Striped Bowline sweater

After making a couple of fancy Linden sweaters (here, here, and here), I wasn't ready to give up my comfy sweatshirt-analogs when the warm weather hit.  Papercut's Bowline sweater was such an unusual design, I couldn't resist!

As an aside, if you haven't ordered a printed PDF from Papercut, do it!  It takes a while to arrive to the US, but the packaging and presentation of the pattern is so worth the wait (and extra cost).

The style of the Bowline sweater is reminiscent of the Drape Drape styles, with a funky, fold-over neckline type of thing.  I'm not sure I assembled it perfectly (the dart is visible, and it seems like it should be more hidden), but it looks pretty interesting, regardless.

I went with the size XS, but I think the XXS would have been better (though it's very comfortable in the oversized fit!)  I did reduce the length of the sleeves by about an inch.

This photo, above, makes it look like I've draped my arm across my chest, but no!  It's in my back pocket :)

As it turns out, this top looks pretty good with my Birdie shorts and I may make a second version with some heather gray knit I've got in my stash.

We just spent a nice vacation in Hawaii; I took photos of my next Britex project there (to be posted on the 30th) and bought a bunch of fabric.  I tore through Fabric Mart and bought 5 lengths of Hawaiian print fabric in about 10 minutes.  I have only the most tentative plans for it all!

Drape Drape 2: no. 4

After my first go with the Drape Drape patterns, I had to make another!  This top, garment no.4,  is another single-piece garment with asymmetrical sleeves and dramatic side drape.  Here's the pattern piece on the floor:

I went with the sizing on the chart (L/XL), but should have cut the S/M.  After sewing the garment and taking these photos, I made adjustments to the hem, sleeve length and side seam that exactly mimic what the smaller size would have been.  

How incredible are the stripes as they move around the garment?  I aimed to have exactly horizontal stripes across the chest, and the rest fell according to the pattern.  The fabric is a bamboo lycra from my local fabric shop.

I raised the neckline by about 2" and it is still a little lower than I'd like, but perfectly wearable.

Here's the extended image (above)--the sleeves are significantly different in construction, so they do feel a little weird while wearing it.  But overall, the top couldn't be much comfier!  

Again, I'm seriously impressed with these patterns.  The product feels really fashion-forward and dramatic, without a huge amount of effort.  And with some high-end silk knits, the look could be even more amazing!  

No pattern matching here!  

The petal skirt is next on the docket!

2015 Resewlution, August garment #2

Granville Shirt by Sewaholic

Collared, cuffed, button down shirts.  They are a little bit outside my wardrobe comfort zone, to be honest.  They feel a bit masculine to me, and I like pretty.  But, I know I should own some, so I was pleased that Sewaholic released a version with some details I could appreciate: the Granville.

My main beef with button down shirts?  Not enough waist definition.  This pattern style solves that problem with princess seams in the back and significant waist shaping at the side seams.  Enough that I could easily (and very flatteringly) tuck it into pants without looking like a balloon on top.

The sleeve width is narrow and flattering, with no gathers at the wrist.  I know that seems like an insignificant thing, but no extra fabric at the wrist makes for a much more attractive garment, in my opinion :)

I sewed a straight size 2, with some petite alterations.  However, for my next version, I'll shorten the length above the waist, instead of where indicated on the pattern (below the waistline). I also shortened the sleeves by about 2" (which was perhaps 1/2" too much).  I made the initial shortening before cutting out the fabric, but realized they needed additional reduction after sewing on the cuffs. Thankfully, I had enough fabric to recut the cuffs.  This shortened the sleeve placket, but I think it looks just fine.  In the next iteration, I may also reduce the hip flare a bit.

I really like this pattern.  A lot.  Some alterations for a personal fit and construction directions aside (next time, I'll construct the sleeve placket and collar differently than instructed), I am most definitely planning a second.  And next time, I'm really going for it with Liberty cotton, if that gives you an indication of how highly I consider the quality of the pattern :)  Several of the Glenjade colorways would be lovely.

Oh, speaking of fabric!  This is Marc Jacobs shirting from Mood Fabrics (no longer available).  It's light and pretty and the print is a little retro.  I bought it to make an unspecified top a while ago, but since it was pretty inexpensive ($15 for 1.5 yards), I used for this wearable muslin here.  Which reminds me--I made the top (with a second set of cuffs) in 1.5 yards, so that's good to know when I'm shelling out the big $/yard.  

Here's how I wore it, with a bright orange sweater (from Anthro, a few years ago), cuffed-up jeans and maryjanes.  And here is where I start to see the utility of collared, cuffed and button down shirts!

Resewlution 2015, January garment #2

(Another) perfect polo for my littlest man

Kids Clothes Week was just the thing I needed to get my mojo back.  I've been sewing a little bit, but I haven't felt like it was going well--lots of struggles, some unblogged failures, that darn washed fabric. For me, kid sewing is like down-shifting: the sewing is fairly easy and the pay-off is pretty big.  So far this KCW, I've already sewn some Oliver+S Field Trip cargo pants (made into shorts) for my bigger boy and some pajamas for both guys (all using up stash fabrics, hooray!), but this top is the one worth posting.  

The pattern is Blank Slate's Perfect Polo, and I've made this top here and here already.  It's a lovely pattern, but I always need to increase the length of the collar--it seems to be about 3/4-1" short in my hands.

For the fabric, I used more of my stash--the putty cotton/Spandex is leftover from an unblogged Julia cardigan.  It's super high-quality--medium-heavy weight, washes well and doesn't look like it will pill. My little guy wore this shirt all day to daycare (even playing soccer and taking a nap) before I took photos.  The cotton print is from the Mod Squad collection.

I kept the shirt modern and left off the buttons entirely.

