Simplicity 8606 wrap skirt and New Look 6107 top

The following photo illustrates my glee at the fact that I have squeezed this skirt from what was left of the rayon print fabric shown a couple of weeks ago. Recall that fabric? which I used to make my faux jumpsuit, seen here in this post.  By the way, speaking of previous posts, thank you for all the sweet comments on my last dress, the purple one, which was quite popular here and on IG. Now I think I might need a purple coat! But it was over 100 F today here so not even thinking about coats!

And yes, I did take this picture in front of Stone Mountain Fabrics in Berkeley where they have helpfully painted this doorway to the delight of all shoppers.



Let's get to the details of that skirt. I love it!! and you can expect to see this pattern make a repeat performance.



I know I started off making the short version, but for some reason I think I cut off 1 inch from the hem ruffle, as it seemed just a bit too long. Well I will check and see when I make another version.
This rayon fabric is the ideal choice for this skirt, although I think it would work in a lot of other fabrics - now for my constant suggestion - a lightweight denim :)



I made version D, which is the short version with the flounce. It is cleverly designed, quite similar to the purple dress in my previous post, in that the part that is underneath has less ruffle since it doesn't show. Which means that you cut the two front ruffle pieces on the single layer. Now I will tell you a tip for cutting out - ignore the grain lines on the ruffle pieces! There is a grain line but when you make this type of ruffle (which I actually call a flounce or a circular ruffle) the grain is only straight on one section of the piece and the rest is different bias angles, so it makes no difference where you cut it out. And that helped me squeeze this onto the fabric I had remaining.
By the way - all the articles I wrote on the old Craftsy blog are on the new Bluprint website, here is the link to the one I wrote on designing this type of circular ruffle.

This is supposed to be a true wrap skirt, where the long tie goes through the waistband and encircles the waist. But I had no fabric for that, so I cut one layer of waistband, made a facing of solid black cotton, and please don't tell anyone but I put velcro for closures which leaves plenty of adjustment room for ice cream after dinner, smart huh?






And with the remaining scraps I made a couple of shorter ties to make a bow.

I even had to piece the skirt body at one of the side seams. I always find piecing fabric weirdly satisfying, and have done it 3 times lately. Which may indicate I'm habitually skating on the edge of not having enough fabric but that's what makes it fun.



This past Saturday was our Bay Area Sewists Meetup and I saw Meg of Made by Meg  wearing her fantastic Sirocco jumpsuit. She needs to make another one, it looks great on her.
My top is the Bondi top that I made to go with the Emerson Pants which made up my faux jumpsuit.



Once I finished the skirt I felt like it needed a different top so I rummaged through my fabric and came up with a pink eyelet for a sleeveless top.

This is New Look 6107, a pattern from a few years ago that I also got at a Bay Area Sewists pattern swap. I can't say that it is much like the pattern as designed, I used the basic shape but then I changed the button front area, the pattern has a placket behind the center front and loops for the buttons. That would be too bulky in eyelet so I extended the center fronts so it buttoned like a regular shirt. Then I made some self bias and just kind of winged it around the neckline. I think it shows but it was hot and I just wanted to finish it so it's not my best design but it works. I do love the color.





I am a fan of blouses with shoulder gathers so I might make this one again with sleeves in the fall in a silk or something else.



I really like the skirt with a pink top - black is not my favorite so I prefer some other color on my top half. Do you crack up when you look at your outfit photos? I seem to often be looking at something in the distance or perhaps it's the beginning of that phrase "hurry up and take the picture people are looking at me."



And if one version of this skirt pattern is good that two is even better!
My friend Halyna (Instagram: zigzagstitching) saw my version on the dress form and immediately got the pattern.



So that's the latest on my new wrap skirt. Also I can report that this skirt seems to cleverly stay overlapped when walking, sitting etc. So it is a winner of a pattern!




Up next in my sewing, I'm making another New Look pattern, in gingham as I have to join in on this summer's trend. And then it's head down with a lot of serious sewing, prep for my upcoming classes.

