scout dress success!

Hello sewing world! I've actually made a couple of items in the past month, but have been bad about photographing and blogging them. BUT here is my latest make which I'm very pleased with: a Grainline Scout DRESS!

I really liked the fit of my first Scout Tee, and it is so easy to make with only 4 pattern pieces and no darts. I just lengthened the hemline, continuing the slight A-line of the side seams. I made this in a polyester crepe-like-fabric, which is medium weight and just the tiniest bit spongy. I actually used the wrong side as my right side. The "right side" had a little too much sheen, and the wrong side was a lovely matte black. I think the matte side looks like a much more expensive fabric, and way more wearable day to day.  It was great to sew with, although it didn't hold a press well at all. My first hem was about an inch, which without being able to press a nice edge just puffed out and looked awful. I unpicked it and did a narrow hem that came out beautifully, as it did on the sleeves. It's funny how you learn that each fabric has it's own preferences in how it wants to be handled and finished.

I had a hard time getting the neck facing to fit all the way around, so you can seem some puckering (but no gathers!) in the back. It turns out, I had cut the facing two sizes smaller! Oops! Well, it doesn't bother me enough to unpick it at this point, because overall this was a very successful dress!

stuff i've made for my sister

Hello again! Today is a quick post to show you a couple things I've made for my sister in Philly. She always sends me pictures of what I send her, so I hope she doesn't mind that I share them with you! This first is a picture of something I didn't sew, but did design and screenprint as part of my Filbert & Maggie line:

She sent it too me, because someone told her she looked like a Mainer today with her Maggie May t-shirt, jeans and Birkenstocks. Well, she is from Maine...

The other picture is another McCalls 6744. I made her a feather-print version for her birthday last summer, and she wears it all the time so she asked me to make her another. This time I used some polyester (I think?) knit fabric I had in my stash. It has a black lace print, which was just the perfect scale for this dress. This pattern is super easy to sew, with only 4 pattern pieces and about 3 hours start to finish. For her, it fits perfect right out of the envelope... I don't even have to alter the hem length. 

finished silk copy-cat maxi-dress

Here it is! My copy-cat maxi-dress inspired by Reves Mecanique! What do you think?

 

You may remember that I decided to alter  Very Easy Vogue V8870 from my pattern stash from a hi-lo skirt to maxi-length. The alterations came out fairly well. The front bodice fits nicely, although the side and back I think could be taken in a little at either the waist seam or at the side seams under the bustline. I think is would be just that much more flattering if it were a tiny bit less blouse-y in the back and sides. Unlike the Sewaholic Saltspring pattern I was inspired by, this bodice has a facing at the neckline instead of being fully lined. With this fabric that worked just fine. I used lightwieght fusible interfacing on the facing and sergered the raw edge. The side seams on the bodice are finished with a french seam, and I inteneded to do the same with the skirt... but made a in a moment of absentminededness I sewed the piece right-sides together, and trimmed the seam allowed to 1/8 inch before realizing my mistake! (For french seams I should have sew wrong-sides together, trimmed seam allowence, then stitched the seam again right sides together for a beautiful encloused seam.) So I eneded up having to finish my skirt seams with the serger instead. A neat enough finish, but not as nice as french seams would have been with this lovely fabric.

The back also has elastic on the top, too, and I like how it holds the bodice in place. This pattern calls for two, narrow straps on each shoulder. I had to fiddle a fair amount to get them to lay even on the shoulders, and even still one strap likes to slip down.

The fabric is a silk/cotton blend from Grey's Fabric and Notions in Boston, MA. It sewed up very nicely. I used just a regualar size 9 needle. The fabric slipped only a tiny bit along the skirt side seams, which is barely noticible after a good pressing. Speaking of pressing... I can not seem to get the original fabric fold line out of the center back, even after a pre-wash and good pressing! Maybe it'll work itself out with wear.

