Simplicity 9275

I have to take some quick pics of my failed S9373 cardigan...I used a BEAUTIFUL charmeuse sweater knit on that darned pattern! grr!

But, my mojo was redeemed with this project! 

I cut a size 14 with the back graded to a 16 through the hip. I shortened the top above the band 1", and did a 1" full bicep adjustment. 

Warning if you have hips/butt, the band is just a rectangle. I would alter the back band to be more of a trapezoid shape or very light peplum to ensure there was enough room. See crude drawing below :-p

While there is a little extra back length, most of those wrinkles is because the lower band can't relax. And you can see on the side view that it's pulling to the back. Again, some of that is how I'm standing/twisting, but yeah...I need more room in the back band. 

I refused(!) to do a facing on this pattern and ended up stitching a line at 5/8", clipping, turning and topstitching. As SOON as I finished the top, I thought, DOH! why didn't I do a strip of binding as a facing?! (stitch, turn to the inside and topstitch). SO I think the neckline might be too flimsy and I am debating if I should remove the coverstitching and add a faced binding.

I added 1" to the sleeve length and left a 3" opening for the slit. Just a little fun detail, no real reason otherwise :)

I cut a few samples to test the topstitching options because I wasn't certain I'd add the pocket. I had to cut the pocket on the cross grain (top) because the fabric was behaving weird and stretching out of shape with it cut on-grain. The pocket is a fun addition. Speaking of fabric, it's a "ponte" by Telio...their leggero which is quite interesting. It's opaque and drapey (65% rayon/31% nylon/4% spandex) and is just under 7oz/yd) and washes, presses, and sews well. It does wrinkle really easily though. 

I think it works with a lot of items, as long as the waistband is flat. I have never been much of a tunic fan (because they don't tend to work well narrow shoulders and a bum!) but I am trying to get on board. I tried it with jeans, slim pants, cropped pants, trousers, and a straight skirt so here's a couple of looks!

Not sewing related, I stalked this DKNY top for so long at Macy's! It was $59 and I was just unable to for a poly top. It went on sale Black Friday/Cyber Monday and I scored it for $29, that's in my budget! It's a pleated fabric with a ruffled color and neck tie, and it's in black & white print which makes it a perfect fit into my wardrobe.

Social Distancing Sewing

On Friday, March 6th, Minnesota confirmed it's first covid-19 case. On Friday the 13th, we were up to 14 and I decided I was working from home. On Tuesday, my company officially input a WFH plan and by Wednesday (3/18) we were up to 77 cases. I think we're nearly at 300 now. 

Many have commented how they aren't "worried" about getting sick. I am absolutely worried about getting sick. I understand statistics, I also see 30, 40, 50 somethings becoming critical or dying. I am risk averse, I don't want to chance getting sick because its likely I'll overcome it. I'd rather not find out! So I've been at home. 

Last weekend I got some groceries from Trader Joes (which they were only letting a couple people in the store at a time!) and went by my machine knitting instructor's house to pick up yarn (that she'd left in a bag on the portico!).  

Otherwise, I've been working -- My job is largely reactive so I've had a few days that were pretty quiet -- and snacking (haha!) and sewing!!!

I've been wanting to use up this navy ponte from Ginny's since I bought it and had that fail of a pattern from Burda. I decided to go for it with this Burda plus pattern from the 12/2016 issue. It's meant for stretch wovens (grr Burda and always requiring stretch for the plus pants!!) so I figured this mid-to-heavy ponte would work well.

I traced a size 44, removed 3/4" from the CF rise and added 1" to crotch extension in back. I ended up sewing the side seams at 3/4" vs. 5/8".

I don't normally add hem allowance to Burda except for pants. I'd added 1 1/4" to the pattern and ended up removing 2" and sewed a 1 1/4" hem. Love the finished length.

Not much detail to show on these - invisible side zipper, deep yoke that was understitched and ditch stitched. 