Speaking of classes - just today we added a new class in October - the Jean Jacket. Here's the link. I think that will be a fun item to sew and it's an ideal garment for our weather. Well it's an ideal garment for every wardrobe. You can use any jean jacket pattern you would like.
There are a couple of spots still open for the September sessions of the Garment Copy class and the Zadie jumpsuit class. We'll be adding some classes for November soon as well.
Also there is one spot that opened up in my Jacket Tailoring class in September so if you wanted to do that here's the link. 

Happy Summer sewing and stay cool! It's supposed to be in the 100's F this weekend here but we are used to it, plus it means grilling outside, plenty of ice cream and lots of dips in the pool. I hope the weather improves for everyone else.

Beth

today's garden photo - more hydrangeas, which you can just see in the photo above, on the left side.
This is two bushes next to each other, one is a white and the other the purple version of these shooting star hydrangeas. I didn't even remember getting the purple one so it was a pleasant surprise this year with so many blooms. When the breeze passes by they are just magical.

Flared Dress BurdaStyle #117 April 2019

As soon as I saw the preview of the April issue of the BurdaStyle magazine I knew I wanted to make this dress. The version shown in the magazine is a nice polka dot and I looked around for some fabric like that. As it happened I received a big bag of free fabric that yielded just the right one. Hello Stitch had a fabric swap day a while back and after it was over they gave me what remained to use for making samples for classes. So far it has supplied the fabric for my sample Myosotis dress and my first Zadie jumpsuit - so not a bad haul.

But the one that catches my eye will always be the jewel tone, in this case a purple mystery fabric, probably a poly crepe. I am really happy with the result, although there are a few small things I can gripe about. But on the whole I like it - and have worn it already.



Mostly it's the length!  I am on the smaller side, 5'3" maybe a half inch more if I stand up straight :) and I think the skirt length looks better on me if it's just at mid-knee. So about 2 inches shorter on this one would have been nice. Although I realize it's supposed to be this length and I decided to just go with it instead of fiddling with shortening which would have been a pain with the asymmetrical skirt pieces.
And dress lengths seem to be getting longer again. Fashion - always doing this to us, right?


A change I did make is to lower the neckline a bit in the center front, it was a higher cut, more of a boat neck (where did that name come from?). Anyway - those necklines always feel a bit uncomfortable on me so I rounded it a bit at the center from lowering about 1/2".



That twisty waist sash was a total puzzler and thank goodness for this very thin fabric. It is probably impossible to see but the larger side twists and is caught in the skirt under where the ruffle starts, and then the smaller side loops around that and is caught in the seam between bodice and skirt. At least that is what I gleaned from the Burda instructions and looking closely at the example for many minutes.



I think the best thing about this pattern is the skirt and it would be easy to use the skirt portion with a different Burda dress bodice, or just as a skirt alone.




I treated this dress as a combo of fancy sewing and speed sewing. In that I took my time with the fit and yet I used some super quick sewing techniques in certain areas. Like the hem for the ruffle. This fabric was super unravel-ly which is not fun, so I just serged the edge of all the ruffle and turned, pressed and machine stitched for the hem. Which is pretty much what the instructions said. But for the neckline and armholes it said to finish with bias tape. Nope - I have an aversion to bias tape. At least the packaged stuff. Far too stiff for most garment sewing.
I could have made a facing for the neck and armhole and almost did that when I was thinking of lining the whole dress, but then I decided to go speed sewing on that and skipped the lining. Although I'm wearing a knit slip I sewed a while ago (for wearing under knit dresses) - which is the perfect layer for this one as well.




Actually I'm really liking the fit in the back. Maybe I should make this one again? I cut out a size 38 at the neck and shoulders, and then graded out about 1-2 inches larger at waist and hip. The waist twisty sash thing is cut on the bias, and I cut it the same as the pattern and based it on, then later I had to open up parts of the side seam at the top and bottom of the sash as it was too loose there. So basically tightening up the sash so that it would lay flat against the body.










