wadderville.

Of course as soon as you want to sew something up "quick and easy" you end up with a wadder. It's like the Murphy's law of sewing. I cut out this Hotpatterns tee a few weeks ago and have been fiddling around trying to finish it ever since:


I had been hanging onto a blue & white beefy cotton knit (interlock?) for YEARS. I thought it would work perfect for this tee, since I had plenty to work with and could do the cool bias neckband and pocket, as featured on the cover illustration.

Unfortunately, there seems to be a draft error in my copy of the pattern. The neckband piece is WAY too short. Here's the neckband from the front:


There was no way to attach the neckband without super-stretching the t-shirt neck out of whack, resulting in numerous puckers and gathers. AND...on the back, there are at least 2 inches that I simply cannot ease into the neckline. I had less than 1 inch of neckline left but more than 2 inches of neckband left to ease in!

A quick perusal of PR shows a couple of reviewers had the same problem.

I think I've been spoiled by the excellent results I've had with Ottobre Woman neckbands and bindings. In my experience, the OW neckbands/bindings are always spot on as far as length, so I completely trust the pattern piece. I never have to fiddle with putting those bindings on.

I probably should have measured the neckband piece more carefully against the neckline, but really? If I pay this kind of money for a pattern, I expect someone to have done all that for me. (Yup, I'm still a little annoyed about it.)

Sigh. Now I have to either toss this whole shirt (I've saved this fabric for *literally* a decade!) or pick out that neckband and cut a new one, if I can find enough scraps to do so. The other alternative is to find some white ribbing or possibly use some of my FOE to bind the neckline.

For now I'm moving on to the new Ottobre Woman I posted about earlier this week. I can't wait to get started on those garments! And here's a sneaky-peek of my new baby...Can you guess what she is???


More pictures and drooling to come.

rats.

Foiled again. I started out Monday afternoon working on that lovely madras 1960s sundress, remember? Well, as things in my life have a way of doing, everything about this project went south right at the finish line.

Here's the cute pattern, very similar to my previous 1960s sundress, so I expected good things. It's Simplicity 5445:


I used a fabulous white/aqua/navy madras print from Hancocks (lovely, silky feel. And on sale this week!) and white bias trim. I was making view 3, but with the trim from view 2.

See my booboo?


It's a rather large one, but even I didn't notice it until I was topstitching the skirt placket. I sewed the entire left front skirt on upside down!!! ARGH. And I took my time to carefully match the plaid when cutting too. Note how well I did on the bodice front matching the plaids.



And all that meticulous topstitching of that TEENY TINY bias trim!


It was perfect, I tell you!

Other than the extreme mismatchy plaid of the FRONT skirt. Had it been the back, I might have been able to live with it. (Probably not. Even though there's a ton of RTW out there with mismatched plaids.)

Sigh. I've lost the gumption to pick it all out and flip the skirt right side up. In fact, its a bit wrinkly in these pictures because it was wadded up and ready for the circular filing cabinet. But I thought you all might enjoy it, just the same.

And the pattern is wonderful...all fitted and bullet bra pointy boobish (a silhouette that works well for me. Ahem.) I'll be making it again, I've no end of wonderful cotton prints. I hate that bias binding in the 1/4" size though. Very tiny and fiddly to work with (Amanda, you must give me pointers!) I have 5 more packages of it in a variety of colors that I now feel obligated to use of course.

Next, I'll be taking a break from sundresses that likely won't get a ton of wear for what's left of this summer (although it is steaming hot today. Don't let those beautiful blue skies in the pics above fool you. The heat and humid, heavy air take your breath away if you walk outside.) Instead I'm tracing off and doing a tiny bit of alteration to this 1940s ebay gem:


I have the perfect fabric too, a dead ringer for the white spotted cotton in the cover illustration. I'll be making a short sleeve version, without the ruffle. And maybe use some vintage lace to trim the square neckline.

The pattern has the sweetest, awesomest notation on the flap. It reads:
"Finished white dotted swiss blouse, August 15, 1946" and
"Finished lawn blouse (nightgown) March 12, 1945"

I LOVE vintage pattern notations! Do you think she made the lawn blouse from an old nightgown? It would have been right in the middle of hard rationing of fabric goods during the war. Don't you wonder where Nelda is now?

I have to say, one of my favorite notations is a 30s/40s pattern with "Angie" written in the top corner, specifying which dress "Angie" wanted. I always thought my name was of more recent popularity (the 1970s?). I've never seen it on any vintage ephemera before.

I hope you're all staying cool and having better luck than me on the sewing homefront! I'm off to eat a Subway flatbread chicken sandwich and watch my lover Clark on Smallville.

Shut up. He does too love me.