Playing with Percale and fall colors!

Don't know about you, but this time of year, I like to start thinking about sewing some garments for fall.  I love the colors of fall, the browns, oranges, greens, and purples.

I found this brown, floral percale on Fabric Mart's site and wanted to try it for a garment. I knew it would have somewhat of a crisp hand and I was ready for the challenge of finding the right pattern to use.  

After opening the package, I found this fabric has a very crisp hand, and would be perfect for a pair of cropped pants.  Back in my day, these were called gauchos.  Anyone else remember that phase?  

Here is the pattern I used, if you are interested! 

 I instantly fell in love with the skirt but then those cute cropped pants caught my eye...

This fabric was a great choice for this pant as it holds its shape, is crisp, and is comfortable.

I only made a few modifications, the most noticeable was to lengthen the tie.  And honestly, when I cut these out, I cut added to the seam allowances so I could pin-fit these.  I took all sorts of crazy measurements and compared them to the pattern tissue.  I was so very surprised I wouldn't need to do much to these to get them to fit.

Basically, I added belt loops for the tie belt, I added staytape to the pocket seams and adjusted the darts slightly.  That's it!  These fit that well straight from the tissue.  I cut off the extra seam allowances.

Let's talk about my bright green top for a moment.  This is some of FM's linen, this is the avocado green.  I had just enough left in my stash from a previous project to make a fun top to go with these wild, floral pants.

I modified this pattern, by leaving off the flange of the sleeve.  Here's the pattern: 

I made view A with the flange and thought: ugh.  That flange in a linen didn't drape like I thought it should.  A simple fix of removing the flange saved the day!

I love how these fabrics go together!  I also love the split sleeve with the tie!  I just happened to have a necklace and shoes that I like with this.  See, I tell my hubby, compulsive shopping pays off!  ;)  

I hope you are all enjoying summer and creating some great makes!

Thanks for reading!

Sue

The perfect summer dress? Vogue 9184

Oh my, I purchased this pattern as soon as it came out and it has been sitting in my stash for two years.  Two years!  What?  What was I waiting for?  Have you ever done this?  I find myself doing this too often.  

Here is the pattern.  

The design is basic, simple, and classic all at the same time.  Don't you agree?  Sometimes I get turned off on a pattern by a super simple line drawing.  I much prefer a photograph of a real garment on a real person.  

I must say, I put a lot of effort into this simple design.  I measured just about every point on my body you can measure, compared it to the tissue, made alterations, pin fit the fabric, and stitched it up.  The results, to me at least, were well worth it.

First I must say, I started with the shoulders and worked my way down.  For some reason, the shoulder area can be difficult to fit.  So many peaks and valleys!  I've suddenly realized I need more room from shoulder point to shoulder point across the back as well as apex to apex.  I'd never thought of that until I took a fit class this summer.  So helpful!

After fitting that area, I moved to the bust, mid back, waist, hips, etc.  You get it, right?

What I love about this pattern is that it fits so well in the bust area that according to DH, "Your chest isn't the first thing to enter the room."  In fact, I think it minimizes the girls.

When I began fitting the back and waist area, I've come to the conclusion that a garment isn't going to fit me well there unless I add a horizontal waist seam.  It just helps with my hollow area at my waist.  I try swayback adjustments but I still seem to get 'fabric' there.  If there's a waist seam, I can totally take care of that mess.

Of course I made my own bias tape from the garment fabric.  If you've never done that before, do try it.  Super easy.  It only takes a few minutes longer than using purchased bias tape and it's a perfect match to your garment.  What other convincing do you need?

My invisible zip turned out lovely.  Is that okay to say?  I used bright yellowish-green, a color in my fabric.  I love a well-inserted zipper.  I see I forgot to hook the eye and fabric loop for the photo.  Forgive that error!  It does line up perfectly!

This pattern needs some attention and love people.  A nice light-weight wool under a cute little jacket would be fabulous for cooler months.

Try this pattern!  I think you'll love it!

Thanks for reading!

Sue 

More summer sewing: McCall's 7432

How is summer flying by so quickly?  I knew I had several fabrics in my stash I planned on using before fall set in, so I got busy!

Here's the pattern I used: 

I love the simplicity of it.  It's a classic style, super easy, well drafted...need I go on?

This blue fabric is an ITY knit which works really well for this dress.  I so love the royal blue with white and I am a sucker for a paisley print.

I only had enough fabric to make this in a knee-length, which is fine.  This length is nice and cool to wear.

I love how this fabric skims your body, it doesn't cling, making it a great choice for this pattern.

I've been playing a lot with fit, and have discovered that I need to widen the shoulders at my upper back.  This is such an easy alteration to make.

Look at how well this dress hangs in this fabric!  

For my second version, I used a Stof knit that's 94/95% cotton and the rest is lycra.  This fabric feels just lovely on your body.

It doesn't glide from the shoulders like the ITY knit, but that's okay.

I really wanted to do something a bit different so I played with the sleeves.

I cut the sleeve pattern in half, added a hem allowance, and used the ties from Jalie's new tee pattern.  I would have just used Jalie's sleeves, but when I walked the pattern pieces, they were too large for this dress.  Plus, other reviewers mentioned they were difficult to get to look like the pattern photo, which shows them tied tightly.

Fitting is trickier with these cotton knits.  Everything seems to show!  I ended up making a dart at the bust, which btw, wasn't needed on the ITY knit.

I put in an inch at the hemline, as it hangs so much nicer on this cotton knit.  Also, the neckband drooped so I fixed that by opening up a stitch or two on the inside of the neckband, inserting 1/8" elastic, getting the length just right, sewing the ends of the elastic together, and stitching the neckband closed.  Sorry, no photo of that, but trust me, much better!

I worked hard to get all these skinny stripes lined up at the side seams and the effort paid off!

I am sure I will revisit this pattern when I want to make winter/cold weather dresses!

Thanks for reading!

Sue