year is off to a rough start -- in real life and in sewing plans. Oy! I looked back at my list of goals for 2022 and I've met exactly -0- of them!

• Trench Coat - I want this but have stalled. Wah. I am thinking of taking a sew-cation in August. A trench coat is a strong desire but in reality, isn't a workhorse here in Minneapolis. I'd estimate I could wear a trench for about 4 weeks in fall and maybe 4-6 weeks in spring. 
• Burda 2/2020 blazer - I don't think I ever bought lining fabric for this. I wanted a very specific color and struck out with Mood. I'd better start looking again so that I can be ready to sew this for fall! A wool blazer will have lots more functionality than the trench - I can wear it about October through May ish. 
• Formal black dress - Perhaps this should read "semi-formal". I need a dress for more serious/somber occasions, but not say, a black-tie event/party.
• LBD or LBJ(umpsuit) - I'm thinking this Vogue 1465 or Simplicity 9151 (always down for a CR pattern!)

• Blazer for him - Another project for fall. I have the fashion fabric and lining! Ooh, still need buttons though. 
• The Dress a Month fitting Challenge - So far, I've sewn patterns by Simplicity, New Look, and McCall's. I've removed Kwik Sew because I don't have any woven KS dress patterns. I also removed Viki Sews. I've replaced KS and VS with Ottobre and Patrones.  I don't think I'll get to all 12, but definitely want to finish out the Big4.

• Matching machine knit sweaters for the boys - winter project
• Machine knit trousers - I'm not sure if I'll get to these unless I find yarn on my knitting camp trip this month. I think a crepe yarn is best but don't want to buy online without help. So either I find yarn at Rockinghorse Farms or I get tips from the experts there on where to buy. 
• 5 garments for skill building
• A raglan sweater or cardigan 
• A sweater or cardigan with set-in sleeves - I found a summer project in Machine Knitting Monthly that I'm going to try!
• A dolman sweater with some type of stitch pattern (garter, fair isle, lace, something!)
• Socks - This will happen at MK camp in July
• A wrap or poncho - I may do this sooner rather than later because the office is often pretty chilly!
• Begin grad school - who knew the deadline for fall was February?! Hahaha. I can be kind of spacey sometimes so I'm not surprised I missed this little (har,har) detail. I will be applying February 2023.
• Read 3 books per month - my focus has been really off and I have only read about 5 books total this year. womp, womp.

I was going to work on my challenge pattern (a Vogue) but pivoted and started a dress for my birthday which is next week. I sewed a sleeveless version of M7834 in white swiss dot and it is SO cute! The cotton doesn't drape as nicely over Lily so it looks tight, but it isn't. It fits great! May not get photos of it on until that day but will post it. I did not make any changes aside from leaving off the sleeves, and narrowing the shoulder as needed from version 1.

In June I sewed 5 yards. 1 garment for myself, 4 kids garments, and altered 3 garments for my daughter!:

Ottobre 3/2010 #17 and 18

Ottobre 3/2014 #12 and 25

M7834 dress 

For July, I am really going to try to execute!!!!! :)

• Burda 7/2022 birthday dress
• Socks at knitting camp
• MK summer cardigan

• Butterick 6640 for my challenge in a striped cotton shirting. I plan to have fun with stripe direction!

• I really(!) want to find time to sew NL6692 as well

Wish me luck! 

How is your 2022 sewing plan coming along?

May Wrap-Up and June Plans

I am so late with this, gah. In May I sewed 6 garments for a total of 9.25 yards. This month I sewed:

• Vogue 1250 top and dress - 2.5 yards 
• ITY print
• elastic in the dress
• McCall's 8174 dress - 1.75 yards
• rayon modal jersey knit print
• elastic
• McCall's 6744 dress - 2 yards
• ITY print
• elastic
• Butterick 6378 top - 1.5 yards
• yellow silk georgette
• Burda Magazine 4/2019 skirt - 1.5 yards
• red cotton lycra twill
• zipper, D-ring

I am really happy with all 3 of my dresses! I ended up cutting the top too short, so I have to see if it's wearable or not at this length. But I will certainly keep this pattern 'hack' in the roundup. I love the cowl. 