Then I made McCall's 7975 - the ever popular twist front top. It turned out very cute but I didn't like the construction. There's a u-shaped bit that you have to hem. That's INSANE. Then you hem the entire front, stitch it, then hem the back, then sew the side seams. Meh. I'm almost certain the fabric is from Fabric.com but it's been in the stash for awhile.

I used a size medium, standard for me, added 1" total to the back hip via a slash and spread, and did a 1.5" bicep adjustment. The finished sleeve was only 13"!  Geez! The neck binding went in well (often Big4 drafts them too long).

I  had a small gap of skin showing and ended up tacking the twist and hand sewing a bit of the seam leading into the twist. Hard to get close enough at the sewing machine.

The twist is nice!

hand tacking

Next up was a cardigan that is in timeout. I hope to finish it -- the band has to be topstitched down and is fine on the straight sections on lower front but I cannot get the angled areas stitched nicely on this ribbed super-stretchy knit. This fabric laughs at the walking foot.

M7476

Then Simplicity 2255 was up next with this 1 1/4 yd cut of swiss dot cotton I scored for $4 from SR Harris. I've made this pattern a few times before. The first time I made it I could NOT understand the mandarin collar and just did bias binding on the neckline! Ha!!

paired with the navy ponte pants and a RTW jacket

I couldn't get pics without the blinding sun. Shrug!

I sewed a size 14 and undid the (HORRIBLY EXECUTED AND INCORRECT) FBA.  I also added to the hip line via slash and spread - 3/8" in front and 3/4" in back (I could use a bit more hip room). I also did a 1/4" forward shoulder adjustment. 

I finished it with a narrow hem, bias binding on the armhole and a bunch of topstitching. I wanted some yellow buttons but...sewing from stash! I figured if I really wanted to, I could swap the buttons out later. But I love these buttons (I have a ton of em! LOL!)

I finished up the Burda dress that I'd muslined in my last post and it is AMAZING and I LOVE it! Hope to get pics soon!

Some TNTs

Wah, wah, so many unblogged projects! I'm going to be working from home a bit so hopefully I can get a bunch of photos done during the daytime.

Butterick 6183 was a favorite the first time I sewed it and I got ready to put it away after the black top and figured I'd keep it upstairs. Then I decided I needed a brighter skirt that could still work with our weather. I've had this 2 yd cut of cotton sateen in stash since summer of 2017.

I knew I'd be using my TNT B5760 skirt and thought the leftover yard wouldn't be great for much anything else besides another skirt. Then, lightbulb! I can make a '2-piece dress'!!

:snicker: TMI moment, I'm not wearing a bra! Bras are optional now! 

Well kinda, not at work. I always wear a bra to work.

The top is unchanged from last time. I forgot to do a swayback adjustment again. This is a size 14 A/B cup pattern piece. Slash and spread at the back hip, a 3/8" forward shoulder adjustment, and a 1.5" full bicep adjustment. I used a regular 7" nylon zipper.

I really like the facing on this pattern!

The Butterick 5760 skirt pattern remains unchanged. I cut a 16 front and 18 back, removing the easing from the front pattern piece. I used an invisible zipper (instead of centered) and decided to line it. I find that stretch cotton sateen can often bag out and the lining should help with that. I used a polyester pongee - I love this stuff! - in navy, and left out the back slit.

I'm sure it's widely spread info but I like to pleat out the darts of the lining vs sewing them and when using lining and an invisible zipper, I attach the lining to the zipper by machine. Especially with fabric as lightweight and press-able as this. 

I wore the skirt long before finishing the top! :)

Looking at this pic I realized my navy cardigan bled all over my top. Wah!

My March plans were so definitive and here I am, mid-month and I've managed to sew my daughter's outfit, some more baby stuff and a top:

McCall's 7975

The Burda raglan dress is SO. SO. cute but the cotton sateen is so stiff that I don't think it really works with the pattern :( I did just get a lovely Rag & Bone crepe and may revisit it. We'll see. 

This week I'm going to plan to finish. my. blazer!!!!! and trace off the dress from Burda 2/2020 (and muslin it??).  I think. LOL!!!!