There's the tech drawing and the magazine photo. I really like the proportions of the ruffle. The skirt is not an overlap but is two pieces with a curved seam joining them and the ruffle sandwiched in between. Also maybe  I need a hat???  (nope)




Attempting a better pose for photos here - trying to emulate my friend Laura Mae who I think has master the art of blog photo poses (which I have not :)

What about the inside? Well since I decided not to line it then the neck and armholes needed finishing. I cut bias strips from a scrap of bemberg rayon lining, about 1.24 inches wide, and pressed one edge under by 1/4". Then I stitched it on at the 5/8" seam line, trimmed and clipped that, pressed inside and then hand stitched the bias to enclose the edges. I'm a pretty quick hand sewer so it was probably faster than making a facing pattern piece and dealing with that. You can see the grey basting thread on my zipper - I machine baste invisible zippers in, and typically use a contrast thread color so I can see the basting. And no need to take it out - it's on the inside of the garment so I don't care.



The one drawback to the combo of this lightweight fabric and no interfacing around the neckline is that it is a bit limp and you can see some ripples when I wear it, but I can live with that.



So that's my latest Burda magazine sewing, with a few new things traced out and ready to go when I find a minute.
But this is not the last of a skirt flounce this summer - my other finished project also has this feature. It's the summer of ruffles  - they are everywhere.





Happy Summer Sewing,
Beth

and today's garden photos, it has to be these purple beauties. Right now I have a wall of hydrangeas across the back of the yard and I couldn't be happier every time I look out.

Girl Charlee knits: a Vogue dress and a new Burda pattern

Recently I've had a string of good luck at finding some great fabrics at garage and guild sales. I was just looking admiringly at the pile yesterday, a bright pink eyelet is calling out to be sewn up into something summery. But when it comes to knit fabrics I almost never find anything good at these kinds of sales, perhaps because people are delving into their "sort of vintage" stashes in order to donate/sell, and mostly that means wovens.

So when I am in the mood for some bright knit prints I can always find something at Girl Charlee. I know some people have had mixed results when ordering from them but I think about 90% of the fabrics I've ordered have been great. I stick to the cotton/lycra blend or the cotton jersey, and haven't tried any of the other fabrics. Looking through my old blog posts I've sewn quite a few things with their fabrics, this one might be my favorite  - and possibly get worn next week for 4th of July!

First up was a new to me knit t-shirt pattern that will surely become a pattern repeat. Burda 6329 envelope pattern.



I love this color combo. You can't really see the details of the knit top in this photo but here is a better look.



It has 4 pleats at the front neckline, the back neck is smooth. Plus raglan sleeves. I chose the flutter sleeve and cut it out as shown on the pattern envelope, but lopped off about 3 inches as I just prefer shorter short sleeves. I'm sure I'll make it again, particularly the long sleeved version in the fall. It would be so nice in silk jersey. The pattern envelope not very inspiring but the line drawings sold me.

     

For this one I tried a smaller size at the neckline and shoulders, so I cut a 10 there, then a 12 at the bust and a 14 at the hip. I think this might be my new way of doing Burda knits, as I often feel the necklines are too wide for me but this one felt great.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

And now for a knit dress. Navy blue and green is a combo that Heather really likes so I happened to see this fabric and ordered it on a whim. Turned out to be just her color combo so we decided to use it for another version of Vogue 8787 which I first made for her in 2015. I think this one is the 4th version, it's a great pattern.
With a soft jersey the neckline drapes really well. The front is self lined and I do line the rest of the dress with a knit lining, look at the post linked above to see details.



This fabric has a distinctly vertical print so having a pattern that changes due to the bias in the top could have been wonky but I think adds more visual interest to the front. It's not yet hemmed in this picture below but I like the way the print changes due to the bias cut. The skirt is cut on the fold on the straight grain. In a stripe this dress would also be interesting. I guess this fabric really is a stripe hiding among the dotty print.



