Undocumented Garments of 2015

I don't need to review my year to recognize that I didn't blog a lot this year!   I sewed a lot less and had a lot less time to take photos and write posts, just in general.  But I sewed more than I reported, so instead of reviewing my "hits and misses" of 2015, I decided to post a photo or two of each garment I didn't blog about when I made it.  I just spent an hour digging through my wardrobe and photographing them all.  So, ladies and gentlemen, here are my Undocumented Garments of 2015.

Blouse and pants (made in June, worn to my birthday dinner at Quince in SF)

Blouse pattern: Myrtle, cropped by Colette Patterns
Blouse fabric: Britex Fabrics (not available online)
Pant pattern: self drafted
Pants fabric: Mood Fabrics (no longer available)

Summer top (made in July, first worn during our vacation in upstate NY)

Blouse pattern: self drafted
Blouse fabric: Britex Fabrics (no longer available)

Spotty blouse (made in August, first worn to my son's birthday party)

Blouse pattern: Alma blouse (with sleeve alteration) by Sewaholic
Blouse fabric: purchased in person at Hart's Fabric

Chambray shirt-dress (made in October, first worn to travel back to NY for my 20 year high school reunion!)

Dress pattern: elongated Granville button down, by Sewaholic

Dress fabric: Harts Fabric

Flannel PJ bottoms (made in October, I think)

Pants pattern: self drafted
Pants fabric: Harts Fabric (no longer available)

Funnel-neck dress (made in the fall sometime--maybe November?)

Dress pattern: vintage McCalls 2506
Dress fabric: Mood Fabrics

Lace-front top (made in December, to look "fancy" while spending way too much time outside on the playground with the kids)

Top pattern: Linden top, by Grainline
Top fabric: Mood fabrics (French terry and lace)

Silk peplum blouse (made in Nov/Dec as a muslin)

Blouse pattern: self drafted
Blouse fabric: vintage silk, purchased on Etsy

I didn't just sew garments that weren't documented!  Here are two Christmas gifts:

Jewelry roll (made in December, for my mother)

Roll pattern: Modkid 
Roll fabric: Tweed from FabMo, with some scraps from my stash

Waxed canvas shaving bag (made in December, for my husband)

Bag pattern: adapted from Thread Theory tutorial
Bag fabric and notions: Thread Theory kit

In 2016, I've already sewn a few garments.  I'll try to post photos before 2017 :)  Happy New(ish) Year!

Tutorial: reducing the cowl neckline on the Myrtle dress

After exposing my bra to my friend (and most likely many others) while wearing my original Myrtle top out for drinks the other night, I decided to reduce the depth of the cowl for my second Myrtle.  If you are less well-endowed than the C cup Colette designs for, this might be a good adjustment for you, too!  After learning how to draft a cowl neck top in my patternmaking class, I know that this hack isn't precisely an "undoing" of the drafting process that creates the cowl; however, for small reductions in the deepness of the draped neckline, this works really well!

Supplies:

• tracing paper (or other large format paper, such as the backside of wrapping paper)
• pencil
• long straight edge or quilting ruler
• Myrtle pattern

Start by folding Piece A (Front Bodice) in half along the dotted line.  We're going to manipulate half of the pattern and then mirror the final product at the end to recreate the doubled-front of the Myrtle dress.

On your tracing paper, draw a long straight line (I drew mine in red).  This is center front.  Position your folded bodice front along this straight line and trace the original pattern.  Then, set your original pattern aside.  My traced pattern is in green, below.

For my top, I reduced the cowl by removing a wedge from the center front equal to about 2" at the widest (at the upper neckline) tapering to 0 at the waist.  This may be too much for some people, so a muslin is your friend here!  To remove this wedge, position a straight edge ruler at an angle, 1" in from the center front at the upper neckline, angled to 0 at the waist.  Draw the line (mine is in blue).

Since this is on the fold, removing a 1" wedge equals 2" on the final garment.  Next, cut along the newly drawn line (this is the new center front) and the rest of the traced bodice.  (Image not shown, but trust me, I cut out the bodice :)

Now, fold another length of tracing paper twice as long as the bodice length + a few inches extra. Position your traced+cut bodice with the upper neckline at the folded end of the paper (it doesn't have to be on the fold, just near) and the center front right along the edge.  Tape the bodice to the tracing paper and trace the pattern yet again (I did it in black this time).    