Be well!

Deer & Doe Sirocco

Sighhhhhhhhhhh.

You all know my general thoughts on Indie pattern companies, right? I want a PROFESSIONALLY DRAFTED AND GRADED PATTERN! You deciding you like to sew and want to sell patterns isn't enough! But sometimes, I get sucked in too. Sigh. I couldn't find any info about whether or not they are professional pattern makers so this rant may be unfounded. Does anyone know?


I own a chunk of Indie patterns. (If I eliminate Style Arc that number is cut in half). Sometimes, I do the right thing and *closely* inspect the finished garment pics before buying. Sometimes, I make a mistake and buy the pattern and don't inspect closely until I'm ready to make it.

Listen, I was this || close to choosing another pattern. Sigh.

This is not a dig at any home sewer as I would never do that. Please do not take anything I say personally, I am forming an opinion based on what I see.

So, I go and look and I notice:
Puny bodice pleats. I instantly decide I don't like them.
Front crotch ermm, issues.
Rippling waistbands
Sleeves that are way pulling away from the body when the wearer has their arms lifted (if it weren't a knit, arm movement WOULD be restricted)

And I'm instantly mad that I didn't inspect closely BEFORE buying

Be clear, I am not ragging on sewers nor am I making declarations about the pattern (except for that armscye - No.). I don't draft patterns. I can't say what's objectively right and wrong about the draft. If their patterns work for you then maybe this one will. I just know that I did way more work than I would EVERRRR do on a pattern and especially one that I spent $16 on (I am a Friend of PR) and it's unlikely that I'll do it again. I really like the Pensee top (less so the dress) so never say never. Sigh.

Alrighty so I have never sewn a D&D pattern aside from the Plantain -and I was a new sewer- but I know now that, it didn't really work for me. That top is the reason I've believed, for forever, that they draft for a pear shape (apparently, they draft for an hourglass). I am NOT a D&D customer after this.

I feel like, over the years of being involved in the sewing community, I've seen a lot of conflation between pattern adjustments and pattern drafting. Yes, not many of us will sew a pattern "out of the envelope" and have it fit properly. And even when we do, that is not necessarily equal to a "well drafted pattern".


I make sewing adjustments. I do not fuss about making sewing adjustments; it is what it is. The work I had to do on this front armhole? Nah, not okay.

I don't have a ton of pics because I didn't get nearly any pics of myself alone and it has been SO hot that I have not been able to get full finished "blog photos" of the jumpsuit. This is less about the finished product though and more about the pattern itself. Hopefully I can update the post at some point in the near future with regular front/back/side pics.

As mentioned, I hadn't sewn any of their patterns and knew I'd have to muslin. I chose a size 40/42 (40 neckline/shoulder and 42 everywhere else) based on the size chart:

There is 2-3" positive ease in bust and hips and 3" of negative ease in the waist. I thought this was interesting considering it's a pull-on garment. But I'm going to muslin so it's all good.

I used this cut of Telio jockey ponte (I do NOT like this fabric) as a muslin. Similar drape as my fashion fabric but slightly heavier. The one change I planned to make right away was to lift the armhole and cut it in a bit since I was going sleeveless. I was PERPLEXED by the armhole shape.

Here is my muslin in all its glory (horror? lol!)...

I make adjustments. I assumed I'd need an FBA, full butt adjustment and to shorten the front crotch width. No problem.

I hated the pleats as I assumed I would. The shoulder was too long, the 1-layer waistband was awful and I was again, this || close to jumping ship. I really wanted to eliminate the front pleat but they are diagonal and I didn't fully understand how to make that happen.

Now, if this IG follower is a blog follower, I promise I am not mad/offended/:insert other words: but someone told me I probably don't like the pleats because the jumpsuit is too small and I should go up a size or two.

1) It is a muslin. The purpose is to determine what adjustments, and in what amounts, are needed.
2) Going bigger isn't always the answer. Adjusting where you need the adjustments is better than just going up or down full sizes.
3) In the IG post, I pretty much called out most of these adjustments as necessary...but since I was muslining, why guess at them?

