Peekaboo Midriff 40th Birthday Dress

I have been a little obsessed with cutouts lately, I'm not sure why.  I put together a Pinterest board and the one that really struck my fancy was this (at right).  And of *course* it had to be just a hosted image, with no link, information, back view, or front view without her hair covering the shoulders.  But I got the gist.

I decided to make my birthday dress out of some gorgeous green silk I picked up at Paron in New York in August.  The color is that of the famous Atonement dress, but having neither Keira Knightley's willowy body type nor the Gatsby existence calling for full-length green silk gowns (nor enough fabric either--I just barely eked this out with nothing to spare once I made my self bias tape), this dress it was.


The first step was drafting the bodice.  I drew up what the pattern should look like (sadly, I do not have a future career in fashion illustration!) and went from there.

I considered starting with McCall 5880, which has the right shape at the armscye as well as the look I wanted for the back.  But it has an empire line, which I didn't want and I decided it would be more work than starting from scratch.

Then I remembered that I had turned my woven tee into a raglan version using the same method as for my knit tee.  Perfect place to start!




I first created a full width front pattern (rather than cut-on-fold).  I narrowed the front neckline 1/2 inch on each side.  I marked 2 1/2 inches on each side of center front at the lower edge for my cutout.  Then I made a diagonal marking from the corner of the neckline to my 2 1/2" mark.

I mocked up a quick muslin of the bodice front, using hair clips and pins to attach it to my raglan blouse and tried it on.  Whoa.  The opening was a bit much.  You can't really tell from the top laying flat, but we were definitely in bra-flaunting territory.

So for muslin #2, I narrowed the width from center front to about 2 inches on each side, and rather than cut a straight diagonal line I curved it a bit to give more coverage.  This muslin was what I was looking for, so I moved on to the drapey part.


To get volume in the front, I first folded out three large pleats in my tissue paper to build in volume, then traced my pattern (the original pattern became the lining).  I didn't have any particular measurement of volume in mind, so I wasn't too scientific about my pleats.  Each pleat was probably about two inches wide (so, encompassing four inches of tissue because of the folds).  I also rotated the bust dart to the neckline.

For the back, I made a diagonal cut from the neckline to the hem and added a wedge of tissue paper, as I didn't want additional volume at the back waist.




I cut out muslins of the front and back overlays and made a quick mockup of the full bodice--pretty much exactly what I wanted!  The pattern drafting process ended up being much simpler than I expected.








I cut the bodice and bodice lining from the fashion fabric because I didn't want the lining to roll over and show anywhere.  Here you can see what the final pattern pieces looked like for the bodice.

I used the skirt from Simplicity 1796 and I cut the skirt lining from Butterick 5315.  For the skirt lining, I made a facing for the center front at the opening, so there wouldn't be any lining show through.





Construction was pretty simple.  I started by sewing the side seams of the outer and lining pieces.

Next, I sewed the outer pieces and lining together at the armscye, diagonal center front, and upper center back, and turned and pressed.








Then I put in the basting stitches for gathering on the outer pieces and pulled the gathering threads to match the outer piece with the bodice lining, basting the outer fabric to the lining fabric at the neckline and the lower edge.  I left the lower edges separate about 2 inches from center back.










Once basted, I matched up the centers front at the neckline and pinned the left and right halves of the bodice together.





To finish the neckline, I used self bias tape.  Because the entire weight of the dress hangs from the bias tape at the shoulders, I reinforced the shoulder areas with interfacing.

I first sewed the bias tape to the wrong side of the bodice.  At the corners of the front neckline, you need to sew the bias tape to the very lower edge of the corner so that the raw edge will be fully enclosed.





I then turned the bias strip to the right side and used the hair clips to hold the bias tape in place so I wouldn't leave pinholes in my gorgeous silk.



The skirt and lining were constructed separately with french seams at the side seams. The center back seams were left open in order to sew in the zipper.



I gathered the outer skirt at the waist. The skirt lining is an A line fitted at the waist to reduce bulk.

To join the bodice and skirt, I sandwiched the bodice between the skirt and the lining and sewed together at the waistline, leaving the last two inches before center back open--this was for later doing a neat finish at the zipper.

I separately sewed the outer skirt to the bodice all the way to center back, leaving the lining free.  Then I sewed the skirt lining to the bodice lining all the way to the center back.

After reinforcing my fabric with strips of interfacing, I installed an invisible zipper below my finished center back neckline opening.