The red skirt is really great! It turned out so well with my mods to increase the size. But the twill is really stretchy with poor recovery. I wore it for the first time and it bagged out a bit. Clothes never last as long when they need to be washed each time.

I didn't get a chance to work on a project for my fitting challenge but will try to get one in for June. I'm having a tough time personally, and lots of required travel coming up, so I may only get 6 or 8 done this year. We'll see.

June started out with my awesome vacation to Cabo with friends! I didn't sew anything for the trip but wore a few handmades while I was there, but I'd purchased a few hot-girl 'fits for the trip! 

I purchased the white top while I was in Cabo. It is a really nice cotton gauze!

Since we're halfway through June, I may use a Burda just because I think that's a lower barrier to a good fit :) There is a dress from 5/2019 that I traced awhile back, so I'm ahead of the game there.

I've also made outfits for my twin niece and nephew with fabric they chose from Fine Fabrics in GA. I'll review those next, I used patterns from Ottobre Kids. 

I still need to photograph my red skirt, and M8174. I also feel like a need a white cotton dress. I'm thinking of making a sleeveless version of M7834 (blogged HERE). It's such a great pattern and I got a really nice fit! 

More, later! :)

Vogue 1250

This pattern was SUPER popular back in the day! There are 127 reviews on Pattern Review and many, many people made the pattern multiple times. It's a winner. 

I was stuck on how to use Lily to fit a knit pattern. If sewing pants I would choose a size 18 and make crotch adjustments, with skirts I use a 16 front and 18 back. For tops I used to use a 14 neckline but that's not right anymore. Ultimately, I looked at the intended amount of ease and decided to use my normal Big4 sizing choices: 16 top and 18 for the back skirt.  

If you somehow managed to own this pattern but have never sewn it, it has a very interesting construction! There are 2 main pattern pieces - a front with back skirt integrated into the pattern piece and a back bodice piece. There's also a binding for the back neckline. 

I think this construction is pretty standard for cowl necks, but I am always enthralled with how neatly it finishes. There is a pleat that ends right where the cowl begins. I pinned and basted the pleat by hand. When I turned the cowl facing back on the shoulder seam, I hand basted the corner where it intersects with the back neck binding and then ran it through the serger to sew it. It ensures nothing stretches out of shape or shifts. 

For the armhole, I suggest pinning front and back bodice together, stitching for reinforcement at 5/8" about an inch and then clipping. This will allow you to hem that armhole opening neatly. Where it called for "narrow hemming", I just turned up 5/8" and coverstitched.

There were lots of versions of this by the fitting mavens of the sewing blog community and after reading a bunch of posts, I decided I would be fine just cutting the CB seam of the back skirt at an 18. Many cut along the side dart (where the side seam would sit) to add width, but I don't need extra on the front skirt...just the back. 

Here you can see the dart that closes this seam - this is where others added width. 
I just cut the CB seam (left) at the size 18 mark.

the white arrow shows the dart end!

I added 3/8" to the waist on the back bodice piece to match up to the size 18 skirt back and shortened the bodice 1 1/4". Did a 3/8" high round back adjustment, keeping the space created at the neckline (did not sew the dart). I only had 1 5/8" of fabric and the integrated front piece is a hog, so I added a CB seam to the back bodice (no fitting here, just a seam for construction and I added the seam allowance directly to the fabric).

I added 3" to the front cowl tapering to nothing at the point (do this! it helps it sit better!).

Lastly, I decided to do a 5/8" coverstitched hem (instead of the 1 1/4" included) because I liked the length.

The horizontal seam in back sits low and I was worried about it bisecting the body in a weird way. It's fine! I think it's important to get the back length of the bodice right in order for this seam to not feel "wrong" on the body and to avoid pooling. 