I used my rolled hem foot again for the hem, and most of the hemline cam out really, really well! There were a few spots I had to go back over with hand stitches, but no one will even notice that way down by my feet! I think this will be a great tool.

Overall I am very pleased with this dress and expect to get a lot of wear out of it!

work in progress: a black, silk copy-cat maxi-dress

When I stumbled upon this amazing silk, black, Sewaholic Saltspring maxi-dress by Kim at Reves Mecanique, it was lust-at-first-sight! It's a perfect summer staple yet luxurious in silk, stylish yet comfortable, casual yet sophisticated, wear it dressed it up or down... I MUST MAKE ONE!! But me? Sew with silk? That thought was terrifying.

source: http://revesmecanique.blogspot.nl/2013/09/silk-saltspring-maxi-dress-i-love-you.html

That was six months ago. Now I'm feeling a lot more confident in my abilities, enough to risk using nicer fabrics and try new materials. So while in Boston a few weeks ago I visited this a great locally-owned shop called Grey's Fabric and Notions ("Where sewing is foxy!") and picked up some black, silk/cotton blend with just a little bit of sheen. That last part, the cotton, makes the fabric just that much less intimidating than 100% silk would be.  They also carried lots of great indie sewing patterns, and after my Cambie success, I was very tempted to pick up a copy of the Saltspring pattern for a true copy-cat, but decided instead to try a Very Easy Vogue pattern already in my stash.

I've extend the skirt pattern to maxi-length, and have sewn up a test of the bodice in a synthetic fabric from my stash. I LOVE the print of this fabric, but absolutely hate the feel of it so I was not making this as a wearable muslin.... but once I got it together it just looks so awesome! While this test isn't going to be salvageable as a wearable item of clothing (and it turns out is a size too small), I think I'm going to have to try to make something out of the remaining fabric. Maybe I can line it with a fabric that will feel much nicer against my skin.

I also plan on turning the v-neck into a scoop like my inspiration dress.  And though I'd really love to splurge on another one of Sewaholic's amazing pattern, I think this pattern-hack may work out nicely after all!

steppin' out in my cambie dress

While still not feeling great, I felt well enough to dig out some cute pick flats, throw my hair up (literally), and take a few photos of my Cambie dress outside on my deck. As you can see, the trees are still just brown sticks up here, but at least the temperatures have been in the 50's during the day! Even 60's a couple days!

See? The fit is not so bad! There is just the right amount of ease to be comfortable, yet still fits close to the body.  As I mentioned in my previous post, I shortened the bodice at the waistband, shoulder seam, and then another inch when attaching the front of the sleeve to the bodice after everything else was constructed.  I think the waist sits at just the right spot, as does the shoulder seam, but the bodice comes up pretty high under my armpit. Not unwearably high, but it would be more comfortable a little lower, and probably wear better without that friction and deodorant rubbing it. So next time around I will either just cut the arm opening a little bit lower, or shorten the bodice some just above the bustline. Then I may not need to take any in when attaching the sleeves to the front.

I also noticed some wrinkles on the back, running from the center zip down to the sides. Could this also be corrected by shortening the back bodice? Or is it a result of the fabric sitting too high in the armpit? I'd love your thoughts on how to best correct these fit issues for the next version.... which I think needs to have a big circle skirt! I think with just a few adjustments, I might actually have a PERFECT fitting dress!

finished floral cambie

I wanted to go all out with fun heels and photos outside to show off my finished Sewaholic Cambie, especially since today is the day last day for Sew Dolly Clackett sew-along, but instead....

As soon as I was home from work... straight to the couch with a baggy sweatshirt and a box of popsicles. Yup, a springtime cold. No dolling up for this chick today. I still wanted to show you my finished Cambie, so here are some less-than-awesome, indoor, nighttime iPad pics... but I promise for modeled photos soon so we can talk fit!

