The Bela by Gina Renee Designs

Happy summer all!  Today, I have for you a new to me pattern company.  Here's a pic of the dress and a link to the pattern: 

Gina Renee Bela Dress

How adorable is this dress?  One of the most fun things about the on-line sewing community is that you get introduced to new designs, new ideas, and new pattern companies.  One of my favorite IG sewing buddies is birdy sew obsessed.  She makes the most beautiful things and I find myself copying her makes.  

She made this dress is an off-white silk crepe with black silk accents.  I knew I wanted something far more casual as when I return to work on August 1st, I will be in classrooms more often than I have been the past two years.  There's nothing worse than a three year old wiping his/her nose (insert  other bodily cavity here) on your hemline, neckline, or sleeve.  I needed something washable. Know what I mean?

I found this Telio stretch poplin at Fabric.com.  I so love Telio!  It is such nice quality for not a hefty price tag.  I thought this print was so perfect for summer.

I made this pattern as is meaning I didn't adjust for sizing.  It needs to slip on and off over your head.  For the next version, I will raise the back slit so it's a little more bra friendly.  I may also go down a size as while this is generous, I think I could go down one size and be fine.

How cute are those sleeve details?  The entire neckline and sleeves are edged in bias tape.  This bright blue is from my stash.  Several years ago, I purchased a rather sizeable amount of antique bias tapes, rick-rack, etc.  I am still reaping the rewards of that purchase.  Luckily it matched perfectly.

I really like this dress.  It's very comfortable and casual, plus it's washable.

Thanks for the inspiration birdy!

Happy sewing!

Sue

SA's Scarlett Top

Another StyleArc review today.

  

This is the Scarlett Top.  

The description is this: Use your design skills to create your individual look.  Scarlett can be made in a mix and match fabric combination or leave it plain.  This square shaped tunic style has a dropped shoulder line finished off with a very cute sleeve.  The hem bands wrap from front to back to complete this interesting look.  

I would wholeheartedly agree with the description.  My fabric choices are two remnants from my stash.

I love this bright orange linen.  The print is a ditsy floral that's a quilting cotton.  It's really high quality cotton.  I love using quilting cottons for garments.  They work so well as they wash, dry, and press beautifully.

I am still not sure this style is totally the most flattering, but I wore it and several people stopped me and commented on how cute they thought this was and where did I get it?  Isn't that one of the best compliments ever?

I made one small change and that was to fold the neckbind to the outside instead of the inside.  I think it helps tie everything together.

Thanks for reading!

Sue

Another McCall's 7432 in blue!

Welp, I made another dress.  I told myself no more summer dresses, but I simply couldn't help it.  I am sure you know what I mean.  

This time, I used one of my TNT patterns: McCall's 7432.  I love this pattern, almost as much as I love McCall's 6886. 

In a moment of weakness, I picked up this blue floral knit from JoAnns.  It washed and dried beautifully and didn't pill or stretch out of shape.  I think this dress will hold up.  Sometimes with Jo's you get burned.  I hope it's not this time as I really like this dress!  

Here's the pattern I used: 

It's very basic.  I like the A-line shape along with the three choices of necklines along with sleeve and length options.  

I made view E.  I think it's a classic shape and style for summer.  

As I am always trying to improve fit, I've finally come to realize that when I use a cottony-feel knit, I absolutely must make a seam at the center back waistline.  I use a 1/4" seam at the sides and taper to almost an inch at the dead center back.  This accommodates my swayback.  I've done this on my beloved McCall's 6886 and any time I use this type of knit, I have to with any pattern that doesn't have a seam there.

Here you can see it better.  See how much nicer that fits me?

For the neckband, in previous makes, I found the neckband to be rather wide and hang outwards from your body.  With this neckband, I cut it almost 1/2" narrower and tested it numerous times to make sure it hugged my body.  It does.

Another neckline trick I use is to put the garment on my dress form, and pin the neckband (or sleeve bands) to the garment.  Once I am happy, I remove it and sew.  This works beautifully for me.

For the sleeves and hemline, I used 1" hems and SewkeysE tape.  That stuff is what miracles are made of.  I read a post from Kenneth D. King stating that better knit dresses use 1" hems.  Guess what I now always do for knit hems? 

Thanks so much for reading and I hope your summer sewing is something you feel good about!

Sue

Blackwood Cardigan Round 2

Unless you've been vacationing on Mars, you've seen all the love shown to the Blackwood Cardigan by Helen's Closet.  

All this love is for good reason.  This pattern is awesome!  It looks good in so many different fabrics and every version I see is so cute!  

In reorganizing my current sewing space to move to another, I am seriously wondering about my over-flowing stash and why I am hanging onto some fabrics for so long.  This floral knit mesh is one of those fabrics.  When I pulled it out again, it was like the creativity train hit me upside the head and the Blackwood Cardi came into site.  Bingo! 