 

The wind was blowing fiercely, but you can see I achieved a nice fit through the waist and lower body. Yay!

I picked this fabric up from SAS Fabrics while I was in Phoenix. I went to take a pic of the finished dress on Lily and was like, what the heck?! (WTH funny vid) I did NOT see this pattern in the fabric. I moved the phone camera and looked at the dress - nope. Put the camera up - pattern. IDK what kind of optical illusion is happening! 

It is off center but I can't be bothered by that because I LOVE THIS DRESS!!! And, I just don't see the pattern when it's on my body - LOL!!!!!!

Alterations Summary:
size 16 with size 18 skirt back
add 3/8" to back bodice waist
shorten bodice 1 1/4"
3/8" high round back, adding neckline width too
2.5" added to cowl at CF
hem at 5/8" instead of 1 1/4"

I also worked up a top version using fabric from the other dress I made over the weekend. I told myself 20" but in retrospect, that doesn't even sound right! arrrgh! 

It will only be able to be worn tucked in because it's just long enough. I got this blue suiting from SR Harris and am going to make another pair of Burda 2/2013 SOON!

A Dozen Drafts: New Look 6600

I hate this dress.

I don't hate the pattern...or the brand, just the dress. 

This is a true wrap dress that would work well with a drapey linen or voile. This rayon challis-like fabric did not have enough structure. I was worried about something too firm with the fit of the skirt, but the drape of this fabric made every part of sewing it a horrible experience. 

I started with a size 16, 18 at the waist and hip. I made my half muslin and compared to the McCall's and Simplicity, the starting point was great! On the right, you'll notice I made a point of where I thought my shoulder was...but you'll see in the photos below that I was WRONG. My shoulder point is a good 3/4" away from where I thought it was on the form. This explains why the couple McCall's I made since getting the Beatrice were still wide in the shoulder. Huzzah!

Front:
1/4" armhole tuck
shortened 1" at waist

Back:
shortened 1" at waist
added 3/8" to neckline at shoulder
added 1/8" to shoulder at neck

(should have done the high round back adjustment)

I shortened the pattern 6 inches, ideal length for me would have been about 2" shorter. After stitching, I ended up taking in the side seams another 3/8". Typically with skirts, I cut a 16 front and 18 back. Also, I didn't use the facings and bound the armholes. I stitched a 1/4" guide for my bias tape (cut at 1 1/8") and then trimmed it down, turned in and topstitched.

I just couldn't get good pics, I was so over it. LOL!

Aside from my posture being worse than Lily's, it's cool to see  how the garments are the same 

on me and the form!

I really need to start adjusting for my low left shoulder.

I'm going to be so sad when these cord stops are all used up. 

They were a great addition to my stash! One of those one-off Fabric Mart finds.

I feel that the fitting process with this pattern demonstrated my ease working with New Look patterns in the past. I do feel that I should have draped the dart as it isn't quite right (same with the back skirt darts), so that's something to keep in mind. 

I'll continue to snag the NL patterns I'm interested in as they're a good fit for my body. 

some fabrics I pulled while organizing my sewing space

The mustard print and solid blue are woven, all others are knits

Fabric Mart | LA Finch x2 | SR Harris

LA Finch | Fabric Mart | SAS Fabrics | Fabric Mart

As mentioned in my abruptly ended wrap-up post, I have sewing mojo but am lacking energy. I cut out Vogue 1250 (an oldie but goodie!) and McCall's 8174 today in preparation for some sewing this weekend. I'm also hoping I get to a top from the yellow silk charmeuse I got at Fancy Tiger Crafts, as well as turning that yellow tie-dye into another nightgown using Burda 5/2016 (THIS nightgown is my absolute fave and it is now 6 years old...time for another). 

WIPs and Fitting and Stuff...

This has been a weird month. I feel like nothing has happened and yet, we're halfway through! It's currently snowing in Minneapolis. Meh. 

