Vogue 8503

I sewed!! The truck with all of our belongings on it is still in Texas, but I couldn't wait any longer, so I hiked my machine and ironing board up to the card table we're using in the dining room and set up shop.

The pattern is Vogue 8503. I've wanted to sew it for some time. It just looks so cool and chic. I love the dolman sleeve with empire line. I think I've mentioned before that I don't typically find a dolman sleeve flattering, but when the width is balanced by the empire line, I think it has a very slimming effect.

The pattern is fairly simple - darted upper bodice, lower bodice with side seam shaping and hip vents. The neckline is faced. The pattern called for topstitching to secure the facing, but I prefer a cleaner look, so I understitched and secured the facing at the shoulders and center back seam.

Alterations I made were to cut the pattern at a size 12, except for the neckline and facings which I cut on the size 10. I did a 1 1/2 inch FBA, which looks like it was a little aggressive. I didn't want a side bust dart with a cut on sleeve, so I moved all the fullness to the underbust dart, which made it enormous. I transferred about 1/3 of the width to a second underbust dart, which gave me a nicer, more rounded shape.

The fit in back isn't bad. Most of those wrinkles are because it is too snug in the hips and is pooling above them. I probably could have taken out a smidge of a swayback. When I first tried this on, before I had added the facings or marked the buttonholes, I was afraid it was going to be a total wadder. It was too small in the hips, too big in the bust and the neckline gaped terribly. I really like it though, so I wanted to save it. I first tackled the neckline problem.

The neckline is on the bias, so I wanted to stabilize it as well as pull it in a little. My clear elastic is on a truck in Texas, so I decided to use on grain strips of fashion fabric. I stitched them into the facing stitching line with the fashion fabric at the bottom. I pulled the fabric strips taut and allowed the feed dogs to ease the neckline in a little. This stabilized it as well as shortening the neckline, which makes it curve in to my body better.

I also got a little creative with button placement. Since it was too large in the bust and too small in the hips, I just slanted the line of the buttons to lap over a little more at the top and less at the bottom. I also used one more button than Vogue called for.

While it isn't perfect, it is wearable and comfortable and I do really like the pattern, so I think I may give it another try. I'm pretty happy with my save of this version, but next time I should probably give myself a little more time in the fitting stage.

Arrived, and still itching...

to sew, that is. I've been keeping up with all your blogs on my phone, so not much commenting. Sorry! I'll get back into my usual swing now!

We are here in Utah, and wow is this place beautiful!! Everywhere you go there are mountains on the horizon. It's horribly distracting when I drive.

Our house

The drive was long and painful. Every time we hit a bump, I cringed. Janome was back there!! I did manage to prep up several projects to bring with me, but neglected to include in my calculations the need for a table on which to put the machine. D'oh. As a result, I still haven't sewn a stitch. It's making me a little crazy and I may need to improvise something soon.

My sewing space

Once our stuff gets here there will be more to show, but this is my own little corner. In our last house, I shared a very small space with the office, but here I have a much larger room all to myself! I can't wait to get it all set up! So, for those of you with your own space (or those who have dreams of one!), what are your priorities for your studio? A sturdy cutting table? Big ironing surface? Lots of room for your machines?

Bon Voyage

Well, the bags are packed and the machines are crated. The big truck comes this morning to take all of our worldly possessions to the Great Salt Lake Valley. We'll be heading out today as well, so it'll get pretty quiet here for a while.

My poor, empty sewing room

We'll be driving to Salt Lake, so I won't be sewing at all this week, but I am bringing Janome and a couple of projects that are cut and ready to sew. Hopefully the rest of my sewing gear (oh, and all the furniture and other unimportant crap) will come quickly and I can set up my new sewing room! I can't wait to show it to you!

Dishcloth in progress

I don't drive much (when I can avoid it), so I suspect I'll at least get some knitting done in the car. It actually gets cold in Salt Lake, so I may actually have the motivation to finish the sweater I have been working on for Myra. Let's hope it fits her when I finish...

Jalie 2805

After making my bellbottoms, I kept imagining this striped v-neck tee with puffy sleeves to go with it. Good thing I can sew.

The sleeves are definitely not as puffy as they appeared in my mind...