This pattern can be totally sewn on the serger if you'd like.  It is drafted exceptionally well and versatile.  What else can I say about it?  

In case you are wondering about the length, I did add 4" to the bottom.  Since this is summer-weight, I also left off the cuffs and hemmed them.  I knew I'd be pushing them up.  If I pull them down, they are bracelet-length.  

With this ultra light weight fabric, I stabilized the shoulders and back neckline with SewkeysE tape 1/2" wide.  For the hemline I used 1" SewkeysE tape in clear so it's double sided. This stuff works like a dream!  

I did leave off the pockets since I knew I'd be wearing this over something that most likely had pockets.  

For the cami, I had a bit of this vibrant fabric left and since remnants aren't welcome in my sewing room any more, I decided to make a tank to wear under this cardi.  The pattern I chose is this one: 

As you can see, this is by Itch to Stitch.  This pattern is FREE!

I love testing different pattern companies FREE patterns and this one was a pleasure to sew.  I had fun color-blocking it with my remnants.  

Plus, it was a fun challenge to use the mesh as the binding at the neckline and arms.

Enough for now!  

Thanks for reading!

Sue 

SA's Peggy Woven Dress

Here are photos from my July Fabric Mart's post on the Peggy Woven Dress.  When I purchased the border print, I was so excited to use it for a dress but the question is which pattern should I use?   This is a linen blend, in case you are wondering.

After stewing about it for a while, I decided on this pattern by StyleArc:  

 

This pattern is rated as 'Medium' or 'Challenging' and I'd agree.  Getting that button back placket correct takes some work.

As you can tell, I had some fun with the border print. 

I really like the patch pockets.  They are roomy but not floppy.  

The back is my favorite part.  You can see where I used part of the border for the button band and pink buttons!

I also like there is no gaping at the armscye.

I also like how this fits at the neckline.

Here's closer look at the button band.  If you don't get that nice and square shape at the bottom, then this would probably look a bit sloppy.

Here's a few more shots.

This was a fun make.

Thanks for reading!

Sue

StyleArc Gem Knit Tee

Today for you I have another top, this time an knit tee from StyleArc.  I am such a SA fan!  

Here's what this one looks like: 

If you've sewn a SA pattern before, you know the instructions are very sparse.  However, if you've made a tee shirt, you don't even need directions.  

For this top, I was scrap-busting.  The solid front was a remnant.  The black lace was from my stash.  It's a designer lace from Fabric Mart.  You'll notice the back hem is longer than the front.  It's also curved.

I used the lace on the sleeves as well.  For the sleeves, I wanted them slightly flared.  I slashed the sleeves in six places and put a 1/4" insert to add almost an inch to the total space.  I had hoped it would flare a bit more but I should have known with the limited amount I added that it wouldn't be dramatic at all.  

I didn't hem the sleeves.  I found an area of the lace to just cut around and that design became the hem.  

For the lower hemline, I used clear SewkeysE hem tape that was an inch wide.  I like using one-inch hems in my knits so they don't curl.  I used the same tape only 1/2" wide to stabilize the shoulders.

I found this tee a bit snug for me through the shoulder area.  In measuring my shoulder breadth, I added across the back neck area between the points where the neck and shoulder join.  I also added from the neck/shoulder junction to the shoulder area.

I used Designer Joi's method to fit the bust area.  I so love her method!

Now that I have a good fit on this tee, you'll see more of these!

Thanks for reading!

Sue

Another McCalls 7561

I promised myself I wouldn't make another dress until I had created 10 makes.  And guess what, I did it!  However the first thing I did right after the 10th make, I broke down and made this dress.  

I simply love this beginner patterns from McCalls that have so many different style options.  Below you can see my first make with this: 

I so love this dress from 2017!  I still regularly wear it.  

This time, I went for a summer look: 

All I did with this version is to obviously lengthen it and remove the sleeves.

The issue with taking your own photos is that sometimes you accidently cut off the top of your head!

Look at that, no side boob showing!

I love the neckline on this, both back and front.

The neckline gives you a great place to show off a necklace.

I love my new dress!

Happy sewing!

Sue

Silk Bondi Top

Talk about a fast sew!  This is a review for yet another woven tee.  This time, I made the Bondi top.  

This is a super simple top with very few seams.  I knew it'd be perfect for my double-faced Italian Silk I purchased from Treadle Yard Goods a few weeks ago.

I only purchased a yard of this.  I had no idea which pattern I'd end up using, but what I did know, is that this would be a simple top to layer, or not.   I didn't plan on this for casual wear, but I rather like it with my jeans and sandals!

This fabric was totally a splurge at $40/yard on sale!

I think it's totally worth it.  If you could feel what this feels like on your skin, you'd agree.

This top has a simple back yoke that attaches to a pleated back.  It has a banded neckline that I used the silk for. 

This was a simple fast sew and I love my new top!

Thanks for reading!

Sue