The top that should have been a dress or Simplicity 8216

How stinking cute is this pattern?  The moment I saw it, I knew I had to have it!  Luckily it was on sale at JoAnn's so it was a great deal!  

Did you ever wear a bow blouse back in the late 80's or 90's?  I wasn't a working girl at that time as I choose to stay at home and be with my four little ones but I did have a bow blouse or two.  They are feminine, pretty, and graceful.  

But the big difference between then and now is the size of the bow.  Then the bow was HUGE!  Now, the bow is simple and understated, perfect!

Let's talk fabric first.  Isn't this just fun?  I purchased it from either Fabric.com or Fabric Mart.  I wish I could remember!

Sometimes I purchase fabrics and realize something like--wow, I've gotten a lot of blues lately....

I don't wear a ton of blue, but something about this rich cobalt color was so striking to me.  I believe it is a poly/rayon challis.  Really lovely to work with.

A note or two about the pattern.  I made my usual size 14 since that size fits me so well through the shoulders and upper chest.   This pattern has plenty of ease through the chest so I didn't make my usual FBA.  Another note is that the line drawing makes this pattern look very gathered along the back yoke along with the shoulder areas.  Neither have much gathering.

I did however make a sloping shoulder adjustment.  I love how that area fits me.  

If you sew this neckline and bow area precisely, you'll end up with a great result!

 I tagged this the top that should have been a dress because I found to holes in my fabric as I was sewing it up.  I ended up hacking about 3.5 inches from the bottom of this tunic and realized there was another hole about five inches above that one.  Grrrr.............I fixed that by appliqueing a small leaf over the hole and it worked.  Dang, I wish I would have examined the fabric more carefully before cutting into it!

I am happy with my finished result.

Sue :)

Tackling your fear fabric!

Do you have a fear fabric?  For me, I have several, but my biggest fear has been mesh.  And yes, it did make me feel like this....

     I finally decided to overcome my fear by trying a few projects and I have decided that sewing with      mesh is fun!  If you too have a fear of sewing with mesh, just take a few precautions and you'll be                                                                                fine.  

                                                                             Trust me!

         Now, I wished I hadn't been such a silly-goose and tried so many more mesh projects sooner!  
  

Look how fun this fabric is!  

Perfect for fall, don't you think?

This fabric is ultra comfortable on your skin as well.  You can't say that about every fabric you wear...right?

This top is made in a 'cocoon' shape which is sort of funky but I like it!   However, you must choose the right fabric.  This is a StyleArc pattern and here is a picture from the site: 

The cocoon shape is more pronounced that it appears in the line drawing.  The lower-sleeves are VERY narrow, so test the fit prior to sewing together.   

Mesh is a great choice since it doesn't stand away from your body making you look like an egg, which is important! 

I tested this fabric using both a regular sewing machine and a serger.  It worked just perfect on my serger so that is how I stitched the entire thing.  

I topstitched the neck band and the hems.  

What do you think of sewing with mesh?  If you are worried, don't be, just create some test strips and find out what works for your fabric and design.

Thanks for reading!
Sue :)

Oh, and BTW, my next fear fabric to tackle is silky and ultra slippery fabric....

SA Avery top

So you all know how much I love StyleArc, right?  Well, here is my latest pattern from them.  This is the Avery Tunic Top. 

It combines a knit and a woven, pretty cool, right?  

Here is how the top is described on the SA site: 

"A great spliced Tunic top using a combination of woven and knit fabrics. This tunic features a high low hemline with wide hem facings that are top stitched down. The back yoke features an exposed zip. This zip is optional, also this tunic can also be made in all knit if preferred."

The description fits the final result really well.  As you can see, I deviated from the original design based on my fabric choice for the knit.  But speaking of fabric, isn't this stripey tribal type woven cool?  It is a Telio fabric that Ottobre uses quite a bit in their designs.  Fabric.com has been carrying them on their site and I have been trying very hard to restrain myself from purchasing more and more!  

The knit is a super soft knit also from Fabric.com that is in one of my favorite all-time colors--coral.  It was a risk putting these two fabrics together but I decided to go for it and like the result.  

As you can see from the photos, I made 2/3rd ish sleeves.  These sleeves were very long and I am 5'7".  Before shortening them to hit my wrist, I chopped at least 2 inches off the bottom.  They are that long!  I also sewed a cuff along the sleeves since I was afraid that my hem may stretch a bit due to the softness of the fabric.  

Next, I did try to insert an exposed zip up the back but again, that knit was just too soft!  I even used interfacing and just couldn't get it to look nice.  I decided I still wanted some sort of funky back neck treatment so I played with several ideas and came up with the version you can see below.  I ended up slashing the center back seam of the upper top, stitched on two self-faced pieces made from the lower fabric, and stitched on the neckband by first overlapping the decorative bands.  I treated the top as I would had I made it with either a zip or solid.  I added the little buttons that are non-functional as a bonus.  :)

  

I really like so many things about this tunic.  It is comfortable and would look super cute two solid colors or maybe even two coordinating prints.  As usual, the drafting is very good with this pattern company. 

Depending on the weight of your fabric, you may want to interface the hem facings.  If my fabric was any lighter in weight I would have.  That is a pretty cool design detail you want to look good and hang properly.  And yes, I did an amazingly horrible job matching the stripes.  For some reason, I decided to start matching the pattern pieces at the lower edge, not the upper.  Duh.  I hope to never make that mistake again!

Thanks for reading! I love hearing from you!

Sue

Vogue 8817 and color guard uniforms!

Late this summer, my dear husband asked why I don't stretch my sewing skills and sew things other than for myself.  Yes, I looked at him with shock and disbelief...I wondered why?  I have unselfish sewing jags once in a while, but I hadn't done a lot of sewing from scratch for others.  Maybe, just maybe he had a point...

Next came a request from a friend at work.  Would I consider making color guard tops for a small school district?  There could be up to 12 girls.  I had to think about it for a bit but decided the challenge was worth it--at least I hoped!

Here is the pattern we used: Vogue 8817, a pattern by Katherine Tilton.

I had previously made this tunic and knew what I was getting into.  It's fun to put together and the fabric really makes it fun.  Also, it is easy to fit!  The band director and I found suitable fabric at JoAnn's that seemed to be decent quality and was on sale!

The two reds we used were both performance fabrics that ironically 'performed' well!  The only suitable black was actually a swimsuit fabric that worked well enough.

I ended up taking lots of measurements of each young lady and a photo so I could try and see if I had any sort of fitting issues.  After tracing off each pattern, I cut and basted the tops together and then the fit was adjusted once on their bodies.  I believe in order for this top to look 'right' it must fit through the shoulders and bustline.  The rest of the garment is designed with plenty of ease and is very forgiving!

The photo I included shows the tops before I hemmed them all and made some last minute fitting adjustments.  I will update the photo once I get one with everyone in action.  

Sewing for other definitely stretched my sewing skills and it really was a lot of fun!

Thanks for reading!

Update:
Here are the lovely young ladies in action.  Can I mention again that I am very proud of this project!


Sue