knits and stripes and patterns, oh my!

I have finally broken my fabric fast and purchased some goodies, no thanks to Kristine who turned me onto Girl Charlee Fabrics.  I'm probably most excited by finally having my very own chevron SOMETHING...  Even if I'm late to the chevron party.  I got the B&W chevron knit:

Just what to make with it??  I saw an adorable skirt on Pinterest, but I've seen some cute tanks (a'la the Sorbetto) and even a few cute dresses. With a busy print like that, it would need to be something simple.  This is cute:

source

 Hmmm.  Taking suggestions now.

 Then I caved to the pressure I always feel from nautical-esque stripes.  Stripes, why do I love thee??

And this glorious stripe with a floral...I'm seeing a dress with a swirly skirt.  Maybe something that wraps around?

This is pretty, maybe more swish in the skirt...  Pattern suggestions??

source

And lastly, two small prints for (probably) more tees.

  Won't they be pretty in something feminine and girly?  Maybe that ruched center tee from Burda Style a few seasons ago.

 Or the Jalie sweetheart tee:

Good news...the Burda and the Jalie are already muslined.  Bad news...I want to start with the dress. Ha. Story of my life!

Hope you're having a lovely fall weekend!

Vtg Butterick 7762 - in progress

Sorry for the MIA-ness this week.  I had a school trip last weekend, and Saturday school, and new classes, and general running around trying to catch my tail.  Very little sewing going on, but I did do some handstitching on a nautical knit top from this vintage Butterick 7762:

I have had this pattern for YEARS (like, more than 10!)  It was one of the first vintage patterns I ever bought.   I don't know why I waited so long to try it. I was prompted into it by the super cute Sarah over at Rhinestones and Telephones, who has been using this pattern the past year for all sorts of cute things.

I made the top in a navy/white stripe poly-something knit:

 

Love the print, hate the fabric.  It's HOT.  

It's not hemmed yet, and if you look close you can see the serged edge of the sleeves.  I still need to finish tacking down the boatneck facing too.  I typically hate boatnecks ON, but I love the look of them.  Why is that?

Here's a much less flattering shot, hehe.

Gah.  I could have sucked it in, right?  I will comfort myself that it's just a bad angle.  Ahem. You can see the hem rolling up too. I never noticed, but it was that way in every single shot.  You can sort of see the cool chevroning that happens when you stitch this top in a stripe.

Those red pants are about to fall off my butt too.  They're actually the ankle-length pants from this pattern!  I haven't put in the waist stay or facing yet.  I was trying to decide if they needed a bit taken up at the waist (and now I 've decided YES, or I'll have saggy crotch.  Ew.)

That's it.  I was gonna show you the pants too, in progress, since they fit pretty darn well.  But, saggy crotch prevents me. Let me get the waist taken up a tad, and a stay in place, and then I'll show you!

Green plaid dress is still waiting for a zipper.  Why do I procrastinate on these??  It's so cute too, and the weather is PERFECT for wearing it right now.  Maybe this week. 

Hope you had a wonderful weekend!

BWOF 10-2008-114

Ok before you get all impressed that I made 2 garments in 2 days...remember that I started this top a couple of weeks ago. I have just really procrastinated the finish line on this one!

Before I bitch & moan about the trials I suffered while making this top, why don't I just show you a pretty picture of the finished product:


Actually, on viewing the finished product I have a lot less to B&M about. Still, since I love you so much and want to be entirely truthful, I'll come clean. Firstly you might have noted the DEEEEP V. I don't remember seeing this on other reviewers or bloggers' tops. This is most definitely a size or so too big. Or I made a massive tracing error somewhere along the way. I fixed most of the bad, and so now it's very wearable.

My fabric was only 48" wide, which wasn't wide enough to cut the back on the fold, or the fronts for that matter. I had to finagle the fabric to fit all the pieces, and ended up making a seam in the CF & CB lower bodices. You can't even tell, so it turned out fine. I also skipped the darts in back (not on purpose. I just forgot!)

