Tops: knit and woven

 It's always fun to make a new dress but really when I analyze my sewing output it's the tops that get the most use. So I decided to dive into the stash and use up both some fabric from the stash and a new arrival. 

First up the stash fabric. This is a cotton and silk blend voile that I ordered from Mood Fabrics maybe two years ago? I was 54" wide so I only ordered 1 yard thinking I would make a summer top. But now that summer is coming to an end I decided to make a slightly more season spanning top. Only slightly, as it is very light and floaty, this fabric is dreamy. 

And I'm wearing it with my favorite denim skirt made a few years ago. At the time I called it the best skirt pattern ever and it hasn't been surpassed although I just recently bought the Anzu cargo skirt from Waffle patterns which seems like the perfect travel item.

The key to this pattern is a really lightweight fabric, it needs to gather softly in the front and then the neckband is a wide bias piece. 

 

I've sewn this top pattern 3 times now, and there will probably be more. It's from the Burdastyle Feb 2018 issue No. 120, although each time I've made it with very much shorter sleeves. Elbow length sleeves drive me crazy, they always get bunched up inside jacket sleeves. Here's the first version, and the second. 

It does wrinkle a lot, after being tucked in it was very crumpled but it pressed perfectly. So I guess this is not one of those tops that you start the day tucked in and then change that up later. 

Top Number 2 is something that caught my as soon as I saw the preview for the preview of the June 2020 issue. I love things with square necklines.  You might notice, same day - quick change for blog photos :) 

I kept looking at this fabric on the Girl Charlee website and finally decided I had to try it plus the price was too good to pass up. The colors are just perfect with my wardrobe. It's a rib knit which I haven't used much, and now that I've worn it a couple of times I will go back and make it a bit tighter around the waist and hem as it's too loose there. 

Here's the pattern image from the BurdaStyle magazine, the pattern is June 2021 No. 108.

You can see that I didn't do the peplum version (no thank you!) nor the side gathers, I just made it a regular T-shirt. This pattern will go into my "to be remade" file as it's just right for an interesting knit top and I could change the sleeve design to make it more interesting. 

I'm very happy with how the stripes turned out, I could have done some matching of the shoulder inset piece but I thought it might look weird, and they they would show up as separate pieces. The shoulder piece is at a slight angle anyway.  One fit note I have is that I narrowed the center front part of the neckline by about 1/2"  by pinching out 1/4" on either side of the center front fold line before cutting out. I could just tell that the neckline would be too wide on me as most are. I could even take out a tiny bit more for my next version. 

And in other news, I am smiling because we are back to in-person classes at Hello Stitch Studio. Although most of our classes scheduled for Oct-Dec are almost full or sold out!  People are ready to get back to doing things and I couldn't agree more. Fortunately we have a very high vax rate here in the bay area as well as people mostly being careful (sensible) about masking etc. So it's just very wonderful to feel some normalcy returning and I hope it stays that way. 

 

I do have an online class starting in October, which is Intro to Tailoring: Make your own Blazer. That will be on weeknights Tues/Thurs 6-7:30pm. And it's not pattern specific, so you can use any pattern you would like.

Other than that I'm trying to do some painting projects around my house now that it's not a thousand degrees every day (exaggeration but 110ºF does not make you want to do fix-it projects). We are all crossing our fingers and hoping for a calm fire season - the ones currently burning in N. California are terrible enough but at least in the bay area the air has not been like last year, with the famous orange days. October is actually the most windy month when a lot of fires have started. On a more positive note the Giants are in the race for the playoffs and we are hoping for weeks more of baseball in San Francisco. 

Happy Sewing,

Beth

Today's garden photo, these dahlias which grow about 3 feet tall but the flowers are quite small. The color is so nice. I've had almost no blooms on my dahlias this summer and I have to try some different ones next year. 

A different kind of wrap dress: Patrones 423 #10

Almost every month I buy the digital issue of Patrones pattern magazine. While I don't make all that many things I like to look at it almost like a fashion magazine, plus it's on my iPad so always at hand if I want to browse. I still haven't quite figured out their sizing and details for my fit. Their number sizes are shifted slightly from Burda, but with my metric conversions I determined that the Patrones size 40 is pretty much the same as Burda 38, at least in the bodice so that's what I start with. Although I think last winter I made a coat that wasn't quite roomy enough. Like I said - still working out the fit on these patterns. If you want to see my first project with Patrones here's that post from last summer. 

Here's a dress I just made from their recent Issue 423, "Vestidos Faciles" which is "easy dresses" and I can say I complicated it a bit as I didn't quite understand what I was making based on their photos. But it came out well in the end.  