I know he's mine, but could this kid get any cuter??

After getting back into my sewing groove with this cute top, I went back to some selfish sewing with great results--I'll share soon!

Patternmaking class homework: the casual shirt

With only about a month left of my semester-long patternmaking class, our first "real" garment (the first made in fashion fabric) is due this Thursday: the casual shirt.  Using our slopers, we were to draft a slightly oversized shirt with collar, collar stand, button placket, and cuffs with buttons and continuous placket. My sloper set isn't my size to begin with, so making an oversized top is clearly not something I can wear myself.  And as such, I wanted to spend as little as possible on fabric :)  I found this apparently vintage fabric (from France!) in the clearance rack at the local shop for $3.99/ yard.  If it were made into a cute fitted top, I think I would totally rock this crazy print, but as an oversized...well, not so much. :(

Hmm...pretty sure this isn't my size.

But the collar meets at the top!  But who wears this sort of shirt all buttoned up...?

That's better: unbuttoned and sleeves rolled up.  The sleeves are comically large--I think I could fit both of my arms into one.  Below, button placket, with some pleats for added volume.

For whatever reason, this shirt gave me such a hard time to construct (over 6 hours!  What?!).  I went into it thinking the sewing would be the least of my worries, but the right and wrong sides of this fabric are only barely distinguishable, so I ended up putting wrong sides out on multiple occasions.  So much of this top was ripped out and redone.  As I've mentioned to my husband, patternmaking class really brings out the obsessive-compulsive perfectionist in me!

Back, with yoke and pleat (for additional added volume :).

At least I have my own sloper set (now complete, after I drafted the skirt and sleeve pieces this weekend) and can use my newly learnt patternmaking skills to create a casual shirt in my own size, should I feel the need!

Does this count as a Resewlution garment?  Probably not, since I'm not wearing it....

Coastal Cargos and Recess Raglan, done!

I'll preface this post by saying that these may be the last two garments I sew for this particular child of mine. Granted, it's the end of a 10 week summer break, but the amount of grief I was given when asking said child to try on the clothes I had painstakingly made for him has convinced me to stick to selfish sewing for a while!  That face above?  That disdain is for real.  

On to the garments!  I am super pleased with how these Coastal Cargos turned out!  Style-wise, sewing for an 8 year old is tricky; you definitely don't want their stuff to scream "my mom makes my clothes!", so essentially I was aiming to make something you could buy at the store.  My son and I picked out the fabric together (Joann's), with some negotiation, of course.  We weren't going for the 'military fatigues' look, but there was a serious lack of better options at the store and he wouldn't even consider the rust colored version I had in mind.  

My son is super skinny, so I used size 6 for this pattern.  Most patterns have excess ease (and my French seams probably used more seam than they were allowed), so these pants fit him well right at this very moment, with little room to grow, unfortunately.  But hey, at least I have a younger son!

Melissa's directions were great and I loved all the details in the pants (Three different types of pockets, button tab for rolling up the pants, zip fly, belt loops...these pants have it all!)

In lieu of bias tape on the leg seams, I went with French seams, that I sewed down (topstitched).  Flat-felled seams were my original plan, but the FS seemed like it would be easier, and less finger-burn inducing.

Inside topstitched French seam, with button tab

Other edges were serger-finished

It's unlikely that my son will actually use this feature, but the pants roll up and are secured with a button tab!  It'd be great for wading in the ocean...like this weekend while I'm fabric shopping at Hart's....

At the last minute, I wanted to make a t-shirt to go with his new pants, so I downloaded the Recess Raglan Shirt, by See Kate Sew.  It's a great little pattern, and between my two boys will be useful for years, but the size 6 was pretty big all around for my guy.  Next time I'll size down and probably make the sleeves a little slimmer.  I started off with the elbow length, but they just looked comically large on my skinny guy, so I cut them back to short sleeves.

This morning, we carved potato stamps to look like animal prints and he used them to decorated his new top.  The boy loves his animals!

Pretty adventuresome looking outfit there!  He just needs his Adventure Bag and he's ready to go...back to school :)

P.S. The Coastal Cargos Sewalong is going on right now--you still have time to join in!

Packing for summer vacation

Skirt, check.  Shorts, check.  Dresses, check.  Swimsuit(s), check.  Tops, check (and then some!).   One thing missing from the suitcase: capris pants.  Done and done, with a new tee thrown in for fun!  We're heading across country to visit family, which has been the driving force behind some of my sewing frenzy.  (That, and knowing I won't have the sewing room at my disposal for a few weeks).

For these grey capris, I used a well-loved pattern (used here, here, and highly modified here).  Working with a tested pattern is so nice...just sew and it fits.  I narrowed the legs a bit, and as I've done in the past, added single-welt pockets to the back to break of the vast expanse of fabric in that area (necessary, in my opinion!).

It's funny, in person they don't appear so wrinkly.  This time, I'll blame it on the lighting :)

There was a small amount of the gorgeous mermaid fabric left, so I used it again for the waistband facing and pocket bags.  This cotton is so silky smooth that it's noticeably enjoyable to feel the texture when I put my hands in the pockets.  Okay, that sounds weird.  Anyhow...the bias tape came out again for the waistband and to neaten up the fly (plus, it made using a white zipper from my stash less jarring :)

The slim-ish fit of the capris and neutral color had me scouring through my closet to find tops with which to wear with them...like this one (blogged here), which I wear infrequently due to lack of appropriate bottoms:

But I actually made another Scoop-neck top the same day I finished the pants, for a more casual capris-based outfit.

It's a nice basic tee, good for vacation.  Or cleaning the house (which is what I was doing before snapping these photos).  You know, whatever!

Happy summer, everyone!  The kids will be getting some experience with the phenomenon called "rain".  Poor CA boys!