the good, bad and ugly scout tee

Cheap, synthetic, silky fabrics are yucky. They are yucky to work with and often yucky to wear... so why are they so irresistible in the fabric store?!?! I bought this blue "simply silky print" at Joann Fabrics, because "look how pretty it is!". I knew it should be another Grainline Scout Tee.

GOOD:
It came out looking pretty good overall! Fits nicely, sleeves set well. And actually, this particular silky synthetic feels nice to wear.

BAD:

I made a mistake. After spending quite a bit of time laying out the wiggly, wobbly fabric so my lines would lie straight across the body and the little waves/fishy scales lay in the correct directions... I cut the back piece upside down. I really wanted the print to lay like fish scales all around the top (I know, who actually WANTS to look like a fish? Me, it turns out.). It doesn't look that bad, but does kinda spoil the effect I was super excited for.

UGLY:

Remember how silky synthetics are not fun to sew with? Well, this fabric certainly had it's challenges. As I mentioned, it wiggled and wobbled, taking a lot of time and concentration to cut out the pieces accurately. It also wiggled and wobbled as it went under the machine, so the sides seams have a little puckering. They all really falls more under "bad"... the ugly is the neck binding:

Yuck! It slipped under my machine, it puckered the neckline, and just wouldn't lay flat! Thankfully, I was able to hand stitch down the areas that slipped out from the machine's needle without it showing too badly, and could iron most of the puckering out, getting it to lay flat(ter). Also, the sheen on the fabric is actually working with me by hiding some of these less-than-perfect bits when I wear it. 

BUT GOOD AGAIN:

My narrow hems on both the bottom of the shirt and sleeves came out really, really well! It was nice to end this sewing with a real high note, otherwise this top may have ended up in the trash. I could say the fabric behaved well for the narrow hem.... but I'm going to go ahead and think that is was just the seamstress demonstrating some especially nice sewing skills. :) 

a present to me, from me! - a sewaholic renfrew christmas sweater

Who can resist purple reindeer sweaterknit?!?! I think it was from Joann's last winter, and I loved it then, but not the price, especially since I was so new to sewing and my success rate was still not too high. Then this summer it moved over to the clearance rack, which then was 50% off the clearance price, and it was finally mine!  I knew right then that a Sewaholic Renfrew Christmas sweater was in my future!

And here it is! I enjoyed Tasia's pattern. She has you construct it a little differently than most top patters, and it comes together really well. I only made a few alterations right at the end. I took the bottom band in 3-4 inches. Her patterns are designed for pear-shaped ladies, which I am definitely not! I also had to shorten the sleeves quite a bit (and could have more, but didn't want to cut off any reindeers!), and took in the cuff so the sleeves would stay up when scrunched to 3/4 length. The smaller band and cuffs gave it more of a sweatshirt shape and I totally dig that for this sweater, but if I were to make this pattern as a regular jersey t-shirt I would grade down the hips and arms to get a slimmer fit.

I did a fairly good job matching up my stripes, only a few spot got askew. The cuffs were supposed to have a band of purple right after the stitching, but that got lost during construction, but I made sure to line up the facing-together reindeer to the center of the bodice front and back. 

 

And check out that awesome neck binding! I carefully cut my strip from the fabric to make the patterned band, lined it up nearly perfect, and attached and top-stitched with a nice, even zig-zag. Next time I will cut the band just a wee bit smaller as it gapes ever so slightly, most of which I was able to combat with a good steaming. I constructed everything on my regular sewing machine with a slight zig-zag stitch, then finished the seams on the serger. I'm doing most of my sewing this way right now, not quite yet trusting my mastery of the machine to do my seams right on the serger.

And now "'tis the season" to be busy, so there may not be a post again until after the 25th. In the meantime, Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to all! Whatever you celebrations may be, I hope they are merry and bright!

me-made-may '13 - may 19th - 23rd

Still going strong!

On May 21st I wore my slim, lace print skirt to work with a black t-shirt and purple-y cardigan. This was one of my earlier makes, and wearing it again this week I can see how far I've come in my sewing skills in just a few months! The fit isn't quite right and the zipper is sewn a little bit bumpy. But the print camouflages most of that so it still look good and I'll wear it again!