By the way I took all these photos in the morning which I usually don't do but we were having a triple digit heatwave and I wanted to get outside before it was too hot. So the colors are a bit all over the place. 

Here's a much better look at this dress on the dress form. As usual with any pattern I did some changes as I went along, and ended up with very long ties, but since it is a lightweight fabric I think it looks ok tied as a bow. The fabric is from FashionFabricsClub.com. Once in a while I order from them and I've been quite happy with the silks and rayons so that's mostly what I look at on their site. 

Here's the page from the Patrones pattern App with their version and the diagrams. I like the red version but since I wanted to try this dress and had this lightweight woven rayon in my stash it was a good match for the pattern. 

And now I will confess that I saw that photo of the back and ties held open and didn't really think through on how it would work when worn. In fact I got it all finished and then wrapped it around and it made a big bunch in the center back. After playing around with it for a while I figured the only way it would work would be to go through an opening just like a regular wrap dress, DUH! and then I read the Spanish instructions with a bit of translate help and realized that yes - you need to leave an opening in one side.  

So that's how it works, the one side passes through the side opening just like any other wrap dress, just that is one wraps in the back. I don't think I've made a dress of this style in a long time or I just wasn't really paying attention. The back V-neckline could have used some interfacing so that it held the shape a little better I think, as it is a bit wobbly. 

Since I really didn't pay attention to the instructions I constructed the whole back, including the tie ends, and then attached the skirt portion with zipper completed to the back bodice. I also constructed the whole front, including skirt, and then sewed the shoulder seams and the neck lining seams. Turned it inside, pressed and under stitched, and then I can fit the side seams as needed once I try it on. This is the order I do most all dresses. 

I turned it inside out on the dress forms so you can see the lining. I used a cotton voile for the bodice as it is the most comfortable for summer dresses, but for the skirt I had a bit piece of rayon bemberg so that  is the skirt lining. I really thought about making a separate half slip instead of attached lining as them I could wear it with other dresses and I still might take the lining off and do that. Maybe next summer!

There is something about the V-neckline on this dress that I'm not so happy with. I followed the pattern as designed and the V came out very straight, like a triangle, and I prefer a V-neckline to be ever so slightly curved. But probably only I noticed it. And now you, as I have pointed it out :)

For the skirt I also did a bit of cheating, as I had looked at the Patrones skirt pattern pieces and realized they were almost exactly the same as the skirt pieces on a Burda dress I made previously, so I used those.

Here's a quick look at the pattern PDF from Patrones, they are just 9 pages with the pattern pieces overlaid on those, but SO much easier to trace than a magazine as it is just one pattern.

If you want to see the whole Patrones PDF I put a short video here. 

Another sewing detail on the lining is that I don't use the pattern pieces to make a lining for the skirt portion, I just approximate the width, length, and angle of the seaming and then cut out a front on the fold and a back with a seam, and then add to the bodice by folding in pleats as I pin it on prior to sewing. It saves fabric and is quite quick to sew.

So that's the latest on my almost end of summer sewing. It's getting dark earlier and I think I'm ready to make a jacket or two.  

At Hello Stitch Studio we have in-person classes scheduled starting in September !! So exciting. And as Stacey, one of the owners predicted, they are filling up fast. In fact the first two classes I'm doing which are aimed at beginners are sold out. Whew! I think a lot of people got a little taste of sewing during their lockdown time and are ready to branch out into making their own clothes. Other classes coming up are a Fit Lab, Garment Copying, and then later in the fall a Quilted Jacket class. Plus I am doing a 6-week online Jacket Making class starting in October. Some people have found that the live online classes really work well for their life and schedule (not to mention location as we have people from all over the country).  If you want to get updated on any of these classes I suggest you get on the email list for Hello Stitch and then you will get the class updates. 

I'm not so sure about the color or the polka dots of this fabric, but it is a cheerful dress and I will probably wear it next summer. This year I just got to wear some of the things I made last summer!

Perhaps the bigger win of the pandemic is that I have been cutting my hair - for better or worse for the last 18 months. And I can't see all that much difference from when I went to the salon, so I don't know what that says about my style. Anyway I think I will continue for the time being. More $$ for fabric, right? 

Happy End of Summer Sewing,
Beth

Today's garden photo, a hydrangea that has lived in a pot for more than 3 years and is still putting out these luscious pink blooms. I'm hesitant to move or repot as it is doing so well. 