I ordered from LA Finch for the first time ever! The last time I was in Long Beach visiting the kids, I posted my trip to Mood and someone mentioned I should visit LA Finch, but, they were closed. All the days I've spent in Long Beach on my visits and I had no clue I was so close! My daughter and son-in-law's place is a 5 mile straight shot down Long Beach Blvd! Next time :)

I was drawn in by the 4.5 yard (3 cuts, 1.5 yards each) of the rayon twill plaids. I was hoping at least 2 of the fabrics would coordinate and, yay! I like the red and green together. I am going to make a mixed-print shirt in the fall. 

Then I saw the pink ribbed knit (after having just purchased the True Bias tank/dress pattern). So I snatched that up (it's a bit lighter weight than I'd hoped). The white knit with tonal stripes was a remnant, so I scooped that. The yellow challis I was on the fence about but it gets me close to the mustard color that I like, but not ON me. This is nicely in the middle and I plan to make New Look 6692 or Simplicity 9326:

Speaking of New Look...

My A Dozen Drafts project is in progress. I am making NL6600 and had very minimal fit changes to make. I haven't made a ton of NL patterns but I've generally been happy with them. This is the fit on my Beatrice, straight out of the envelope, pics from my IG stories:

A couple of things that I'll dive deeper into once I'm reviewing - I realized I've incorrectly identified my shoulder point on the form!! It makes so much sense on why my last two makes were still a little wide in the shoulder. I blamed McCall's giant shoulder, but I have it marked out about 3/4" further than it actually is. Again, why I still want to do an in-person class to draft a sloper, because it isn't readily apparent where certain markers are on the body. 

Specifically to this pattern, I should have lowered the bust point a bit but otherwise, it explains why I've generally been happy with the fit of NL patterns. I shortened the bodice an inch and it fits SO well through my back. Woot!

you can see in this pic that the bust dart is a little high

This fabric?! Oh my word. It is so difficult to work with. As a sewing friend said, it's a very sassy fabric! It won't listen!!! So while I'd planned on the print being vertical on the body, it was NOT working to go on the crossgrain so I gave up. This pattern takes surprisingly little fabric (caveat: sleeveless and shortened 6") so I have another cut that may work for a #2. 

Speaking of the Beatrice :) 

I still owe a review. I want to learn where *MY* markers are on it though. This dress was started during the pandemic (Burda 5/2019). I got it to the basting stage and bwahahaha! It did NOT fit. I folded it and put it away. 

Now, I have decided it isn't worth trying to make it work, but I will remake this dress 1) in a bigger size(!) and 2) with the necessary adjustments.

Shoulder is wrong:

While I commented that the back 'v' fit well...that's not true as the whole dress is too small and who knows how the back will fit in the right size.

maybe 2 sizes bigger? lololol!

ain't no butt room!

my waist point (twill tape) vs the pattern seam (my finger)

And we can again see the INCHESSSSSSssssssss of too smallness.

But my NL dress is working out well, so let's stick with that :-p

On the machine knitting front, I bought this Target cart to hold my Hague linker. It's fine but I hope I have the chance to get an actual stand. I'm going to a MK seminar next weekend and I may find one there. Otherwise, I'll eventually order one from Hague (in the UK), but I will have to be able to get an electric winder too to make the shipping worthwhile :-D So annoyed I didn't know they were available when I ordered the linking machine!

Thought I like the extra shelf options!!

And, I finished the cardigan!! I think it's about a size 5/6 so I made it with my friend's 4.5 year old in mind. I used the linker for all the seaming - the raglans, the band, and the side seams. The lavender yarn was actually a bit thick for the linker so I used the teal, I hope to find the perfect "linking yarn" that I can buy in a few colors (sort of like serger thread!). 

And I started a sweater for the youngest grandson. Not an exact match to big brother's but using the same yarn colors. 

I have ordered yarns from ColourMart (they specialize in luxury mill ends) because I can't keep being afraid to try! What's the worst that can happen? :) 

I leave you with this pic of the grandson who decided he wanted to go outside event though no one else wanted to, because it was 21 degrees. Can you spy him over by the shed? hahaha! 