I went back and did the following to the paper pattern:

Converted the back pleats to darts (narrowing the overall takeup about 1/2" total)
removed 5/8" in CB length.
Reshaped the armhole.

Did an FBA and rotated it out
Reshaped the armhole
Took an ENORMOUS armhole dart of ~1" (e.g., don't just automatically go up a size because of tightness)
Straightened out the side seam - I had about 2" of excess fabric at the very top while the waist fit fine.
Converted the pleat to a dart

This really flat shape on bottom is something I don't think I've seen before. I may have been able to understand it better if I'd added the sleeves.

Let me to stop to say the instructions for this front pleat were ridiculous. I hate non-technical directions.  It's probably my biggest gripe with indie pattern makers.

Also, there are no pocket markings AND the pocket is exactly the same for all sizes.

I did Fashion Incubators c*mel toe adjustment which took the front crotch basically from a 42 to a 38.  (did I mention that you shouldn't automatically size up?? Okay, fine, I'm being obnoxious now...)
I added this 1/2" back at the side seam.

More front crotch pics!

Because it WAS too tight in the hips - because, butt - I did a slash and spread to add 1/2" (1" total). The back pant already had a dart, vs pleats everywhere else.

Not shown, as I did it directly on the fabric, was to add 1/4" to the CB crotch seam, tapering to nothing near the point.

And I added 1/2" to the crotch extension which is another common adjustment for me (full thighs).

 

I added 1" total to the "height" of the waistband and doubled it (made a facing). 

Lastly, I removed 2" and they still pool a bit (I could see this being less of an issue in something less drapey where you can roll the legs like the pattern pic).

LOVED the new darted bodice!
The neck binding went in perfectly for me! It's a little wide though...or the neckline curve is a bit too high for me. I felt like it was sort of encroaching.
Really love the wider waistband too!

 

ignore my random foolishness in the background

A full-length pic showing the neck fit thing I mentioned, slightly long legs but not bad, and how much better the front fits compared to the muslin. It fits snug through the bust and part of that is my bra.

My husband and my 4 closest friends.   

This is the closest thing I have to a back fit pic! :-p But *I* think you can see that it isn't pulling, the side seam is straight, the darts fit well, etc.

TL;DR

• Didn't like that there were no pocket insertion markings.
• Didn't like that the pocket piece is the same for all sizes.
• I don't like the bodice pleats.
• VERY low armscye (I can't imagine putting a sleeve in there)
• Weird (IMO) front armscye shape. 
• Didn't care for the 1-layer waistband 
• Too much negative ease at waist (IMO) for a pull-on jumpsuit
• There's something with the shape of the neckline (for ME) that I can't identify.
• The neckbinding went in flawlessly - yay!
  I liked the back fit a lot "out of the envelope". Sure, I needed adjustments (which is NOT an issue) but I think the crotch curve as drafted worked well for my butt.

It turned out and it was pretty and shiny. The fabric is THIS Telio knit from Fabric.com (I am an affiliate). It sewed well, it didn't press well but I don't think anyone expects a poly metallic knit to press well! It did well enough with a little steam, press cloth and a clapper.

It is very slightly sheer held up to the light but I figured (and I do this often, LOL!) that my brown skin and black undergarments would be fine -- full seamless/no show bottoms - I don't do "shapewear" Nope. Cannot. I think I've told the story of trying on a Spanx garment with my wedding gown and immediately calling for her to come get me out of that dress so I could that thing OFF.

Onward!

I was off work and sewed A TON. There are definitely finished items before this but this skirt from Burda 04/2019 is up next for review - spoiler alert: I LOVE IT!

Summer Sewing Plans (and miscellany)

I have concrete sewing plans for summer!