I had not been quite sure how I was going to finish the lining at the center back, but luckily it all worked out well!  Remember that I had left the lining and the outer pieces free for the last two inches before center back.








I folded the edges of the lining in and then hand stitched with tiny stitches to the zipper tape.






The finish is very neat on the inside, and the hand stitching is only barely visible.



I was thinking this style was a departure for me, but then I remembered I made a knockoff very similar to this in 2007 (though apparently never blogged or PR reviewed).  The seven years later version shows less skin, though.  Still, I guess that shows my taste is pretty consistent!



I love the way the dress came out.  It is not perfect--it is a little loose at the armscye (which I really don't understand, because the top with sleeves is more on the too-snug side than the too-loose side); the front drapes slightly askew/agape; and I'm honestly not sure what's going on with the back waist--the pattern I started from had a swayback adjustment built in yet somehow it needs another 2 inches taken out.  A full muslin and another round of pattern adjustment probably would have fixed those things.  But I've always considered it paradoxical to put so much careful effort into special occasion dresses that will be lucky to see five wears rather than wardrobe workhorses that will be worn a couple times a month in season for five years.   Not perfect is fine with me.

It was fun to do a drafting project that worked out and actually matched my inspiration!  Alas, I haven't actually had the chance to wear the dress.  It was pouring on my birthday and I didn't want to ruin it!  I just need to plan fancy cocktails soon...

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Silk Tops for Fall/Winter: Side Border Print Pullover Woven Tee

If you know me, you know that when the weather gets cold I start to whine because I don't have any cold weather tops.  This year, as always, I was determined to deal with that situation.

I looooove silk, but I can't wear it when it's the least bit warm because I sweat like crazy in it.  So Fall/Winter is when I get to indulge my fiber love, at considerably less than retail--like this GIULIETTA Silk-satin top, $475 from net-a-porter.

For my winter silk tops project I am loving my pullover woven tee pattern, perfected from a base of Burda 12-2007-123 as described here.  The pattern still isn't perfect--I changed the dart to an angled one after this project but I don't have the length exactly right--but it is SO NICE to just cut it off the pattern as is and sew it up, knowing it will fit and is the right length.  I marked the pattern with "skirt" and "jeans" hem lengths (the jeans length is about 1 1/2 inches longer, as skirts are worn at the waist and jeans below).

The star on this top is the fabric, so I kept the rest of it fairly basic.  I got this zigzag print silk at London Textile at PR Weekend Philly 2010 for $5/yd.  I used some of it to make an (unreviewed) negligee a couple years ago, but it was a large piece and I had a lot left.





The print is a little tricky because the zigzag portion is about 15 inches long, and there are about 24 inches of black in between the zigzag prints.  It's hard to make the most of the fabric without waste!  I felt fairly brilliant when I hit upon the idea of using the print sideways on this top.






To get the print placement right I made a full-size pattern piece for the front, carefully marking the bust apex so I wouldn't have a big ol' arrow pointing to it.  I cut the back so that the tips of the zigzags would be just outside the long back darts.  Apparently, I didn't mark my darts well enough and they ate the tips of the zigs, but silk does not take kindly to unpicking so I decided to live with it.














My only flourish on this top was to add cuffs, which I took from Vogue 8379 (as seen in my perfect knit wrap dress).  I just added width to the cuffs to match my sleeve pattern--as the Vogue is a knit pattern they would have been way too tight in a woven.



Making square corners is always a challenge.  I have always dutifully followed the pattern instructions to clip the corner and then tried to sort of squish my way into a square.  It doesn't generally work out too well.  Lately I've been experimenting with *not* clipping the corner, but turning the seam allowances down at the stitch line, as shown in the photo, and giving that corner a good press before trying to turn it so it's as flat as possible.







It can take a few tries to get the corner turned with the seam allowances all staying in place, but the result is a nice, sharp corner I can be proud of.  This doesn't work with bulkier fabrics, but for a silk with light interfacing it's a good strategy.






As is my usual practice for silk, I sewed everything with a French seam, including the armscye.  It takes a little time and patience, but I do love how beautiful everything looks on the inside.










I had a hard time getting a double turn on the hem--this silk is fairly sturdy and it would have been a big production to ease in the longer inner curve.  I used hem lace instead.  It is stitched with a machine blind hem; it's not invisible, but I'm not fussy.