Position your straight edge ruler such that it is exactly perpendicular to the edge of the paper (parallel to the fold) and just touching the shoulder point closest to the neck.  Draw a new line connecting the shoulder point to the center front. (You may want to cross out the previous neckline line to avoid confusion.)  This new line represents the "dotted line" on the original pattern piece A.  

Now, refold your long piece of tracing paper so that the fold exactly matches your new neckline. 

Before: New neckline is perpendicular to the fold of the tracing paper as in previous image.

After: Repositioned the fold of the paper to match the new neckline.

Finally, cut around your traced bodice leaving the folded edge uncut.  

Now when you open the folded tracing paper, you should have a lovely mirror image of your bodice, just like pattern piece A! 

Comparing the pieces side-by-side, you can see that the revised version (on the right) is slightly longer and narrower at the shoulders than the original.  This will raise the neckline and reduce the amount of fabric that drapes at the center front.  

Hope this helps and contact me if you have any questions!

Myrtle dress in stretch silk

After making my wearable muslin top of the Myrtle dress by Colette Patterns, I immediately geared up for making a second version.  I made some pattern adjustments: reduced the depth of cowl (tutorial up tomorrow!), as well as some petite adjustments of the bodice at the waist AND the upper bodice to shorten the armholes.  I also redrafted the armholes a bit to make them slightly more curved at the bottom and narrowed the back bodice at the shoulders.  After all that, it fits great!

For the fabric, I used the most incredible stretch silk from Britex (unfortunately no longer available).  I washed and dried the fabric (on gentle and low heat) and it looks just as good as it did when before pre-treatment.  The stretch is significant and the fabric has a easy-to-sew texture and weight.  It's a gorgeous fabric and was a pleasure to sew.

Since the fabric isn't quite as stretchy as a knit, I finished the arm and neckholes with purchased bias binding.  I know, I know, purchased.  I'm okay with that :)  The hem was sewn with my narrow rolled edge foot.

I left off the pockets for a few reasons.  First off, I don't love the shape of the provided pockets--they kind of flap around if not attached at the waistband.  Yes, I could have redrafted them, but....Second, the fabric is so light that I didn't want to put any lumps or bumps under the skirt.  So, no pockets!

I love that the dress is dressy enough for any dinner date I might be fortunate enough to have (especially in Northern California), yet I could definitely pull it off for teaching (with a lab coat for messy labs, of course!).  

I can definitely see more of these dresses in my future!  

Be sure to check back tomorrow for the cowl neck reduction tutorial!

Resewlution 2014: July garment #3

Cropped Myrtle dress and pattern review

I guess it's a little silly since I just drafted and released my own (free!) cowl-neck pattern, but I just had to buy Colette's newest release, the Myrtle dress.  It was like a black hole, just pulling me in: I couldn't resist!  I love a casual dress, and this pattern looked like it would be pretty versatile. And it is!

In a mad effort to use up stash fabrics, I pulled out this very stretchy knit (purchased online at Michael Levine a while ago) and started cutting before I realized I wouldn't have enough for a dress.  Such a rookie mistake!  No matter, an abbreviated version (aka, peplum top) works well, too!  

This was my wearable muslin, so I cut according to my measurements on the sizing chart and went with XS.  Overall, the top was a bit big in the shoulders and chest, and especially in the deepness of the cowl. With the slightest waist bend, you can see down to my belly button.  So not a good thing!

The back was also wider than I normally like, which makes the top a bit shifty.  However, it's probably because instead of folding and stitching the back neck and armholes, I used self fabric binding on the edges, which increased the overall width.

I made my usual petite adjustment in the bodice (reduce by about 1"), which was needed.  The length is good, but the armholes were a little deep for me, too.

Okay, that's a lot of sizing complaints, but that's why I do muslins!  For my next version (already sewn!), I altered the pattern to fix all my fit issues.  Overall, the pattern is great--I love the construction of the top and the wide elastic waistband.  I've made it in this slinky/stretchy knit and a stretch silk, and both are lovely and comfortable.  Definitely a pattern that can be dressed up or down with fabric choice (and accessories).   Stay tuned for version 2!

Resewlution 2014: July garment #2