McCall's 8028 & Burda 4/2019

First - It's Me Made May! I know plenty of people hate it (that's okay!)...I know plenty of people misunderstand it (it isn't about posting photos daily or sewing a bunch of stuff to have for May)...

This May is different of course with many around the world sheltering-in-place, but I always welcome it from the perspective of finding new sewers to follow and this year, not seeing masks over and over and over throughout my feed. I am obviously not begrudging anyone who is making masks, selling masks, donating masks - it has just completely overtaken Instagram. And just as I don't want to watch Coronavirus news nonstop, I don't want to see masks in my timeline nonstop. No shade to anyone, always DO YOU!

First week down! Most days, I work in the a.m. (in loungewear), take a break to exercise, shower, and eat, then work some more. Some days, I never make it out of my pjs :)

Not in order by day :-p

Burda 1/2018 hoodie and M7061 pants * S8424 leggings * V1401 pants * M6886 dress

M6654 skirt * Burda 12/2016 pants * M6886/M6964 hybrid tee and V1411 pants

I posted to Instagram last week about my recent struggles with endometriosis. It has been so tough! and painful!! And I have this insane bloat every month.

So while I was prepared to get pics of a bunch of stuff, I just...can't right now! Blergh. Tired. Bloated. In pain. But I am so backed up on project posts that we're gonna just settle for good enough. K? Great! :-D

Now, I happen to like jumpsuits! I will say, they need to be knit or have a closure. Ain't nobody got time to be wrangling in and out of a woven jumpsuit without closure.

I missed this jumpsuit upon release and was excited by it when buying some newer patterns. I'll say, it isn't innovative. Now that I have some experience with understanding more how patterns are made, this is something I COULD HAVE made from an existing pattern. The bodice and sleeve are basically chopped off across the top, halfway down the armhole!

I knew I wanted a jumpsuit from this fabric I snagged from Fabric Mart awhile back. I wish I'd bought several yards of every color they had (I made THIS sweatshirt from the cut I had in white)! It is a really nice fabric - poly/rayon/lycra blend french terry. It washes, cuts, sews and presses well. It's 2-layered and the distressed fabric sits on top of a base fabric so nothing is exposed. Can't ask for more! I only had 2 yards of it so I couldn't afford to fussy cut and luckily, I didn't end up with the distressed holes over any parts. LOL!

In s/m/l patterns I usually take a Medium top and Large bottom. I wanted a snug fitting garment and cut a medium top, and on bottom, cut a medium front and large back. On the back bodice, I graded about halfway between the medium and large lines at the waist. This pattern had that lazy grading, each size was 1" bigger at the side seam than the previous size.

I added a 1" wedge to the back rise and shifted the upper back based on a suggestion from Alexandra of In-House patterns (her tutorials and fit lessons are ACE!). Now, these are 1) a knit and 2) snug fitting so I will be curious to apply this to a woven pant. While I still have some wrinkles (that look to me as those caused by inner thigh fullness), I don't have that drag in the back thigh area that I often have. I was curious about an adjustment like this - "changing the balance" is how I verbalized it and then she posted the adjustment after I sent her a pic of my wrinkles.

Once I had it sewn up, I didn't like how baggy the legs were. Just beyond the crotch (so left the waist and butt/hip the same), I took them in another 1/4" on inseam and side seam so I removed a total of 2".

After these pics, I took in the elastic a bit, removing about 2"

I also hated the pant cuff. It was HUGE. Wide around the ankle and too "tall". I removed some height and ended up cutting it off, taking another inch off, then reattaching to the legs with a 1/4" seam. I'll have to measure it to see how to adjust the pattern piece.

Normally, I would decrease front crotch length but jumpsuits are often not cut generously enough through the crotch. Some extra room is needed and while I'm glad I left the front as is, it could use a tiny bit of an adjustment. The back could use another inch. I'd also add a tad more length to the bodice to have some blousing.

The elastic around the bodice works well, it fits well and stays upright without being tight. My sleeve didn't "flutter" but that's probably partly due to the fabric weight and partly due to not making adjustments. While my biceps can technically fit, by not doing my bicep adjustment, I lose the "intended fit" of the sleeve.

Lastly, I *knew* better and still cut the pocket bags from the distressed fabric. I should have flipped them to the smooth side at least; I keep snagging my fingers when I put my hands in my pocket. Doh.

Fun make, nice and quick (a much needed break after several more involved projects), and is a solid contribution to one of my 2020 modified Make 9 boxes. YAY!

*****************

I have been ON A ROLL with Burda magazine patterns! This top is from the April 2019 issue - imo the best of last year. I've already sewn 4 garments from that issue (this one, a black jacket that's done and awaiting photos, this dress, this skirt) and there's more stuff I want!

This top is a simple make - front, back, sleeve, bias bound neckline, hem, done! It doesn't look like much hanging or on the dress form but it drapes *just so* and has that easy-wearing feel that I'm digging right now.

I cut a size 40 neckline and shoulder and 42 for the rest. I did not do a bicep adjustment - doh! I ALWAYS need a bicep adjustment. I have some drag lines and it is a little snug through the upper arm.