Sew sustainable dress and top

During this past 18 months I have purchased very little fabric and yet sewn quite a few items. It seems this was the year when everyone was stuck at home during various lockdowns, and deciding to do a bit of destashing. So quite a few people said "do you want this?" and most of the time I said yes. Needing to sew samples for my Hello Stitch classes for the past few years has used up some fabric in my own stash and I just can't resist if someone has a lovely jewel colored piece of fabric. Sometimes I hit the jackpot - this jacket was a fabric that someone gave to me and I wear it a lot. I belong to a local sewing group and they have occasional stash sales, so recently I added quite a few nice things to my fabric inventory. 

When a fabric costs me just a few dollars and is something I picked up on a whim it seems ideal for using to sew up patterns that are a bit of an experiment for me. This past year I've tried a number of shapes and silhouettes that haven't made it to the blog. So one upside of this weird year has been the time to experiment and not really care how things turn out. Just sewing and having something to pass the time has been great.

So that is a long way of saying that I've made a dress that I don't really like and will probably not wear, or maybe it will be a beach cover up when the opportunity to travel returns. The colors are great but the fabric is not really my preference and I have no idea what it is, other than probably more than a few years old. Sometimes you can tell by the smell of a fabric, and also I think it was a strange width. Anyway I made a dress from a recent Burda magazine - although I changed it up considerably. But the basic style of it could fall into the nap dress, or buffet dress category. ( If you've watched the recent British Sewing Bee that's the term they used and I like it!) 

This pattern (Burda 07/2021 # 120) has a darted bodice with a center front that extends straight down to the hem, and then the skirt is a gathered rectangle seamed at the center back. It's meant to fit loosely as you can see in the drawing. I left off the sleeves because summer dresses and sleeves don't mix for my weather. Then I decided the neckline was a bit boring so I gave it the same treatment as a dress I made in the summer of 2019. A dress that I adore and love to wear, and one that I redesigned on the fly to have the cutouts front and back. 

In fact now that I am looking at these pictures maybe I will cut it off and make it a top, perhaps with some cropped pants I might wear it. Because those are definitely my colors!

But there's more - This was quite a long piece of fabric that I purchased for a few bucks, enough to try out a top as well.

And to continue my trouser experiments with the Tatjana Trousers pattern from Just-Patterns. 

A couple of posts ago I showed how I removed the pleats from the front of the trousers and made some shorts.   The fuller legs are ideal for a walking short style but now I wanted to make a slim leg pant so I continued with my modified (pleat-less) pattern pieces and used another Threads magazine article to narrow the legs. Here's the link to that article on the Threads website which is available (not behind their Insider paywall). I found it really helpful, there are probably a few methods to achieve this but I liked how it worked. I printed it out and stuck it in my special binder of things to keep  - which also includes my first welt pocket lesson and my first zip fly notes :)   Here's a look at the diagram in this article. They do a really good job with their diagrams I think. 

And a look at my my scribbly calculations for my adjustments. Sometimes I long for the metric system in sewing but I will never get there, my brain thinks in 1/8 of an inch!

Here's the back which I have lightened up considerably as black pants are never easy to photograph. While the fit might not be perfect I'm fairly satisfied. Time to mention that I have a considerable asymmetry due to spine issues which I hide for the most part in my sewing but is a nightmare for pants fitting. So in the words of the song, I choose to "let it go" and fit them well enough without going crazy. 

So these pants were kind of a test, I have plenty of black pants so I really didn't need another pair but they are wearable and now I'm ready to make some others this winter. 

The top is also from Burda, it's 08/2021 #109.  Another thing I'm ambivalent about. I did add bust darts which were fine but the armholes are too low for me and the whole thing is kind of droopy. If I sew it again, which I might, I will take it up by 1/4" at the shoulder seam and that will do it. 

The stripe version is cute and it doesn't take much fabric so I will keep the pattern pieces for future scrap busting opportunities. 

So that's the latest on my summer sewing. Which has been all over the place but after so much stay at home time I feel disinclined to sew up new clothes for myself when some of the recent ones have not even been worn.  

Up next, I'm making a summer birthday sundress, which I will wear! she says determinedly.  And starting in on some sample sewing for upcoming classes at Hello Stitch Studio. We're planning a 6-week online jacket making class starting in October. We scheduled some in-person classes for introductory sewing and they are all sold out - which is very gratifying. I think once we get back in the swing of things we will have more in person classes as well as continue with the online classes which were really well received. 

Now time to either nap or go to a buffet. Just kidding, I'm off for a swim as it's again around 100ºF here today. And pray for some rain which is very unlikely - better to hope for no wind and some luck for our brave firefighting crews here in the golden state. 