Over all, I really enjoyed every part of making this dress. Floral cotton and pretty purple lining helps! But also Tasia drafted a very nice pattern. The bodice was easy to fit, and for me it was very helpful to attached the straps/sleeve to the bodice front last, as I often (and did here) need to take out extra at the shoulders. I opted for view A, with the A-line skirt and slash from pockets. I love slash pockets! I love how they sew together, and how they look on a garment, and I think they feel sturdier than other pocket constructions. Sewaholic patterns are drafted for a pear-shaped figure, which I am definitely not, so I could have graded down a couple of sizes at the hips if I wanted a more figure fitting skirt, but I didn't mind the extra volume in the skirt for this version.

 

That silk-like lining from my stash is very lightweight, and feels nice against the skin. I think this will make it very comfortable to wear. I'm pretty pleased with my matching at the waist when I installed my invisible zipper. I got it in on the first attempt! And without an invisible zipper foot for my sewing machine! The lining was then hand stitched to the zipper with a slip-stitch.

Can you see those teeny, tiny pricks along the hem? I didn't want to loose much length, so I serged my raw edge, folding up once and hand-stitching.

Sorry for the badly chipped nail polish...

I decided to try the rolled hem foot that came with my Bernina on the lining fabric. While not perfect here (and it's lining... so no one will see it....) I was pretty pleased! With a little practice that is going to be a very useful feature for fine fabrics!

Before I sign off, take some cold medicine and hit the sack for the night, I wanted to update you on my art studio's Kickstarter campaign.... and we did it!!! Thank you so much to those who helped with that! You have no idea how amazing this is... and how amazing it will be to be working in our new screen printing room. I've got some ideas for printing on fabric in the future... but that's another post for another time. :)

what's rachel sewing today? a sewaholic cambie dress!

I'm finally feeling like sewing for spring! We've had, like, 4 above-freezeing days in a row! Some even with sunshine!!  So what's my first frock of spring (a term shamelessly stolen from Scruffy Badger)?  I've seen so many great Sewaholic Cambie Dresses around the web, and and for a long time now I've just have a hunch that it would be a great fitting pattern for me... so I've finally mustered up the courage to give it a try!

Oooo, floral cotton! I bought this fabric specifically with this dress in mind after seeing one of Tasia's versions here and her McCalls 7743 here.  The bodice came together very easily, and with very few adjustments. What a great patterns! I took it up at the shoulder seam by 5/8", and then shortened the bodice 1/2" before attaching the waistband. The cap sleeve is attached to the back bodice, then sewn into the front bodice once everything in constructed and fitting. I often have to short the shoulders once I have a dress fitted, so this is perfect for me! I can wait until the very last step with the zipper installed and all to fit my sleeves!

The pattern is completely lined. In the instructions it calls for you sew the entire dress and lining seperatly, then after the zipper is installed attached them at the top, right sides together then turning inside out for a clean finished. I've altered that construction just slightly so that the waistband and  lining would be stitched together for a little more stability.  I hope it doesn't mess me up down the line.

You can see how I have sewn all layers of bodice, lining and waistbands into the waistband.

But I didn't sew them together all the way to the back seam to allow me in install the invisible zipper later, after the skirt is attached. Then I will hand sew any remaining lining closed to cover all the yucky seams.

Now I need to decided on the skirt. The pattern includes a full gathered skirt (which doesn't always look flattering over my abdomen, but looks so cute with this bodice on Tasia!) and a narrow, classic A-line (more practical for day-to day maybe? But will that style look good on my figure?). Another option would be to draft a circle skirt, which I know looks great on me, but would be a lot more work, and I hate hemming a circle skirt!

Image source: http://sewaholic.net/introducing-the-next-pattern-the-cambie-dress/ and http://www.sewbox.co.uk/blog/1561/sewing-patterns/new-sewaholic-pattern-the-cambie-dress/

Hmmmmm, what will look best... and what will work best in my wardrobe?

a little more georgia...

