let's try this again // apples!

So it's been a while and no I didn't get pregnant!  Long story short:  there was a trip to Japan to learn about shibori and indigo dying, among other things, months of winter hibernation, a trip to Europe, and oh yeah, the remote for my camera died.

Don't think I haven't been sewing though, because there was a slew of ill-fitting Archers, Scouts, and skirts; bad fabric choices; a copy of Fit for Real People; the realization that I've been wearing the wrong bra size my entire life; and, finally, a reconciliation of what it is I think I want to sew (floral silk everything!) versus what I actually do want to sew (more solids and cottons, thanks).

For example:

The top is Simplicity 1690 and, as presented on the envelope, probably looks best tucked into something high(er)-waisted.  It's so easy to sew I almost feel guilty about it, but I tried to compensate with the fabric.  I made mine in a apple print that is probably more appropriate for your 5-year old daughter than an adult woman, but I think the shades of navy, orange, and white keep is sophisticated.  I purchased it from The Fabric Store (say this in your best Toy Story Aliens voice!!), and it features an interesting weave that almost makes it look like a knit and gives it a spongy texture.

Because this top is really good at making you look like an inverted triangle, I extended the shoulder seams an additional inch and simply trued up the sleeve hems.  Also made a small swayback adjustment.  I've paired it here with another Burda 7069 skirt, this time in a super soft Marc Jacobs navy twill.  It has a brushed, flannel-like hand and it goes with everything.  I love it to death.  It doesn't have any lyrcra which means that after sitting in it for an hour it looks like I hail from Wrinkletown, USA, but I don't care.

Up next:  a couple of Burda frankentops.  See ya kids later!

Roxaaaaaanne

So let me say this:  I really dislike Peter Pan collars.  Not the women that choose to wear them, obviously, but how mind-bogglingly twee they look.  I know they're supposed to disguise big chins and broad shoulders, which I guess I could use help with, but they look so precious and juvenile I just can't take them seriously.  Srry, Peter Pan collar fans.

Anyways.  I made a top! . . . with a probably equally twee collar?

Pattern:  Victory Patterns Roxanne, Ver. 2.

Fabric:  Cotton sateen for collar, cotton lawn for self.

I will also say that high necklines make me feel like I’m being asphyxiated.  I also never really liked high-low hems and thought they looked seriously sloppy, but the entire Victory Patterns line is so beautifully unique and anti-trendy that I was convinced to try a pattern that had so many things I disliked.  I am pretty pleased I did.

To quote the awesome Slapdash Sewist: 
“I may be willing to do the trend, but I am not willing to butcher the English language by calling it ‘hi-lo.’”

The only problem I ran into while constructing an otherwise easy pattern was the collar.  I done goofed and had to start all over.  My own fault for not reading those instructions.  
 

The second time around, my poor woman’s point turner (which is a piece of cardstock with a rounded point) poked straight through the corner seams as I was turning my collar out.  I get too aggressive when trimming those seams, clearly.  At this point I had a sudden epiphany:  THIS IS WHY EVERYONE LOVES PETER PAN COLLARS!—THEY ARE ROUND AND DON’T HAVE POINTS!  . . . just kidding, hah.

Once I attached the collar and collar facing to the neckline, I couldn't get the dern thing to lie flat.  The seams are about 3/8” thick in some spots because you have five layers of top collar, interfacing, under collar, then the self, and the collar facing, which is also interfaced.  I graded, pressed, steamed, pressed some more, and hey!  It actually looks pretty damn good.

Cost/Time:  $20.00 / 4 nights, one of which was spent just steaming the collar into submission!

Alterations:  Chopped 2 inches off the hem.  Left the pocket off.  Shaved off a lot of fabric off the armscyes using a RTW top as a guide because this pattern already makes my shoulders look huge and excess fabric wasn’t helping.  I also hate fabric riding up into my armpits with the passion of a thousand fiery suns.

So!  I was pretty sure that Roxanne would look awful on me, but am pleased as punch with my new top.  The high neckline doesn't even bother me.  Many props to Victory Patterns.  I am smitten and want them all!

mmm popover

I was going to make a huge whiney post about how much I hated working with this limp fabric and how I really screwed up the sleeve cuffs and how the placket is crooked and and how I got way too aggressive when trimming my collar stand seams, but if the perfectionist in me ultimately deems it wearable, then it’s a-ok.  I just need to make sure my sleeves are always rolled up!

Pattern:  Grainline Studio’s Archer, popover variation!  

Fabric:  Some uber limp linen chambray. 

Cost/Time:  $19.00 / 4 nights.

Alterations:  Popoverrrrr!  This all started when I really wanted this shirt from J.Crew, but smacked myself and told myself to make it instead.  Don’t think my fabric had enough body, but am already planning another version in a cotton-linen blend that’s a tad heavier, albeit less drapey…

I used a combination of this tutorial and a Japanese shirt dress pattern to create the center placket, but miscalculated a couple of things and had to clip out a little square to patch the inside.  Kind of gnarly, but it works!

Yay, first shirt!

wiggle!

This is why I sew: to make myself an army of floral print pencil skirts!

This skirt has pretty much everything I want—a purply pink print, a tapered bottom, and seam lines that make my hips look like they’re bigger than they actually are (hah!).

Hips!

Pattern: Burda 7069, View B.

Fabric: Cotton/lycra sateen for self; cotton broadcloth for piping.  Thing had some heavy stretch so I fused my interfacing to some 100% cotton batiste that’s now sandwiched in between the waistband and the facing.  I can’t be the only person who thinks that fusing non-stretchy interfacing to stretchy fabric is a recipe for disaster, right…?!

Cost/Time: $18.00 ish.  2 weekends?  I sew at a snail’s pace.

Alterations:  Because I am a short inverted triangle, I shortened the skirt by about 6 inches(!) and tapered it from a size 10 at the waist to a size 8 at the hem.  I also shaved off about half an inch off the top of the waistband in a futile attempt to minimize waistband rollage.  I also snipped off a little wedge in the center back where the waistband met the skirt.  I guess this is an uber-simple swayback adjustment?  It lies perfectly flat on my backside now, which is kind of amazing after dealing with weird bumps in the back of all my skirts!

First time piping!  I had to run back to Mood for broadcloth and cording because I realized the seams were disappearing into the print.  Shit took FOREVER to make, and, in retrospect, I probably put them in the wrong way too.  I sewed the side gores to the center panels, pressed the seams open, ripped the seams apart, and, using the pressed seam allowance as a guide, applied the piping with some magic double sided tape and the invisible zipper foot.  

Mitered corners.  Another first!  They turned out decent, methinks.  Still a lot to learn.  Seams alongside the zipper are getting more even!  Catch stitched the hem by hand because my machine and its blind hem foot makes the most visible invisible hem ever.

I really want to make another one of these in LEOPARD PRINT, but I’ve made three printed skirts straight/pencil/wiggle skirts earlier this year and it’s time to tackle some tops.  Maybe this leopard print blouse . . . ?