Happy Summer Sewing,

Beth

The garden is limping along with the drought and I'm glad I have planted so many California natives which tolerate this water shortage. Here's a great example, this penstemon which has gorgeous pink blooms. And I've succeeding grown another one from a cutting! Free plants - so happy about that. 

Helena Wrap Dress from Just Patterns

When my friend Delphine of Just-Patterns asked me if I would like to sew her latest patterns I said yes right away. It's a bit outside of my usual style but this past year that has been my sewing theme, to try new silhouettes and see if I like them. This dress came together so easily and I highly recommend. It's the Helena Wrap Dress from Just Patterns. 

I also think this is a case where the fabric choice was just right. Which was a bit of luck, as I had to look around in my stash to find a piece with enough yardage. This is rayon challis I ordered a few months ago from Fashion Fabrics Club and when it arrived I thought it was way too bright even for me. But I decided to give it a try for this and it worked out well. 

Here's the pattern drawing from the Just-Patterns website. 

Note that the recommended fabrics are mid-weight fabrics with some body such as linen, cotton poplin etc. I'm trying not to buy any fabric these days and have acquired so much yardage in the past year that I determined to use something from my stash. Looking at the design I think it would work for a lot of woven fabrics not mentions, such as silk crepe de chine, or even wool crepe. 

I sewed size 40 as it for bust 36" and waist 28.5"  which is right around my measurements however I did add a bit at the waist which I will show below. The fabric requirement for that size is 3 yards of 60" fabric. That is a quantity that I almost never buy! Since I am shorter than most patterns specification (5'3") I can always shorten skirts and then play around with the cutting layout to squeeze the pattern pieces on. 

My fabric was about 2 1/3 yards. I removed 6" from the skirt length before I started cutting out and that helped a lot. I cut the pockets in half and only used the printed fabric for the back half of the pocket, and used a lining fabric for the front half, then seamed it where the fold would be. This is a common change I make on pockets anyway.  The reason I put the fashion fabric on the back is that this is the side that can possibly peek out when the garment is sewn. 

I also used a red cotton for the inside waistbands, so that also saved some fabric. Since this rayon is a bit limp as compared to some of the recommended fabrics, I put a fairly stiff interfacing on both the outer and inner waistband pieces which worked well. 

For other fit adjustments, I added some width at the waistband, as the finished garment measurement was just around my waist number and I wanted a bit of extra ease at that area. 

The amount I added is shown in pink. For the bodice I just tapered it away as it neared the sleeve. Now that the dress is finished I could probably omitted that although the extra in the waist circumference means I can wrap the dress overlapping nicely in the front, probably a bit more than the pattern is designed for. I did omit the sleeve bands, I basted them on but they made the proportions look odd to me, I like more arm showing so you can easily skip then and just put a narrow hem on the sleeves, or a facing if you want them to have more structure. Now that I see the photos and also on the advice of some sewing friends I'm going to take it in under the arm, to make the dress a bit less full at that point and also make the armhole opening smaller, perhaps just by an inch. All these things are not exactly fit adjustments, but more changes due to proportion and making a garment just right for my height and frame shape. 

The instructions on this pattern are very clear and the pattern pieces are well marked. I did read the instructions just to make sure I was sewing it correctly and then I did my own thing - as I usually do :)

The only quibble I have with this pattern is that it has 3/8" seam allowances which I suppose are more professional (?) but I can never get used to them and also they don't allow for any small fit adjustments as you go. In fact now that I like the Tatjana trouser pattern so much I'm going to go back and adjust my tracing to have 5/8" seam allowances. That way I can sew it on auto-pilot, I'm just a robot when it comes to sewing and have to constantly remind myself about 3/8". 

I've seen a few versions of this Helena dress made as a top and that is a clever idea, also as a 2-piece outfit which makes it very versatile. 

Up next, I'm sewing a pattern repeat however I think my fabric choice won't turn out as well as my first version (it happens :)  and then it will be time to make a birthday dress. Which I'm not sure about as I haven't worn the one I made last year.  Although it's supposed to be a hot spell this upcoming week and I have a few things on my calendar so perhaps I will reach for that one. 

Big news - in person classes are back on the calendar at Hello Stitch Studio in Berkeley. So happy! Right now I have a beginner class starting in mid-September but we are working on adding a few more so stay tuned. And due to requests from students, I will continue doing live/online classes in the fall as well. So it should be a busy time and I'm really looking forward to sewing with people again. 

