crappy WIP peek

Ok, so I should have muslined this one. I knew that, but threw caution to the wind.

Sherrill asked if I graded up, and yes I did (to a 48) but I should have left the yokes at a 46 which is my BWOF neck/shoulder size. Here's the bodice, AFTER I pinned out all the excess in the front neckline:


Ignore all the unpressed glory of this top. I could tell almost immediately I needed more width for the bust area, so I wasn't worried about construction perfection. Plus, after I cut it out I noted that the full design of the top + the Hawaiian-esque Amy Butler print = MuuMuu.

And I typically don't need additional help in that area.

Here's how much I pinned the neckline to make it lay flat:


And here's the back, which needed about twice as much taken out of the neckline.


I think I need to figure out the forward-thrusting neck alteration. I must walk around looking like a goose all the time.


The good news? I really like the yoke shaping! It's very cute. And I love the way the cap sleeve falls just so (when it looks as though there's no sleeve at all.) A word about the sleeve opening...I had to lower it by 1 inch. That was a tiny opening! (I got stuck in the top the first time I tried it on. Not funny. Stop laughing.)

OH! And the BWOF directions? Might as well have been in German for all I got out of the yoke/yoke lining paragraph (yes, paragraph). Made NO sense to me so I'll have to tackle that at a later time (or do something different).

Off to work now! Three more days!

monday monday

Monday's have a way of showing up right after the weekend. Drat them.

Yesterday I traced this top from BWOF 7/2008, #108:
Tonight I'm pinning & cutting (and hopefully sewing it) using this fabric, from Amy Butler's Daisy Chain line:


Looks like a cool, cottony top to wear in the hot, Arizona sun next week!!

Attitude of Grattitude Award

I also have very generous, kind and thoughtful readers who deserve a big old thank you!! I've been given the Attitude of Gratitude award by a couple of my fellow sewing bloggers and I want to say I truly appreciate it! Thank you Julia and MaryPat!!

And that's it for this Monday edition of Quality Time! ;o)

ps...hopefully I'll have a finished tunic to show you tomorrow!

WIPs

I normally save my posts for the finished product. But there's something to be said for putting it out there in the middle of the process...keeps me on track for one thing. And I've taken a page from Carolyn's playbook. Carolyn, who sews so many beautiful things and also works full time like me, gets her projects together BEFORE she starts to sew them up. Including buttons, interfacings, thread, etc. Thus leaving sewing time for just sewing (no running around). On that note, I tried to plan better when I bought these fabrics (or when I got them together from stash at home.)

Here are my current WIPs...

1. BWOF 2-09-118. Progress: Traced & fabric chosen (I think!) Ready to pin & cut out! I plan to use plain black cotton interlock, picked up for a different project a while back. It's a bit weighty which I think will work well. I also have some of this lavender left from Lu's tunic dress (which needs to be, um, finished too):


I bought that lavender knit from Fashion Fabrics Club about 10 years ago!! Wow.

2. BWOF 2-09-125

Pattern not traced yet, that's planned for later today. I actually have fabric chosen for this cute raglan sleeve top though. I purchased a baby blue stretch woven off the clearance table yesterday. I only spent $3 on it but it's such a pretty color & seems to be a really nice fabric. This is an extreme closeup!


I couldn't find a suitable match for the thread at the store. You would think it would be an easy match! But baby blues make it appear more "aqua" and aqua makes it appear more blue. I just went with the closest match I had at home. I also picked out buttons, some mother of pearl shell buttons. They'll have to be washed on the delicate cycle, but that's OK.


3. BWOF 2-09-121

I can't stand it, I have to have this little dress! Pattern not traced. BUT I happen to have purchased this fun print rayon challis last year or the year before...it's been needing a good project ever since. This looks like an easy pattern, so after I grade it up a bit it should go pretty fast. Fabric already prewashed! And I have the elastic. This one's a go. Woot!


4. Simplicity 2732


Such a cute top! Shannon had great success with the McCall's version of this top, and I saw one in the Butterick catalogue too I think. I've already got this one tissue fit, so all I need to do is pin, cut, make, wear. In theory.

I'm using this magenta stretch sateen. It's a very lightweight twill weave, and I just hope it's lightweight enough for this blouse. It's too light for pants --with my excess bum baggage-- so I probably won't be using it for bottoms (probably be OK for a skirt though).


Here are the thread & buttons, both grabbed at Wally World yesterday afternoon when I stopped for root beer. I generally avoid the "old" coats & clark thread, but I don't want to wait until I can get to a Hancocks or Hobby Lobby (who carries the new fancy coats & clark, which I LOVE!) I also chose sparkly jewel-ish buttons because, well, they were pretty.


One of the first places I stopped yesterday was the flea market, where I picked up the most awesome vintage glass beaded trim EVER!! There are 5 section pieces. The tag shows it's 1/2 yard, at $18.99/yd. I would imagine that would be greatly inflated today!


I now am the proud owner of 5 sections, 4 in perfect condition and 1 that is missing a bit of the bugle beads in the center. It would be an easy fix though. This stuff is heavy from all the cut glass beads. A closer picture of one entire section:


And here's the tag. Does anyone recognize the label?


It was shoved at the bottom of a tin filled with old thread spools. I squealed like a little girl when I found it! I might have even jumped up and down a little bit. :D

Ok, off to do some W in these WIPs!