The neckline is bound with self-bias tape.  I considered using the print for the bias tape, but I wanted to make this top classy rather than my usual zany/fun.  I actually regretted adding the cuffs when I finished it, because I felt like it wasn't totally obvious they were cuffs but maybe some sort of ruffley thing.  They've grown on me, but I am still glad I went with plain black for the neckline.









I wish I could claim credit for the sleeve perfectly matching the front, but that was total happenstance.  Crazy!  I put the sleeve in the most fabric economical placement I could come up with and didn't even consider trying to match the print.

I am very happy with this top, the first of several silk tops I've made for this season.  I think I achieved my aim of looking classy and expensive without compromising my love of bright colors.

All photos are here.

P.S.  Happy New Year!

Variations on a Tee #7: Raglan T-Shirt Dress

BCBG Max Azria Pre-Fall 2013

Clio pinned the Max Azria on the left sometime last year and I immediately loved it.  She has shown her awesome raglan tee so I figured I should get around to showing mine (which I made several months ago--hence the three different sets of photos!).

Michael Kors, $1695

I dig the bare front cutout in the Max Azria, but for my real life sheer sleeves like the Michael Kors on the right are more doable.  I would not wear this dress to work, but it is the perfect LBD for winter parties.

The body fabric is a heavy poly/lycra knit I got on eBay several years ago from a seller that has, unfortunately, stopped selling (Uptown Fabrics High End Fabrics).  I bought it for yoga pants, and it is a really nice heavy weight for skimming over lumps and bumps.  I made a pair of yoga pants and a pair of hiking capris with it, and with mixed emotions used up the last of it for this dress.  I got the sleeve fabric, a rayon burnout in a sort of zebra print, at a DC area meetup fabric swap. 

Since I already have a perfect t-shirt pattern, I decided it would be easier to draft it into a raglan than the start with a raglan pattern and alter it.

House of Jo posted some great instructions for how to draft a raglan sleeve from a bodice block.  Visit the link for full details; here is a cursory overview of the process.



Start by marking the raglan line on your bodice.  Can you spot my stupid mistake here?  Yep, I only drew my line into the shoulder, rather than the actual neckline.  I got pretty far into the drafting process before I realized it.  I went back and did it right, but didn't take new pictures so these will have to suffice.  I used Kadiddlehopper's trick of using Frixion pens to make the markings on my pattern and just ironed them away when I was done.  Brilliant!  I've been using Frixion pens to mark my fabrics for a while, but it never occurred to me to use them on patterns.

Then you pin the bodice onto the sleeve, matching the notches, and matching the seamlines as well as you can.

Trace your bodice markings, including the dart at the top.  The dart is what gives the sleeve shape, and is the reason I wanted to use my TNT pattern.  I have narrow shoulders, and on commercial raglan patterns the "shoulder" extends far from my actual shoulder and creates an ugly bump.  The dart placement on my drafted pattern is absolutely perfect; it required no tweaking whatsoever.

From that point you remove the bodice pieces and trace the underarm curve of the sleeve and you've got yourself a pattern.  It's surprisingly easy once you untangle the instructions (my lack of spatial relations is painful for drafting purposes).


There was no magic to the construction here, it's just a simple t-shirt dress, but I did want to show how I do foldover elastic ("FOE") when I'm being fastidious.  First you cut the FOE to about 75%-90% of your neckline opening, on the lower end of the scale for loose weave fabrics with little recovery and the higher end for firmer knits with a lot of lycra.  I did about 90% for this fabric.

Stitch the ends of the FOE together, right sides together.  The key here is to clip the corners of the FOE in the seam allowance, as shown.  Otherwise, those ugly ends poke down below your stitch line.  I use fray-check on the cut ends, but I am paranoid.



Next it's a two-step process.  Zigzag the wrong side of the FOE to the wrong side of your neckline.  The white marking here is my center front; for my V-neck dress this was necessary for a later step.







For the next pass, I use my blind hem foot to stitch as close as possible to the edge of the elastic.  Stretch slightly as you sew, to make sure you have enough thread in the straight stitch.  I have not popped any stitching on FOE I've applied with a straight stitch on the second pass like this--but I generally go for deeper necklines, not higher crew necks.  Your results may vary if your neckline has to stretch a lot to go over your held.








Here is the second pass sewn on this dress.  You can see that it is rippling a bit at the V neck.  We're about to take care of that.










To make the V point, fold the FOE at the marked center front, and then stitch diagonally across it as shown by the white dots.  Press to one side and you have yourself a little V.