First of all, some exciting blog news: I REACHED 10,000 PAGE VIEWS TODAY! I still think it is so incredibly cool that people all over the world are interested in my sewing adventure. The sewing blogger community is just amazing, and I feel honored to be a part of it!

But moving on...

In response to a comment on my last post, I thought today I'd go a little bit more into how I went about troubleshooting my Georgia Dress bodice fitting troubles.

Here is my first attempt in a size 10:

I have a 36" bust, so I fall right in between the the US size 8 and 10. While the cups fit ok in shape and volume, the princess seams do not fall over the bust apex as they should, the side seam on the left is way too far back, and as you can see there is at least 4 extra inches of fabric on the right side seam. The size 8 really didn't look too much different, this time with more like 3 extra inches, even though according to the envelope the finished garment measurement is 35.5", that's 1/2" less than my actual bust measurement. Knowing that I needed to loose 2-3 inches, I decided to go right to the size 4 with a bust measurement of 33.5", 2" less than the size 8. I should mention that with these test garments, I have not taken in 5/8" seam allowance on the top and bottom, so the bodice when finished will actually be 1 1/4" smaller vertically. The size 4 pattern pieces looked very narrow, so to try to add a little more height to the neckline, and because my difference between high bust and full bust measurements is 2-3" (c-cup range), I did a 1/2" Full Bust Adjustment as recommended on the By Hand London Georgia Dress Sewalong.

On a side note: I was really surprised by how much I like this blue floral fabric as a bodice! Maybe a blue floral bra-top or bikini in my future?

As you can see the fit is much better, and the neckline while still low is not too low after considering the 5/8" seam allowance.  BUT I was seeing some sagging around the bust apex that I could not press out, a little easier to see in the second picture:

Of course I did my fitting without a t-shirt and cami underneath, and the sagging was even more prevalent without that tiny bid of added width from the extra shirts. Looking back to the By Hand London blog post on bodice fitting, it looked like the image demonstrating the need for a Small Bust Adjustment:

Image from http://byhandlondon.com/blogs/sew-alongs/12031569-georgia-dress-sewalong-3-full-small-bust-adjustments-fba-sba

There was too much volume in that area of the bodice. So that's why I decided to try the size 4 without the FBA, obtaining a higher neckline by only using a 1/4" seam allowance on the top instead of the 5/8". It seemed to work! 

My black sateen from Mood.com sewed up beautifully, and pressed nicely to lay smooth over the shape of my bust.

I used my final muslin as the lining, and after all that leg work it came together perfectly!

The instructions call for sewing the straps on both the front and back of the bodice by sandwiching them between the lining and main fabric. I opted to only attach the front at this point, knowing from experience that I will have to shorten the straps quite a bit once I'm able to try on the near-finished dress. At that point, I'll sew in the back of the strap by hand. 

I hope to sew up a test garment for the skirt this afternoon, so expect an update soon!

not-a-christmas-party dress

My MIL every year hosts a big annual Christmas party. It's a perfect excuse to get dressed up on a small island in Maine, and each year there are about 70 guests eating and enjoying each other's company in her home. Last year due to some kitchen construction, her Christmas party was postponed until January... and everyone loved it so much more after the holidays that now it's the annual Not-A-Christmas Party! Of course after this past year of sewing and blogging... I had to make a fabulous party dress.

The pictures were taken at the end of the party after the quests had all left, so it's probably a smidge wrinkled. I used some very cool, large scale "Yokohama Forest" quilting cotton  by Alexander Henry. The fabric was nice and thick, and both washed and pressed beautifully. Isn't is sometimes nice to sew with plain, old, cotton? Because of the large scale of the print, I spent a lot of time decided what would be the best placement of said print on my body. That also meant very careful cutting to get the pattern to line up perfectly across the seams. I ended up having to fussy-cut the sleeves from single layer from the scraps left after cutting the bodice, and was just able to lay them out so they would also match up. Totally worth it!