I didn't bind the neckline, but rather turned under & topstitched with my twin needle. My twin needle hemmed everything in fact!

I started out not loving this top, because I wanted a closer fit in the top bodice, but ended up really appreciating it for what it is. And I've already removed the little tab in front. I machine stitched it and it just looks sloppy (and crooked in this pic, although it wasn't that crooked.) I'm going to hand stitch it and see if I get better results.

No more pics of the top (it's COLD and RAINY here!) but I do have pics of another gift! It's my sister's birthday this weekend, so I used the Criss Cross Coasters pattern from JennyB at Allsorts for some crafty goodness:


They were a fast & easy gift, especially considering I used Charm Packs rather than cutting my own fabrics for the squares! This Charm Pack is "Pampered Pooch" and I want to say it's by Moda, but I've already tossed the label. More pics below!

Coasters tied up with a pretty bow:


The coaster backs:


Close up of the fronts:


And that's it for me today! I had a "Me" day today, but it's back to school tomorrow. Big sigh.

Song for a Rainy Day

BWOF 03-2008-107

Firstly, thank you all for the sweet comments on Lu's costume! She really is a doll, inside & out!

I started a new project yesterday, and after my last few attempts at projects for me have gone southward (i.e. into the UFO pile) I needed something easy. I chose this kimono sweater from the March 2008 issue of BWOF:

This pattern has only 2 pieces, front & back. It's perfect for instant gratification because it looks nice, has zero fit issues, and is super fast to sew (unless you chose a ravelly sweater knit like me. But still near instant gratification.)

Here's the finished product, if you swear to ignore my bed head. Man I love Daylight Savings! (in October, anyway)


I cut the 46, my usual BWOF size and it was plenty roomy, but this style is so forgiving. I didn't do any sort of FBA, or any other alterations. I should have added an inch in length to the fronts and eased that in at the side seams for a sort of mock FBA, but even without it the top is fine, just a smidge short in front. (and for the next one I will do the additional inch)

I did add 1/2" seam allowances to all of the pieces because my sweater knit was very "run-prone". I had to turn under all the seam allowances & topstitch, which looks pretty cool both inside & out, AND solves the run issue. Below is an inside seam, and the neckline.


I missed turning under just a tiny bit here and there. Whoops. Of course I would get a pic of that. The pattern calls for you to bind the neckline, but my knit was SO stretchy I was afraid of attempting it. So instead I fused 3/8" strips of tricot interfacing to the neckline edges (including the crossover) and then turned under twice & topstitched. Looks nice & it didn't stretch out a bit.

Pretty sweater knit, no? It was $1/yard!!! Nanner nanner.

Speaking of tricot interfacing strips, BWOF and Ottobre and a few other indie patterns will call for fusible knit bias tape which I've purchased online before. It's very cool, on a roll and comes in straight grain, bias and in black and white. It stabilizes the edges especially in knits, necklines, wrap tops, etc. In a pinch though, I just cut my own from tricot interfacing scraps. I have a ziplock baggie of them by the machine. These small pieces are actually alot easier to work with than the roll.

I had issues with the hem, mostly stemming from the fact that it was going to be too short in front if I turned up my 1" hem allowance. So I took a page from Amanda's playbook and added a self-fabric hem band. Except that I didn't like it until I turned the band up and hemmed THAT. Problem solved....except that the hem is now a tad stretched out.


But it's only noticeable if you stand a certain way, and mostly not at all. Out of the 20 pics I snapped trying to get a decent one, in focus, with me NOT looking all scary and stuff, the pic above is the ONLY one to show the wavy hem. Below is more how it looks most of the time:


Which I can live with. Plus, I really think alot of it will steam out. I might toss it in the dryer with a damp hand towel a little later and see if I can get any shrinkage there too.

Now I might work on the 10/2008 BWOF top I started & had to stop before I turned into a slasher. Or not. So many less stressful projects are calling my name! I really need a slim fitting turtleneck to wear under this new kimono, for example. And I have the perfect aqua knit (and black for that matter) to make one...Hmmm.

Song of the Day