The impetus for this dress was a request from the boyfriend.  We were out to dinner one night and a girl walked by in an open back top like this one.  He had strong feelings about how much he didn't like it, which was kind of hilarious because he is *not* a fashionisto.

At any rate, the conversation somehow became him asking, "So, do you have one of those...black dress thingies?"  And I was like, "You mean a Little Black Dress?"  He wasn't familiar with the term as such, but it appeared that's what he was talking about.  I do have a couple (literally two) identical fitted knit dresses that I wear on our dates in the winter, but since I *never* wear black he had never gotten the full LBD effect. This was on my project list anyway so I bumped it to the top.  He was pleased with the results.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Beach Caftan

This was *supposed* to be my project for our gulf coast trip.  Something nice and simple that I could easily make in the weeknights leading up to our departure with no stress and no last-minute-itis.  It got done in plenty of time and I would have had a nice leisurely night of packing were it not for that darn muffin top compelling me to make a new swimsuit.

Many years ago I made a beach cover up that I really like.  It's just a square of poly chiffon with a long, diagonal slit cut out of it.  It can be worn as a poncho, but I generally wear it as one shoulder; because the slit is on the diagonal the points of the square hang interestingly asymmetrically.  However, it doesn't really cover the booty, and for a family trip I figured I should go for a little more coverage.

I don't buy poly chiffons.  Chiffon is such a bear to sew that if I'm going to work with chiffon it damn well better be silk.  I didn't think I had any left in stash, having purged it all over the years, but then I found this piece.  I loved the colors and print so much I couldn't bear to get rid of it.  I made Simplicity 2594 out of a it a couple years ago (and bias poly chiffon?  fuggeddaboutit.  The grain is all kinds of messed up on that blouse.)

I didn't have enough length to make another square, as planned.  I could only make a rectangle.  So I decided to go caftan.  Thank goodness this otherwise difficult fabric tore.  I just tore me some straight edges and went to town.



Although it drives me crazy that Burda always publishes a "pattern" for a rectangle, in making this I realized that there is some design involved, albeit extremely rudimentary, and that there are decisions to be made.

The dimensions I ended up with:
-36 inches across the shoulder (apparently I had exactly one yard of full length fabric left)
-Total finished length:  29.5 inches from the shoulder fold to the hem
-Side seam:  9 inches down from the shoulder fold, 7 inches in from the side, and 7 inches long (it ends a little above high hip so there would be no issue of decreased mobility)



My fabric was 60 wide, which I folded in half, the fold forming the shoulder line.  I finished the side edges using the serger rolled hem.  The hem is the selvage edge.  Once the side edges were finished, I folded the selvage under twice and stitched it down.  The edge finishes were very quick and easy.






If anything about a rectangle can be said to be tricky, the neckline was the only difficult part.  I have a small head, so others might need a slightly larger opening.  I folded the fabric into quarters to find the very center, then cut a slit 11.5 inches long.  I created a little extra room for the head and a slightly more graceful shape by slightly rounding the neckline, as shown in the photo at right.





I finished the neckline with a serger rolled hem, but I wanted to make sure the corner wouldn't fall apart under the needle, so I dabbed Fray Check in each corner and let it dry before taking it to the serger.  I started in the center of one edge of the slit; when I got to the corner I pulled it so the fabric was as straight as possible and continued the serging line.






The result is a nice clean finish.  I just cannot stop being in love with a serger rolled hem.  So far, the corner has held nicely through many puttings on and takings off.










My innovation was to add a button and rouleau loop that can be used to create different looks for the caftan, taming the flowiness of the fabric and creating a narrower silhouette.

The button and button tab are placed 16 inches down from the shoulder fold, or 13.5 up from the hem on the same plane/layer of the caftan (which can be either the front or the back). I used a shank button and stitched around the serger rolled hem, which is sturdy enough to support the button's weight.



While the rectangle in and of itself isn't entirely glamorous, I was quite pleasantly surprised by how much I kind of love this caftan.  It can be worn five(!) different ways, as shown in the thumbnail at the top:
1.  Free Flowing
2.  Belted
3.  Buttoned in front
4.  Buttoned in back
5.  Inside out









I can't decide which way I like it best.  Maybe buttoned in back?  Though it creates a little bit of a weird dual-length apron look in the back with a much shorter hemline at center back.  I like the tamed volume in the front though.

While I was at the Gulf (in Fairhope, Alabama, for the curious), I wore it belted, which is always a safe bet.  I felt quite Ibiza, minus the strobe lights.

