Esme top by StyleArc

I love my new top!  I've read some great reviews about the StyleArc Esme top and seen some great makes but when I pulled the pattern out to create it, I thought, this is just a boxy top--no shape, nothing special--but then I made it and I must say I am quite smitten with it!  

So moral of the story is, sometimes patterns aren't what they appear to be.  

                       

Isn't this knit just cute?  It has a gold metalic design running through it.  

I love everything about this top: the wide hems, the split sides, the split back neckline/collar, and fit.  Sorry about the indoor photos but it was 25 degrees F today with a wind child of 4.  I might be a hearty South Dakotan but I just wasn't feeling the outdoors today.

Casual Friday outfit

Do you have a day you look forward to every week?  My day is FRIDAY!

Just like the rest of the world, I love Fridays! I get to wear more casual clothing to work and I daydream about what I am going to sew! For this month's post, I wanted to make a casual Friday outfit. I didn't want just any jeans but some sort of dressier ones--does that make sense? I also wanted a breezy top that was somewhat dressy as well but in some super awesome fabric.

So here is my outfit:

I choose to use the StyleArc Katherine Pant.  The legs are what drew me to the pattern--not skinny but also not too wide and those slant pockets are cute.  I knew they were just what I wanted to go with this amazing denim.  

      

This denim is the perfect weight for these pants and actually, it would work equally well for a shirt dress, jacket, or a structured top.  I love that it is printed and the floral design is right up my alley!

For my top, I used a New Look Pattern that I've tried before and love.  It is easy to put together and I thought the texture of the fabric with the draping would be very nice and I am happy with the result.   

I've always had issues with upper back leg bagginess.  After quite an extensive search, I found a link that talks about reducing that by equally lowering the bottom of the back crotch and also at the waistline.  You redraw the crotch to compensate for the lower seam line and then stretch the crotch seam to fit the front leg.  

             

You can kind of see what I did above.  Sorry I didn't take a before photo!  Stretching the inseams so that matched wasn't difficult at all.  

I think this technique worked well but when I use it again, I am going to try a 1/4" rather than a 1/2" adjustment.  I may have gone slightly overboard with the 1/2"!

               

For the top, I used a favorite New Look pattern.  I love the sort of twisted front and the split 

neckline.  

I made view C.  

This fabric is from Halston.  Do you shop the designer fabrics?  This fabric is just so pretty and fun to work with.  

I used a single-layer for the sleeves, and a double layer for the front and back.  

I matched up the 'plaid' lines on the layers so it didn't blur the design.  

See the wonderful texture in the fabric?  

I enjoyed creating this outfit and now need the weather to warm up so I can celebrate a casual Friday in my new outfit!

Thanks so much for reading!

Sue 

If you'd like to see the tutorial on the pant alterations, here it is!
http://closetcasefiles.com/ginger-sewalong-pt-5-fitting/

Delila top by Angela Wolf

How cute is this style?  How comfortable it looks to wear and what a great pattern to showcase some great fabric!

For my muslin, I made view A.  There are only four pieces to this pattern and I made the simplest of the tops because it simply isn't warm enough to wear split sleeves or short sleeves right now.  

I've only made one other Angela Wolf pattern and I enjoyed it a lot.  It was well drafted and the instructions are so easy to follow.  The fit on this is pretty forgiving as well.  I made a medium.

My fabric has been in my stash for a while and I finally decided to just use it and this pattern came to mind.

My only modification to the pattern was to stabilize the shoulder seams using stay-tape.  

This is a great length--both the sleeves and the hemline.

You can let this ride up by your waist, or pull it down a bit.

I enjoy wearing this a lot!  It's comfortable and I think stylish!

Thanks for reading!

Sue

A new pattern by StyleArc

When I first saw this pattern on StyleArc's site I immediately fell in love and knew I had to have it! 

This pattern is called the Winona Knit top.

 

As you can see, it has rolled sleeves and a lace up neckline with a more relaxed fit.

I loved the challenge of the grommets!  Aren't they super cool?  

I am wearing a hot pink cami underneath this, mostly because it is cold outside!

I really love the fit on this.  My usual size in StyleArc is a 12 and that is what I made here.

I didn't make an FBA, but might next time due to the drag lines.  Or, perhaps that is due to the questionable quality of fabric I used.  This was from my stash.  

I love the length and those roll up sleeves are really awesome!

Ignore the look on my face.  My photographer caught me giving him directions.  If your DH is your fashion photographer, you know what I mean. :) 

See how comfortable this looks? 

I followed the directions for the grommets that was on the package.  These aren't exactly perfect and if you look closely, you can figure out where my mistakes are.

I only deviated from the pattern in how I made the rolled sleeve portion.  If you follow the pattern, you will see the seam allowances wrapping around to the inside of the garment.  I fixed this problem by sewing to the mark on the rolled portion of the sleeve with wrong sides together and then moving to the hemline and sewing to the rolled portion with right sides together.  I just didn't want it to look like a caterpillar was crawling out of my armpit region.  You can picture it, right?

This is a fun make.  Installing the grommets is easy and fun.  I plan on making this again soon!

Thanks for reading!

Sue