Unfortunately I didn't get a photo of the dress on Heather.  This pattern was a bit tricky to fit but also had the advantage of being a knit, so there are no bust darts or seaming to deal with. Often you can find the right size for the circumference but the problem with pattern fit is needing more length over the bust. Here's a rough diagram of the changes I made to the pattern.



A couple of things to note, I often raise the armhole, while leaving the bodice length as is, or even adding length. Since patterns are made for a person 5'5" to 5'6", the full busted figure might take up some of the height differential over the bust, but the armhole depth is too much. And in a sleeveless dress that doesn't look good! I did add more length in the bodice front, and then since it is a knit I gathered just that section to make the side seam length match the back. It works well and I often add this bust shaping on knit items. The back length is reduced a good amount also, due to being shorter than the standard back waist length and very straight posture (admirable!).
Anyway - with some knit patterns you can get away with small tweaks that won't show in the final result.
Here's the pattern envelope.



And here's my latest sewing room tool. I can't believe I didn't have one of these already. Found it at the thrift store, there were 2 of them and they were $ 5 each. Now why didn't I buy the other one for a friend? who knows? Maybe I'll go back and see if it's still there.



So that's the latest on my knit sewing. Up next, I'm making a version of the Zadie jumpsuit so I can wear that when I teach that class in late July. Which is sold out so we've scheduled another one on Sept.22. In fact most all my classes in July and August are full - which is great. So much sewing enthusiasm!! There are a few spots still open in the Myosotis Dress class, and then in September we have the How to Copy a Garment. After that we are planning a jeans jacket class, plus a few other new ones.

But I have a few unselfish sewing projects to do in the meanwhile, including a new tunic top for my mom to wear to her birthday party. Plus there are a few dresses calling my name in the recent issues of Burda magazine (what else is new).



So onward with seasonal sewing, a bit of gardening and a lot of relaxing and enjoying the summer.

Happy Sewing, Beth

A perfect penstemon to match my pink top. I just had great success with making new plants from cuttings from my existing penstemon so my garden will be full of them. A lot of these are California natives that do really well in dry conditions. so my ideal plant, low water requirements and lots of pink flowers.

Deer and Doe Myosotis dress and True Bias Emerson Crop Pants: sewing examples for classes

When we create sewing classes at Hello Stitch Studio where I teach, we've found that choosing a specific pattern and designing a class around that works out better than general sewing classes. I think because people who are new to sewing can visualize the finished item (plus probably have seen many nice versions on line). Those who are more experienced might decide to try a new style, and every one gets the encouragement and camaraderie of sewing together.

In so many classes I ask people how they know one another and come to find out they just met there in the class - while I thought they were already friends! Some even decide to take another class together which is really nice. I think everyone bonds over sewing successes and failures and there just aren't that many opportunities in everyday life to talk sewing. I mean really, do your office mates want to hear about your latest pattern haul? Well maybe - I don't know what your office is like :) but if anything like my previous corporate life there were always a few comments about stuff I made but nobody wanted to hear about fabric shopping bargains.

The latest two patterns that we've selected for summer classes are ones that fit into a summer wardrobe but I think can be useful all year round. I always sew at least one version of the pattern prior to my classes, just to compare to the instructions and check for any tricky bits.

By the way - be sure to scroll down to the 2nd outfit as it is a bit of departure for me, style-wise and I think I love it!



The Deer and Doe Myosotis Dress is the first Deer and Doe pattern that I've made, although around here I've seen plenty of great versions of the Magnolia dress and if I were a maxi dress wear I might consider it (but I'm not!)
The class at Hello Stitch is on Sunday July 14 and I think there are 3 spots still available.

The reason I chose this pattern is that I think it is IDEAL for pattern hacking. A nice basic pattern that you can change up and use in a lot of different ways. As you can see from my summertime version below.