Happy Summer Sewing, 

Beth

Today's garden photo needs to be something as vibrant as that dress, so it's this dahlia. My dahlias have not been doing very well this year, and you can see from the photos above that the drought has really taken a toll with everything very dry. I have drip irrigation in the areas where there are roses, hydrangeas, gardenias etc. and then sprinklers for the lawn which is mostly a lost cause. I think in the fall a conversion of the lawns to drought tolerant plantings is the only way to go. But that's a project to contemplate on a rainy day (which I hope we have come October!!) as the ground is like cement now and impossible to do any yard work other than water, mulch and hope for rain. 

s 

Chambray Color Block Dress from Burda vintage magazine

The current trend is a a lot of ruffles, gathers and generally items that take a lot of fabric. Perhaps that's why when I look at patterns or magazines I'm drawn to simpler styles, and if something is color-blocked it will always catch my eye. And I don't think the year of a pattern makes any difference, some things are classic and always look good. 

This is Burda issue July 1998, it's one I was given recently. So I think that qualifies as vintage, being over 20 years old. Here's the magazine photo, which is such a good pattern for using up some not very big pieces of fabric. My one regret is that I wish I had used the other side of the fabric in the upper block, it is lighter and would make more of a contrast. I think the high contrast of their color selection makes it more interesting.

This shift dress doesn't really have a lot shaping, it has bust darts that start from the armhole. I decided to make a muslin which I don't do all that often for simple dresses but I could tell by looking at the pattern pieces that I wouldn't like the neckline at all. That high boatneck is just not comfortable to me and I always change them. 

Here's the front neckline on my dress form. This is an old dress form that is adjusted and padded to be pretty similar to my shape, and I keep that pink wool dress on it as I really like the fit of that bodice.  I can then compare all pattern shapes to that one and know that I'm in the ballpark for shoulder width, neckline depth, etc. Here you can see I removed some width across the front neckline by pinning out some small tucks. For a dress like this where I'm sewing a bit fast and loose I fold out the tuck to flatten the pattern in that area and call it a day. In the photo below you can see that I have added to the neckline on the inner edge of the shoulder seam, on front and back to make that boatneck less wide. I also lowered the front neckline about 5/8". I shortened the back waist length a good inch (which is a standard adjustment for me, also shown below. And then I took in the center back seam about 5/8' when I put in the zipper. also a common adjustment for me. I suppose all that narrowing of the shoulders I could do by narrowing the upper bodice but for simple shift dresses I find it easier to do it this way as I can see how much I want to change in small areas. 

This pattern piece also shows the color block lines. When I made the muslin test version I just made it like a simple shift dress all one piece, and then once I had the pattern adjustments I traced the extra block sections and then added seam allowances. 

I neglected to take any pictures of the back of the dress on my and this one is not ideal as the dress is sticking a bit as I turn but you get the idea. No shaping to speak of and putting in any curves or darts would mess up the block areas. Oh and it was around 102ºF the afternoon when these pictures were taken so it was quickly done in the shade and then onto the cafe for a drink!

I always like to see the technical drawing of any pattern, don't you? I did add about 6 inches to the pattern but making it longer kind of spoiled the look, so I hemmed it above knee, although not quite as short as their example. 

There's a look at the corners, outside and then on the inside. I put a small piece of fusible interfacing on the corner that needed to be clipped, then I stay stitched it to reinforce, then clipped and sewed to the corresponding section. I think of these as one and done corners, it doesn't pay to have to unpick, redo and start to chew up the seam allowance so it's best to get it right the first time :) 

So that's the latest on my random summer sewing. It was a scorcher this past weekend, around 110ºF for the high so not much of anything was accomplished other than trying not to melt. Up next I have used my Tatjana trousers minus the pleats pattern, (seen in my previous post as shorts) and further remodeled it to narrow the legs. A bit of an experiment and I'm not sure how it went, but I will show all in a post soon. They aren't hemmed yet and I think I will better be able to evaluate when they are hemmed and pressed. 

Sewing classes are on a summer break for new but Hello Stitch Studio is opening back up this month and we are planning in-person classes in September and October. As well as continuing to offer some online classes. At the end of my most recent class I was surprised that people said "you will continue with the online even when the studio opens, right?"  and the reasons were interesting. (time available to participate, distance etc) So I will do both and keep you updated. 

That's the latest. Stay cool and enjoy the summer. Life is looking more like normal here - we are fortunate to have a very low case rate and high vaccination rate so things are good! (if only we could get out of our drought situation - it's always something).

Happy Hot Summer Sewing,

Beth

Today's garden photo, a new to me plant. This year and last I have tried a lot of new plants and some of them have been great discoveries. This is another one I will plant again next spring, the color is amazing. It's Lisanthus.