I used a white rayon challis that has been in the stash forever. At one point I swore off solid color challis. It seems so much more shifty than prints! My sleeve band must not have been fully on grain. Bleh. It made BEAUTIFUL, perfect, awesome bias binding though!

One reason I really love my Burdas is that I can add my own seam allowance. On a top like this, using 3/8" on the neckline and sleeve bands is so much more preferable than 5/8". On fitted garments I almost always use 5/8" just to have that little bit of insurance.

Since the top is white, it's pretty versatile, but the shape makes it versatile too! It's cute with slim fitting bottoms and those with more volume. I think I'll end up wearing this guy out!

Currently, I'm working on a 'hacked' TB Ogden cami and have fabrics lined up for a few new tops (all with patterns I've made before). I have to shift some stuff until I'm able to do fitting. But still plan to make the SA Clare pants and a couple dresses this month. Stay tuned!

And stay safe!

April Wrap-Up and May Plans

How are you holding up out there? So far, I'm doing well. We are all staying healthy, I'm still working full-time, and sewing & crafting up a storm.  I am grateful for the opportunity to work from home in that, I am still collecting a paycheck and my employer understands that health & safety comes first.  But I am so not a work from home full-time person. I would never choose this full time! I could see working from home a day or so per week but not full time! gah!!

I DO like having a few minutes here and there throughout the day for sewing or crafting or exercising or food prep. Makes a huge difference in what I can accomplish each day. NOT that I am one of those people yelling about how productive we need to be during quarantine. I'm just a natural busy body. I've spent the odd day here or there in the bed (like the Saturday I literally stayed in bed til 2:30 p.m.!)

This month, I sewed 6 items for a total of 11.5 yards.

• Simplicity 2246 dress - 2 yards
• striped double brushed poly from Fabric Mart - stash
• buttons, elastic

• McCall's 6754 dress - 2 yards
• floral double brushed poly from Fabric Mart
• elastic

• McCall's 8028 jumpsuit - 2 yards
• distressed french terry knit from Fabric Mart - stash
• elastic

• Burda Mag 4/2019 jacket - 2.5 yards
• black cotton twill from Mood
• buttons, D-rings

• Burda Mag 5/2020 top - 1.5 yards
• black cotton (voile? lawn?) - stash
• buttons

• Burda Mag 4/2019 top - 1.5 yards
• white rayon challis - stash

Today, I also worked on some baby gifts but those are all from the remnant bin so I won't count them in the out totals.

wip

Favorite: This was an excellent month. Everything I added is pure perfection (to me)!

Accomplishments: I hacked that McCall's dress into exactly what I wanted! Woot! And I turned that Burda magazine jacket into my perfect vision!

FAILS: None! woohoo! If I had to list something I'd say it was using the distressed knit as the pocket bag on the jumpsuit. It basically renders the pockets useless because my fingers get caught in the darn fabric!

My plans last month:
M7925 dress in a cotton/rayon voile
M6754 dress in a floral knit
S2246 dress (maybe) in a striped knit
Burda 10/2017 or S8843 (I need to look at the shape of the pattern pieces of both) in a black cotton twill as my Q1 outerwear project (slightly behind!)
M8028 jumpsuit in a distressed knit
B5526 shirt in white cotton shirting w/silk organza accents

So close!!! I sewed 4 out of the 6 plus a couple more!

For May, I plan to participate in Me Made May as I have! I pledge to wear something handmade every day.

If you don't follow SoZo or if it's your first time, Me Made May isn't a photo challenge - it's okay if you don't post pics on social media or if you do post, if you only post occasionally! I've also seen lots of people say they don't participate because they "don't have enough" handmade stuff. No! If you want to participate and you have ONE handmade thing, you have enough stuff!! :-D

For May, my sewing plans aren't at all focused! It's usually cooler "spring-like" temps throughout May and June with some warm spikes. Without knowing when we'll be outside again, I'm on the fence about spring vs. summer. I mean, there isn't a TON of difference for me but there are prints and patterns that are decidedly summer. We'll see.

Right now, I *want* a few things:

I saw a navy tee at LOFT that is very similar to the 'hacked' McCall's dress except it's floaty. I will make it a bit fitted.

Also at LOFT was a striped v-neck that is *very* similar to the top I made from Ottobre 2/2018 (except with short/cap sleeves) so I'll be making that.

I plan to make S8389 pants in the amazing black crepe I picked up from Mood.

And I happen to have 2 black & white fabrics that are slated for dresses - a heavy crepe for Burda 2/2017 #114 and a rayon challis for 5/2020 #107.

I like fit and flare! The first pattern has a fabric-hog of a skirt and I don't have enough fabric for that and will do a gathered skirt.

I'm waiting on a PDF Plotting order so I can sew up the Style Arc Clare pant in a navy and white drapey polyester suiting from Fabric Mart.

And I still want M7925 in the cotton/rayon blend voile from Ginny's!

That's about it for now (hahaha!) :-p

Lastly, what is up with the BMV site and lack of sales!? I want some new Buttericks but not for $16...And I won't even begin to comment on that Vogue release. Not. For. Me.