I wore my new McCalls 6751 and I love this fabric! I paired it with skinny jeans and a red cardigan.  As I mentioned in a previous post, I  have to wear a black cami under so that my bra doesn't show with the deep V int ha back. BUT I'VE ALSO DISCOVERED that the straps like to slide off my shoulder... another reason for the cami! 

a bright casual mccalls 6751 for summer

I saw this fabric and knew I needed it! The colors, the print, the softness, the drape! The questions was, what to make? Mr. Sew Rachel thought I should make a maxi-skirt, and while I do love my maxi-skirts, I really wanted a top. But, with a large print like this it had to be a pattern without a lot of pieces and seams, and large enough to really show the print off without overwhelming my small frame. I decided to try a new McCalls pattern, M6751 view D.

It's not that l'm crazy for the butt flap trend this season, but it needed a little something to avoid being just a boxy top. After looking at the finished garment measurements I decided to cut a size smaller. 6+ extra inches in the bust? That's too loose for me. Even so, the shoulder straps lay a little too wide, which I'm finding is the case with most patterns on my frame.

Back view D

Back view of my finished top.

The back is designed to be made from one pattern piece, cutting two so they mirror each other. I thought, "how silly to waste such beautiful fabric by having a double layer over the butt flap. It isn't even seen!" So I cut the bottom piece to just under where they overlap, and then had enough scrap for a cool infinity scarf! Wrong move. Once I had it on, the way the "V" in the back draped revealed the bottom edge of the under-layer, and a big ugly opening! I had to top stitch the two pieces together along the top hemline about 6 inches from the side seam to prevent the gaping. It's mostly invisible, but now the back "V" doesn't drape nearly so lovely. What did I learn? Next time follow the instructions because they are probably that way for a reason.

Speaking of instructions, I discovered a fabulous little nugget of information tucked in the M6751 instructions! The options for finishing the neckline, armholes, and hem were bias tape or a narrow hem. I wasn't so pleased with bias tape when I used it for the top I made for my sister, so I thought I try my hand at a narrow hem and discovered THIS:

Why had I not seen this before?!?! What a great way to ease in a curved hemline, and even with the straight hems that extra line of stitching made for a great guild-line! Remember how in the last post I stated how much I hate hemming? Well I still think it's tedious and fussy, but at least I now have a tool that makes it a little easier and lead to better results! 

another present?

Yup! I made another present! Who knew I was that generous? This time it's for my brother's fiance. (They are getting married this August and this girl is a bridesmaid, so keep posted for a killer handmade bridesmaid dress!)

We were out at the Mall and she spotted this awesome teal sleeveless tank top at Macy's. It looked great on her, and had a cute just-the-right-size bow on the neckline, but she was not going to pay nearly $40 for a tank top! So....

 

 

I used Simplicity 2116, a simple tank pattern. It was really easy, just two pattern pieces. The instructions were to sew up the side and shoulder seams, then turn in and hem the neck and shoulders. But wanted to take it up another level. I bought a teal polka-dot knit for the front panel and the bow (from the clearance rack, of course), and a fine off-white knit for the back and for lining. I chose to use lining so it can be worn to work without worry of undergarments showing, and just to elevate it and make it more than just a tank...  

 

Because if the lining, I chose to construct it a little differently. After sewing the shoulder seams on both the lining and the outer layer, I sewed the necklines right sides together and turned to get a clean, top-stitch free neckline to highlight my bow! I hope she likes it!

a present for my sister!

I kept telling my sister that I'll make her some cool things... after I finish making all the cool things I want to make for me. (Do you hear a little Selfish Seamstress in me?) Well, something tells me I'm NEVER going to get to the end of that every growing list. So I found this great silky print on the clearance rack at Joann Fabrics and knew it would be perfect for her. If course, there was only 1 yard left, so we decided to make a loose top to wear with skinny jeans, using McCalls 6359.

I bought some black crinkly jersey for contrast, and while I had JUST enough of my silky print to block it like it's shown on the envelope I decided to change it up a little.

What do you think? Still have the cool V detail on the back, but all print in the front! I used french seams whenever possible. It took a little over 3 hours from start to finish. This was only my second time using bias tape for the neck and arm openings and it took a lot of manipulation with the iron to get it to lay ok, but all that consider it came out pretty well!