But I still like it with the bells. The pattern began as Jalie 2805, but with the sleeves of Jalie 2788, the twist top. This is where my vision broke down... I really should have compared the two sleeves, but in typical fashion for me, I just blew ahead, and discovered that the 2805 armhole is bigger than the 2788, so while the sleeves fit, they're a bit flat.

I really like the lapped neckband. It's cute and looks more complicated than it was. This picture shows the fabric a bit more accurately. It is an interlock that came from my Mom's stash. The stripes are yellow, blue and pink. They remind me of sherbet. You can see the corner of the sleeve binding here as well. Jalie cleverly had the binding strip cut on the cross grain, so the stripes go perpendicular to the sleeve. I did not use my binder for this, and I'm really not thrilled with how they came out. Wearable, but not fabulous. Next time I'll use the binder.

Speaking of stripes, they lined up nicely for me! I made the same fit alterations that I did for the scarf collar top, so if you look closely, you can see where the stripes don't quite line up where I eased the front into the back. I think that tiny discontinuity is worth it for a great fit in the bust. Even though it isn't quite my vision, it really is quite wearable and I'm very happy with the pattern overall. I'll definitely be using it again. I love a good v-neck top.

Myra wanted in on the photo shoot. She's getting pretty good at aping my poses. I think those PJs are getting a little small though. Might be time for some new ones...

In other news, I'm getting my white jeans ready to sew and yet again can't seem to make a topstitching decision.

From the top, the threads are white (thanks to montanachic for that suggestion!), grey and cream. I'm using silver rivets and buttons, so I lean toward the grey, but I'm afraid it's too much/too dark. Should I look for a lighter grey, or go with one of these? Or something completely different? What do you think?

Monthly Roundup - May 2011

May felt like a really great sewing month!  By the numbers, I made;

1) Simplicity 3752 apron (K)

2) Simplicity 2451 skirt (K)

3) New Look 6641 shorts x2 (L)

4) Jalie 2921 top (K)

5) BWOF 07/2009-104 dress (K)

6) Burda 7625 top (K)

7) Vogue 1250 dress (K)

8) Ottobre 03/2011-12 tunic (My)

9) Ottobre 03/2011-12 tees (My & D)

10) Kwik Sew 3299 shirt (M)

11) BWOF 11/2009-125 jeans (K)

which adds up to 13 garments!  Woo hoo! I sewed 16 yards of which 14 3/4 were from stash. I'm happy to say that everything is getting worn, so that makes for a successful month as far as I'm concerned. Beginning the month, I stuck to pretty easy projects - knit tops, shorts and tees for the kids, but I finally just went for it and made my bell bottoms, and I'm so glad I did. They aren't perfect, but I love them. The biggest sewing innovation in May was the arrival of my coverstitch machine. Man, do I love that machine.

June should prove interesting. We are moving to Salt Lake City in one week, so there may be some radio silence here as we get ready for the move and actually make the drive. We are having our belongings moved for us, and the estimated arrival time is mid-month. I'm planning to take Janome and a few projects to keep me sane, but the other machines will be on the truck, as will be my stash and the bulk of my supplies.

I'll likely spend this coming week prepping things to take with me. I've already cut out McCalls 5592 in white twill, and will serge all of the edges prior to packing things up so that I can sew these up just with Janome.

I'm still debating how I'll topstitch these. I initially thought I'd use typical gold thread like jeans, but I think cream or grey might be nice and possibly more versatile. I'll swatch them all and see what I (and probably all of you!) think.
Vogue 8305 is traced and needs an FBA. I'll cut it out of some brown poly/rayon left over from Duncan's sling.

After that is prepped, I have some pink and white seersucker that I was thinking I'd make matching ruffled blouses for Myra and I. Mine will be McCalls 5929, and Myra's will be #15 from the 01/2010 issue of Ottobre. I was planning to use pink pearl snaps as closures.

I am considering coordinating black pleated skirts, but I think that might be OTT. Hopefully those four projects will keep me going until all of my stuff arrives and gets unpacked.

I'm excited to have a new space, and the new house will have a sewing room although we haven't completely decided how we're going to lay everything out. At any rate, I will have more space than I have now and I'm really looking forward to setting up my new studio.