I used an out-of-print Butterick pattern (the number escapes me currently so I will find out when I'm back home, but something along the lines of this McCalls pattern), for a simple shift dress with back darts, french bust darts, and scoop neckline. Only three pattern pieces! Perfect for highlighting my fabric!

For adjustments I shortened the pieces just below the bust line, between the waist and hips, and then a few inches more when I did the hem. Even though I measure at a pattern size 14, I looked at the finished garment measurements and decided to cut a 10 for the shoulders, bust and waist, then grade out to a 14 in the hips (which seemed a little odd as I don't really consider myself pear shaped). By cutting the 10, the shoulders fit perfectly with no further alterations, a rare occurrence! I had to fuss with the shape of the side seams in the hips a few times to get that to lay right. It's still not quite perfect, but very close. I ended up re-drafting the whole sleeve to a straighter line for a looser fit.

 

On the back, I decided to try a trend and put in a gold exposed zipper! (Can you believe the retail price on that thing was almost $20! Good thing I had a nice coupon.... it was worth it.) The zipper was originally about 8" longer and ended below my bum... not cute. Traditionally I would shorten it from the bottom, but I wanted to preserve that neat finish that already came with the zipper. So I shortened from the top, tucking the end in between the lining fabric and creating a zipper-stop with superglue! (Probably not the approved technique in Vogue's New Book for Better Sewing...)

I didn't quite get the zipper perfectly straight with the neckline... but it's barely noticeable.

Notice the flecks of metallic gold and splashes of vibrant purple in the fabric!

I lined the bodice with some vibrant purple fabric from my stash that matched the purple in the cotton print. It's probably a synthetic, but has a matte sheen and weight similar to a silk blouse I own and love. Made a lovely lining! I finished the hem by hand. The sleeves were unlined and finished on the serger. Speaking of sleeves, they took forever to set in! I've been spoiled by knits that can be stretched into place. It's probably good for me to be forced to re-learn to set sleeves in woven fabric, as I'll need to know that later this year when I make my coat!

The verdict? The dress was very comfortable all evening! Even after lots of food and dessert! I also wore my Ginger high-waist panties for the first time, and they were also very comfortable! So far all my 2014 garments have been great successes and additions to my wardrobe. As an artist, this is a perfect cocktail dress for any functions or events I would be attending, and it will get a lot of use!

first make of 2014 - lola dress by victory patterns

I know I haven't finished my Top 5's of 2013... but didn't want to wait to show you my first sewing project of the new year, Victory Patterns Lola dress!

 

I had picked up some medium-weight, heather grey sweatshirt fabric at a surplus/salvage store for something around $3/yard. Looking at the opposite side, I suspect it's some kind of performance fabric. It washed great, and I still have 1 1/2 or so for another project! I also had plenty of matching grey ribbing in my stash from a Fabric.com sale.

 

The Lola pattern is a casual sweatshirt dress, with princess seaming, raglan sleeves and a hi-lo waistline that's actually quite flattering. Makes for a dress that's super cozy without being frumpy. I purchased the PDF version, which meant taping all those pages together before cutting the pattern out. That part took more time that the whole dress construction! (Or at least it seemed like it!) I made a size 8 with no alterations and it fit great, although I did accidentally loose some length at the waist because I sewed the skirt on backwards and had to cut and re-sew.... oops! 

Everything was constructed on the serger, aside from the little triangle at the neckline and the top hem of the pockets. My seams came out a little wobbly as I'm still learning my serger, but for a sweatshirt dress like this no one will notice! The pattern includes notches to line up along the princess seams and other curved seams, which I thought was a great benefit for easing those curves.

I love the raglan sleeves and princess seaming... so flattering!

I would totally recommend this pattern, and hope to make it again. And looking ahead to my  new year sewing plans, it seems that 2014 is going to be the year of the indie patterns!

How about a iPad selfie to end the post? Until later!