McCall's 7834 (2 of 2)

Warning - I love this dress SO much! This is a photo heavy post, but there's a lot of info too.

Had to play with the shoe options! :)

See this post for complete details on the fitting and muslin process: Fitting Details. To recap from that post, I cut a size 14 with the pattern adjustments indicated below.

Front:

Add 1/2" for neckline

Add 1/4" to front length

Remove 1/2" for narrow shoulder

Lower dart 1" 

Add 1" to waist circumference

Tuck at waistline 1" at side seam to match back, tapering to 1/2" at CF

I've never owned a button-front that actually buttoned around my (more than!) 15" neck!

there are no pulls, no gaping, no wrinkles, it's not snug or tight...it just feels GOOD on!

I'm wearing the necktie in the photo on the left.

Back:

Add 1/2" for high round back

Add 1/4" to the back neckline

Remove 1/2" for narrow shoulder

Add 1" to the waist circumference

Remove 1" from bodice length

My imbalanced posture was captured - my waist seam is even, my hem is level, LOOK AT THE BACK!!!

Other:

Adjusted collarstand and collar pieces to match new neckline

Added 2" to bicep and shaped the cap while removing some ease

Added 2" to back skirt by cutting 1" away from the fold

Shortened lower ruffle on view B skirt by 4"

Used smaller buttons 

Sewed the buttonholes before attaching the skirt (I saw no good reason to try to work buttonholes with the weight of the skirt in the way.)

I think the shoulder is still a tiny bit long

I sewed the cuff on and when I went to press it, I realized it would be too narrow. Then looked at the cuff piece; "Cut 4". WHYYYYY!? I went to rant on IG and as I was lying in bed that night, it dawned on me. One of the other views has a ruffle in the sleeve. Meh. LOL! 

I created a new pattern piece for the option of a foldover cuff. Also, I found it much easier to attach the cuff facing after the fact. On the second sleeve I constructed it according to pattern, sewing the two together and then attaching to the sleeve. It was a lot more fiddly.

Also, I HATE that they just have you leave an opening in the sleeve seam vs adding a continuous lap or placket. I'll change that too should I make it again. It's weird having the buttons basically under your arm.

3/8" / 10mm buttons (vs. 1/2")

The elastic for the back measured at 17" for the size 14. 

Since I would have cut a larger size AND I added to the waist circumference, I cut the elastic 19"

I took a lot of care with sewing this one. I basted a ton, working really hard to ensure everything was as good as it could be.

sewing the collar

This label is pretty perfect! :-D

I was held up for awhile on the skirt length.  Unless I think fabric quantity will be an issue, I tend to cut pieces out as I need them. When I went to cut out the lower skirt ruffle, I was surprised by the length. I checked the back of the envelope and the finished length of view B's skirt was 45", which is midi length on me. I am not totally opposed to that length, but it isn't my favorite. 

I hemmed and hawed for a bit and was going to cut the ruffle at 8" which was half the upper skirt length. Then, I started looking at past makes for lengths that I thought worked on me. Eureka! My Burda 4/2019 dress had an upper skirt and lower ruffle. I pulled that pattern out and the upper skirt was about the same length as this one and the ruffle was 10". That's how I settled on this length. 

For the upper skirt, I gathered it traditionally - with two rows of basting stitches. The fabric for the lower ruffle measured about 110" if I recall, and there was NO WAY. LOL! I went to my serger method and gathered it about 50%. With this method, you want to test out a few samples and be certain of your ratio as it's not as easy to adjust the gathers (which is why I elected not to use it for the skirt), but it was a great option for the ruffle. 

The fabric is a rayon challis with amazing weight and drape. 

I picked it up during my in-person trip to the store at Sew Camp 2018.

Love. Love. Love. Although I realize now why I don't own many woven McCall's garments. Their block is obviously not a great match to my body as-is. I'll be curious to see how the next pattern I choose from the brand works up.

Outtakes because, ME!