I actually like the caftan so much I'm almost considering making one out of opaque fabric to wear as real clothes for the Fall.  I think it would look cute with my jeggings...

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Variations on a Tee #4: Waterfall Cardigan and Mini Wardrobe

As usual, I am a little late to the party--the waterfall cardigan has been a thing for several years now.  In fact, the first time I saw one was on a fellow traveler when I took a bike trip in Italy in 2004!  But hey, better late than never.

Etoile Isabel Marant
Lexy Leather Trimmed Boucle Jacket, $430

Source: net-a-porter.com via Trena on Pinterest

The fabric is a stable knit from the $2.97/yd table at G Street Fabrics.  At first I wasn't crazy about the fact that it is essentially striped, but then I saw this Isabel Marant jacket/cardigan and felt a little better.  Heh.











This is a pretty simple variation to draft.  It looks like McCall 6084 is the same style, though I've only looked at the line drawing so I don't know what the pattern pieces look like.  All you do is extend the front neckline at the inner point of the shoulder the same length as the back neckline (I did not bother redrafting my back neckline to be straight--the curve on my TNT sloper is gentle enough that it didn't make a difference) and then extend center front your desire width.  I made it as wide as half the front--doubling the width so that each front half is as wide as a whole front.

The only tricky part in sewing is keeping track of what is being sewn together where.  It might be helpful to add notches at the shoulder for this.   This photo might help you visualize how it looks to put together:



First, you sew the center back neckline seam of the fronts together (the upper edge of that extension you added to the front neckline).  Next, sew the shoulder and neckline all at once.  Pin the front and back together starting at the outer/armscye edge of the shoulder, continue the line by pinning the front neck extension to the back neck, and keep going onto the other shoulder.  You will need to clip into the seam allowance of the front at the shoulder/back neck extension to get a straight line to sew.

Then proceed as normal.  I like to set the sleeve in the flat and then do the sleeve/side seam all at once.  The last thing is the long hem that goes all the way around the cardigan and the sleeve hems.  This is a really simple project and only takes a couple of hours to make.





The sweater can be worn a variety of ways.  I liked the idea of being able to tie the fronts together, so I pinned and marked the spot at the waistline where the regular tee ended and the extension began so I could make a hole to thread the ribbon through.  I pinned a large interfacing patch to the wrong side.






Next, I stitched the buttonholes from the right side.

After the buttonhole was done I trimmed the interfacing patch to only slightly larger than the buttonhole before fusing.

Because of the texture and pattern of the fabric, the buttonhole is nearly invisible, and certainly not noticeable while wearing.

To keep the ribbon with me but out of the way while I'm wearing the cardigan a different way, I stitched a loop of elastic into the side seam just below the armscye.  The ribbon hangs through the loop and doesn't dangle down to the outside.



This is a fun little sweater that I ended up liking more than I expected.  I don't have many cardigans in my closet because I buy so little clothing and I find it hard to make a cardigan that doesn't look homemade, as so much of the commercially-manufactured versions are done on specialized machines using techniques the home sewist simply cannot duplicate.  The waterfall idea obviates the need for the special ribbed collar and placket finishes.  I foresee more of these in my future.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.









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The cardigan is the "key" piece in my 2012 Mini Wardrobe Contest entry.  The wardrobe had to be 5 pieces, at least 4 made during the contest period.  I had one more piece planned, but just didn't have time to get to it so I pulled a dress out of the closet.

The idea was to make neutral separates that will go with a lot of other things in the closet.    It is not like me to wear neutrals or dark colors or solids, but sometimes I do feel the lack of them in my wardrobe.  These pieces do take me a little closer to a versatile closet!

Pieces:
Self-drafted jeggings
Self-drafted waterfall cardigan
Manequim 02-2012-216 cowl sleeve tank
Burda 02-2011-103 godet pencil skirt
Burda 05-2010-105 Grecian draped dress (from the closet; I made this in 2010)

The items actually make 10 combinations (6 is the minimum) but I forgot to photograph one of them.*

Silver top + jeggings
Silver top + jeggings + cardi
Silver top + skirt
Silver top + skirt + cardi
Cardi (as a top) + jeggings
Cardi (as a top) + skirt
Dress
Dress + cardi
Dress + jeggings
Dress + jeggings + cardi

My mini wardrobe review is here and the photos of all the combinations are here.



*Dress + Jeggings + Cardigan, if you're counting at home.