As I've mentioned before, I never do "RTW fasts" because I know I will find some cute thing I want or get in a rut of needing things and knowing I don't have time to sew it all. I found some fantastic tops at LOFT last week so I've tweaked my list. It's still SUPER large (haha!) but I've tried to make it a nice mix of things I've made before but still adding things I want in the wardrobe.

some RTW inspiration I'd collected

This weekend, I cut out NL6560 and cutting out paper patterns is exhausting!! I decided (assume) that the reason is, I am accustomed to cutting fabric out in session but usually cut patterns in one go. It took me over 45 minutes to cut out this pattern with 6 pieces! (I didn't even cut the belt!) Eesh.

Tops: Since I bought a few new items, I need fewer tops than I originally had on the list. 

1. NL6560 (which, WAH!!! is a reissue of Simplicity 4125 that I already own) top in chambray
2. M7601 in a soft black & white diagonal striped georgette
3. M7251 in a coral challis

Skirts: (I have a ton of skirts...I can not fit them. Some I wear anyway, they just hang a bit lower, but most of my B5760 skirts are too large now. Booooo. Some of them will get altered though. As that became my TNT, I have made some really beautiful versions!

1. NL6326 (first 2 skirts) in pale grey crepe and a BRIGHT! pink crepe
2. Burda 6769 lengthened a few inches with 'matching' front and back walking slits
3. V1501 (I cut off the bodice :) LOL!) I have made this dress AND have made it twice as a skirt. I have a floral poly crepe from Mood for this one. (oh yeah, I broke fast and purchased 4 yards of fabric last week!)
4. Burda 4/2019 in a kelly green twill (have you seen Beth's version!?)

Dresses:

1. Burda 4/2019 sans sleeve ruffles in a floral challis
2. B6621 in a bright floral knit
3. B6640 shirtdress in a pale blue and white thinly striped shirting

Other:
This is V9032 (my TNT pants pattern), but I really want a flat-front, wide leg crop. I was trying to stay with as many made-before patterns as I could but I wasn't going to be completely happy with them so why sew them!? I am going with Burda 5/2017 in a crepe suiting that was called "Coral gold" from Mood. It looked more brown online but is definitely more pinkish.

This image is of Burda 6938 but I will actually be using 6659 which I've made before. But their short version is longer than I'll make them and has bands on the hem. 6938 is more likely what I'm going for. I'll be using a grey French terry.

I've made Nl6326 (2nd view), Burda 6769, V1501, B6621 and Burda 6659 before. That's only 5 of 13. Oops. We'll see how much I get done!

Lastly, for my birthday, I want to make the Deer & Doe Sicorro jumpsuit using this (super awesome!) knit fabric I bought ages ago.

I finally(!) audited my pattern collection. I do this ever so often but have been meaning to do it for over a year now. Finally!

I started out showing 808 patterns. I cleared out everything that has been removed from my stash (I did a big purge awhile ago and knew I didn't fully clean up the stash after that). That took me down to 739. Then, I added the patterns I own that were never added to my catalog. Boooo! LOL! That put me at 766.  Whew!

I found THREE copies of B5526. Eesh. And there were 38 patterns that I had duplicates of-2 each. Some of those (but probably no more than 12-15) are from buying the smaller size range for my daughter. And maybe 5 or so are patterns that I intentionally duplicated (e.g., B6621). Goodness gracious.

I finally organized my lining stash on the cardboard pieces I ordered. They are 9x12 inches and work well for the lining. I think they are too flimsy to store actual fabric on.

I finished my Burda 12/2009 henley tee! Woohoo! Review to come. In the meantime, behold my awesome matching across the placket :-p

 Lastly, I have never purchased a minimizer bra. They are never pretty :( But I'd read great reviews on this Bali bra and happened to be in Kohl's and tried it on.

Minimizer on top; my regular bra on bottom. Reviews suggested to size down. I am wearing a 34DD in the minimizer and 34DDD/E in my normal bra.

In the below pic, I am obviously turned a little more to the front in the minimizer, but I can totally see the difference in projection! The same style was cheaper at Macy's and with additional discount, I scored one for $20. We'll see how it works with "real clothes" when it comes. 

What are your summer must-haves? Do you snoop-shop RTW??