Oldies but Goodies! Simplicity 2246 and McCall's 6754

Way back in 2015 I got the idea to sew a knit shirtdress. It was my birthday dress that year and I wore it until it was sad and faded :) 

For the new version, I fell for the fabric even though I'd sworn off double brushed poly. So while I did not enjoy sewing this, I really, REALLY love the dress!!!

It wasn't until I looked at the pics that I realized my bottom button was undone. LOL!!!

The pattern is intended for wovens and I've only used it for knits. I sewed a size 14 and added 1" to the back at the hip and a 1/2" bicep adjustment. I also did a 1/2" narrow shoulder adjustment. The adjustments to the paper patterns are detailed in the blog post linked above. 

Like the former version, I interfaced both collar and facing (it has an all in one collarstand and collar) and both the front band and facing. I used a very lightweight tricot and this helps stabilize tricky areas and the buttonholes/buttons. The buttons are run of the mill JA buttons that I had in stash in a light blue. 

I am not normally on board with fabric belts but I love the stripe! It also looks good with my standard leather belts. Lastly, I decided to add elastic to the sleeves. I serged and turned up 1", hemmed at 7/8" and used 3/4" elastic. After I'd closed everything up and tried the dress on, I realized I used 2 different types of elastic. DOH! LOL! One is rigid and one is very soft/pliable. Do you think I undid it? NOPE! It's fine!

I'm not a huge fan of dusters but I think this works well as one! So, you never know, I just may be a convert! :)

M6754 was purchased the year I started sewing. I made the peplum top and apparently discarded the remainder of the pattern piece that turns the peplum into a dress. Oy!

I knew I could just extend the seams on the peplum to the appropriate length, but I soon decided on a straight skirt and modified NL6530 to fit the McCall's bodice. 

When Fabric Epiphanies posted a "hack" on her blog for a raglan top with gathered sleeves, I had to have one. I do like the popular pattern but just will not pay Indie prices for a pattern that has the same front and back and sleeves cut on the fold. IMO that's lazy drafting and *I* am nowhere near the same at the back of my body vs. the front. SO! Once I realized I had a raglan in stash that I liked (many Burda raglans available but most of the patterns for knits are looser/boxier), I was off!

I used a 14 bodice with the waist graded to match the skirt pattern. I traced a copy of the sleeve, measured it from front to back at the points and divided it equally. I slashed and spread adding about 6" total iirc. I doubled the SA to add a casing at the top and made no changes at the hem. I used 1/2" elastic in the sleeves.

I stitched up the bodice, attached the neckbinding, and stitched up the sleeves. Then, I hemmed the sleeve at the neckline. inserted the elastic (extending the elastic about 1/4" into the seam allowance) and sewed the sleeve to the dress. I also did a tiny zigzag over the elastic. 

I LOVE IT! I may make a top too because I think it's so cute! I love the amount of gathers - not too much, not too little. I will add a hem allowance for the casing to the sleeve hem as it hits at my forearm which allows for less gathering. 

Total win on both dresses! <3 Fabric is from Fabric Mart for both. 

And no post with outside pics is complete without a "what they doing over there?" pic!

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

Burda 01/2020 Lace Hoodie

note: I woke up the other day to over 100 spam posts. I ended up accidentally deleting all of the comments on my March wrap-up post. Oops! For now, I have altered commenting to require moderation.

So far this year I've sewn from both the January and February issues of Burda magazine and looking ahead to March, April and May, there are things I want to sew from each issue - yay! 

January had a couple things that I liked and I was immediately sold on this woven hooded top.

I knew RIGHT AWAY that I'd be making it from a lace! In the end, I went with black because that would make it more versatile. And I had several yards of this lace leftover from a Hancock clearance sale. It is a metallic animal print lace with a light bit of stretch and I just love it!

I traced the hoodie in a size 40 and did a slash and spread to add a couple inches to the hip (it finishes right at the high hip). 

I also did my normal 1" bicep adjustment. I wish I'd double checked the hood! I have a big head and the hood is too small. 

I know kitty...it's too small! :-p

I'd used this lace for a dress years ago and knew it would be fine to sew and serge (french seams just don't excite me the way they seem to for many! I'll use them when I must...) but knew that I'd have to use something stable/solid for the cuffs.

I didn't want a double layered hood and decided to bias-bind the hood front opening using some scraps of rayon challis. 

I finished it and got ready to attach the hood and had put it on backward! I cut a NEW hood and NEW bias binding and redid it. Grrr! 

For the continuous lap and cuffs, I used the leftover silk-cotton blend fabric from my B6183 top. 

why yes, my continuous lap is backwards as it ALWAYS is. I mess that up so often!

When I got to this point, I did my buttonholes and sewed on my buttons. On the inside. Ask me how?! I have no clue! LOL!!!! So I had to remove them and redo them. EESH. 

I spent a lot of time figuring out how I wanted to sew the hem. I wanted to face it but didn't feel like it. I didn't feel like making more bias binding. In the end, I did a double turned hem. Luckily, the hip area is wide enough that there is no strain and the fabric seemed to press well enough. Ah. 

I love it! It's casual-cool goodness!