My changes: Sleeveless, slightly cut-in armhole, no neckband, in fact I opened the neckline about 1 inch all around. Oh yeah, and pleats in the skirt instead of gathers. Also a tie at the back waist for more shaping. Facing for neckline and button front, bias binding for armholes.

What else could I do with this pattern? Here are some more ideas:
-Make it long sleeved, with perhaps a ruffle at the sleeve hem or a standard button placket and cuff.
-Add a shirt collar to the collar stand
-Drop the seam to the true waist by adding length in the bodice front and back.
-Continue the button placket down the front of the skirt to make it a true shirtdress
-Use a contrast fabric for the upper and lower half.
-Play with stripes by adding trim or a hem band
-Reduce the width of the skirt for a different silhouette



Closer look at the pattern and the adjusted neckline.



Closer look at the fabric and the skirt pleats.  This might be the oldest fabric in my stash that I can recall buying, at Stone Mountain of course:) and it was in the 50% off cotton section, which is mostly quilting cottons. This happens to be a Robert Kaufman fabric, with a slightly brushed/sateen surface but not stiff. I think I've had it for maybe 10 years and not sure what possessed me to use it for this but now I think it will be my summer beach cover up dress.

The only slight sewing detail is this - hairpins are perfect for turning smallish tube of fabric.



Up next: the Emerson Crop Pants from True Bias. Or in my case the not cropped pants, i.e. the full length pants and a matching top to fool you into thinking it's a jumpsuit.




Do these qualify as wacky pants? Somehow I think so. I was given this fabric with a few other pieces by the owners of Hello Stitch as they were remainders from a fabric swap day they had last month. OK, it's a little wild but it does have pink in it and also is a very lovely weight of rayon that is perfect for both these pants and the top. Plus I have enough remaining to make a skirt so versatile, right?

I lightened this photo a bit but it's still hard to see the details on the pants, which are probably well known by now, they have deep slant pockets, a flat front, two small pleats in front and then a wide elastic gathered back.






The top is my favorite Bondi dress pattern as a top. Here's my first version of the dress, and here's the version in silk crepe I made as a top.  Gosh I wear that top a lot, so it was an easy choice to use it again for this outfit.

Sewing details, I don't like how the Bondi top has a loop and button closure in the back, as sewing a loop is a pain (although I have used tiny elastic which works a treat) but I decided to add a small ? placket, where I could sew a couple of snaps for closing. Also if wearing a racer back bra it keeps the center back from opening.



I finished the edges with bias binding I made from some black cotton voile in my stash. I can't stand to use purchased bias tape, I think it's way too stiff for most garments, and bias in self fabric or a lightweight voile, ambiance lining or silk works really well.



Since I was being stingy with the fabric so I could make a skirt, I used a remnant of ambiance lining for the pockets, and sewed on the outer fabric over that where it would show on the slant pocket.




I chose the Emerson pattern size by my hip measurements and they fit perfectly. I made the high rise version ( or the regular rise, perhaps the other option is called the mid-rise). And I lengthened by about 5 inches and then had about 2 inches of hem to play with.

So that's the latest on my sewing for upcoming Hello Stitch classes. Soon I'm going to make a Zadie jumpsuit for myself, the class on August 3 is sold out, so we've added another one on Sept 22.

You can read more details and register for the classes here at Hello Stitch Studio which is in Berkeley.
Next up I will be starting on a Closet Case Files Jasika Blazer jacket - the class is in Sept and I think there are just 2 spots remaining in that one. (Note if you have some other jacket pattern you prefer to make that is OK with me).

And then some sewing for my Mom as she has a birthday party coming up and I found a great fabric to make her a new top, plus the June Burda arrived (Yay!!!) so I'm sure I will find something in that.



Happy Summer sewing, Beth

Today's garden photo - the same hydrangea that is shown above in the white pot. It looked a little scraggly all winter and I never dreamed it would come out with all these blooms. Another Trader Joe's plant that I couldn't resist. Plus it's kept its color and is blooming in the same pink color as when I first brought it home. A winner!