Liberty blouse knock-off

I've been hoarding this piece of Liberty lawn for ages.  Since I didn't have a set plan when I purchased it, the ideas of what I could sew with it have run the gamut: pajama bottoms, dirndl skirt, button down shirt...  However, browsing through the J. Crew website the other day, I found a blouse in the exact fabric, with a really cute and summery design.  Done!  Here's the inspiration piece:

Analyzing the garment, I figured the blouse was a simple pull-over with no closures.  My recently drafted shift dress had the right general shape, so I shortened that to hip-level and removed the back zip.  There are ruffles at the neck and top armholes, and looked to be just gathered rectangles with baby hems.  Easy enough!

I faced the neckline and front slit because I didn't want the ruffles to weigh down the super light fabric, but I used matching bias to finish the armholes.

The shape is slightly fitted with French fish eye darts, but plenty roomy to be comfortable and cool.

Even though I'm typically not a "ruffle person", I'm pretty psyched about how this knock-off blouse turned out!  

I wore it for my birthday to the Berkeley Botanical Garden and Chez Panisse and loved it!  I have to say, I dread washing it for fear of what I'll have to do to get the ruffles looking lovely again, but I've got one more wearing before I have to cross that bridge :)  

Sick-day PJs

Between the end of the school year for me and the kids, vacation on the East coast, and a general lack of interest in spending time in the hottest room in our house (my sewing room), I haven't been very productive, sewing-wise.  So, for my first day without kids (camp/ daycare) in a while, I was bummed when I came down with my a cold.  No one likes to be sick, however if I had to pick a day to fall ill, it would have been this day! With no work or children to tend to, I stayed in bed and read an entire book (The Martian, though not a typical choice for me :).  But I finished it around 2 p.m., and had a few more hours before kid pick-up.  Clearly, I needed to make a new pair of pajamas, in which I could convalesce for the remainder of my day!

Let's start with the fabric, since it's Liberty.  The print is "Sabrina".  (Okay, I just had to scroll through 8 pages of Tana Lawn prints to find this particular style, and sheesh, Liberty prints are gorgeous.)  The only thing more decadent than laying in bed and reading all day is a pair of Liberty cotton pajama bottoms.  Too bad I didn't have them on WHILE reading in bed all day!    

The pattern is a revision of something I drafted up a while ago.  With pockets, of course.  The pattern could use some more tweaking, but these certainly turned out wearable!

To do justice to this lovely, fine fabric, I used French seams all around, using this tutorial from Deborah Moebes for creating French seams with on-seam pockets.

French seam, with bottom corner of the pocket (hard to see!)

That's about it.  Not a difficult or exciting project by any means, but a good reentry into my sewing room.

I felt well enough today to knock something else off my summer sewing list....the excitement builds!

2015 Resewlution, July garment #1

Granville shirt in Liberty lawn

I'm pleased to say that I have now, officially, sewn a garment with Liberty lawn! Woohoo!  The price has deterred me for my previous multiple decades of sewing, but a tried-and-true pattern +  20% off at Britex = it was finally time.

I have to say, I surprised myself picking this print.  I had a bunch of Liberty bolts pulled at my last visit to Britex, but I was making the decision mid-February, and I guess I just wanted the most spring-like print in the place. The other selections just felt a little dark or "feed-sack-y", as Geana put it. This strawberry flower print is fun, and such a throwback to my 80s childhood.  

From my original Granville, I made a few slight changes: raised the "petite adjustment" line to above the waistline, shorted the sleeves, and graded in from 4 at the waist --> 0 at the hips .  In terms of construction, I sewed the collar more like Peter's instructions, which works better for me.  And I still don't love the instructions for the sleeve vents, but I made it work for this time around.

The fit is great.  I love sewing up a garment and being able to do some fancier seam finishes without worrying if I'm going to have to take the sides in or redo the sleeves once I try it on.  I may need to make some minor pattern tweaks to the collar; on me, it doesn't lay perfectly in the front, but overall, I like the fit for this style.

For this version, I used French seams for all but the back princess lines (and I'm seriously kicking myself about those!), including the armholes using Jen's great tutorial.   Which was actually not difficult at all, with a switch in the construction order: I set the sleeves (using French seams) before sewing the sleeve and side seams in one long go.

Again, I love the slightly fitted shape of this top, and it really works to tuck into pants.  I'm not really a shirt-tucker, but I could definitely pull it off with this blouse pattern.

I've had a bit of a slow start to the sewing year (which is in no way a reflection of the number of lengths of fabric I have that are begging to be sewn!).  I'm teaching and taking a class (Fashion Illustration), but I've sewn less than when I've had crazy teaching/class schedules.  It'll pick up, I'm sure :)

Resewlution 2015: March garment #1 (though I did the vast majority of the work in February...)