Vogue 8631, Sari Silk Kimono Dress

The boyfriend went to India for work(!!!) a couple of years ago, and brought me back a beautiful silk sari.  I had been sitting on the fabric for about 2 years, waiting for the perfect pattern.  The fabric is excellent quality but lightweight, so I didn't want anything that would put too much strain on the seams--but I can't wear shapeless so it had to have some waist definition.  A tall order!

 I made my knit version of Vogue 8631 as a test of the pattern for my special fabric and it passed the test.





I am hoping that the kimono look is one that never goes out of style.  Here is a Carolina Herrera ($799 on Gilt Group) version.









Other than making it in a woven, adding a zipper, and using the long sleeve, I didn't change a whole lot from the last version of this dress I made.  I had already adjusted the crossover not to gape on my small bust and everything else fit pretty well.  The only real change I made was to add some length to the bodice.  I have a long torso despite my petite stature, and I found the waist on the knit version verging on too high.  I added an inch above the waist and the woven version sits just about perfectly.










Although I really like the tulip-y shape of the hem as drafted, I wanted just a skootch more coverage and overlap, so I cut it with a little more width at the rounded edge.

While a strong wind can still blow it open (I always wear a slip under, of course), it has good overlap and in normal circumstances provides ample coverage.






Let's talk about this fabulous fabric for a moment.  It was such a lovely and thoughtful gift!  As a traditional sari, it had a scarf piece, or "pallu" on the end.  I cut this off and hemmed the edges to make a scarf, which I wore with my Tweed Ride outfit.  It also has a double border on the remainder of the fabric.  I cut the sleeve hems on one of the borders.





And that was the extent of my intentional use of the border.  When cutting the skirt, I somehow forgot that the fabric was a double border.  I carefully avoided the border on opening edge, but then completely forgot about it for the side seam edge.  Oops!  Luckily, the fabric blends so well that I don't think anyone will ever notice this phantom border.











 To finish the edges of the dress, I made a million yards of self-bias tape.  Because it's a wrap the bias is a continuous circle all the way around the neckline/wrap openings.  It was so much self bias, but worth it in the end for the lovely finish.  The bias tape blends in so well that if I didn't know how it was done, I might think it was magic.







The pattern is drafted to be worn as a true wrap, held together by inner ties.  I am not crazy about inner ties--they are so fussy to tie and then if you need to readjust you have to get all the way undressed to do it.

Instead, I put a zipper in the center back seam, interfacing the opening to support my lightweight fabric.  To get a nice clean finish at the back neckline, I closed it up about two inches from the top and installed the zipper below that.  The neckline is plenty wide to pull over my head.









To keep the dress together, I hand-sewed the two fronts together at the waist's seam allowance.  This makes it much less fussy to wear.  I do need to keep an eye on my stitching and make sure it doesn't pull out.  That would be quite the wardrobe malfunction.


 The only thing I wasn't sure about for my sari silk version was the dropped shoulder.  I do not care for a dropped shoulder and it does not do anything for my petite frame, where shoulder width is always a challenge anyway.  But changing the location of the shoulder would have required extensive redrafting, so I decided to just risk the shoulder as drafted.

The only small issue in the finished project is not the location of the shoulder--with the wide sleeves it doesn't matter so much where the shoulder is located--but that my French seam sticks out a bit, emphasizing the dropped location of the shoulder.  But this is a tiny nit that I think only someone who sews would notice.

I was so happy that not only did I finally find a pattern for my special fabric, but the project also worked out just as I envisioned.  It drives me crazy when I finally cut into a Too Good To Use and then the project ends up being meh and I only wear the finished item a few times before bitterly parting from it.  This special piece will be in my closet for years.

My only dilemma is styling.  I love the way it looks with the obi, but is that just too literal?  I feel like it needs something at the waist, and a narrow belt doesn't look totally great.  But perhaps that is just my obsession with always have a scarf or belt at the waist.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.



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And fabulous photos they are!  I wore this to the DC Area meetup a couple weeks ago and SewandWrite took these wonderful photos in front of the Chinatown arch.








But of course that wasn't really the point.  The point was to eat some yummy food, gab about sewing, and of course swap fabric and patterns!   I forgot to take a picture, but I brought a *huge* bag full of fabric to give away.  I felt very virtuous for only bringing three pieces home with me.  I couldn't pass up that gorgeous knit print, and I had just been thinking that week how I wanted a water-repellant fabric to make a bag to go in the basket of CaBi bikes.

At the last sewing meetup, the fabulous DD was wearing some drop-dead leggings she made of McCall 6404.  I immediately wanted to copy her.  Not be inspired by, but straight up copy.  She very kindly agreed to pick me up some pleather at Hancock's next time she was there.  And meanwhile the pattern had gone out of print, but luckily BMV had an out of print sale and I got it in my hot little hands.  True to her word, DD brought me the pleather to our meetup.  I can't wait to make the leggings!

It will be a while yet before I get around to them.  First, you can probably guess that I have been working a.lot. the past couple months, and it's not going to slow down anytime soon.  I hope to get back to more regular blogging someday.

Second, after almost a year of not wanting to do anything complicated, I finally got in the mood to do a hard project.  I've been plugging away at it for nearly a month now and am not even halfway done.  Maybe I should rethink that "wanting to do a hard project thing," LOL.  But it will be cool when it is done, I think.  There will be a big reveal...someday.

Vogue 8907, Asymmetric Collar/Cape Silk Chiffon Blouse

I had never even noticed Vogue 8907 until Allison C showed hers as part of her Italy travel wardrobe and then I *had* to have the pattern.  A pullover top with a cool detail?  Yes please!

I bought the snakeskin print at Chic Fabrics in New York ($10/yd) in November 2011 to force myself to get rid of this wrap top; I didn't make a broad back adjustment on the pattern and the top was just too tight across the shoulders.  But I really loved the fabric and wasn't letting go of it; when I bought the replacement fabric I was forced to rotate the top out of the closet.

I don't like this fabric as much as the fabric in the top I had to get rid of because the huge print motifs were very difficult to manage.  I didn't want to center the medallion thing, but the print repeat is very wide so I basically had to just put it to one side.  It just looks kind of weird.  But I think the large collar/cape sort of minimizes the prominence of the medallions because the cape is the feature, rather than the print.



Since I already have a pullover woven top that fits me (almost) perfectly, I didn't bother using the body of the Vogue.  I just used my TNT, tracing the Vogue neckline onto it.








As drafted, the cape is cut longer than the blouse and is caught into the hem to create a blouson effect. I didn't have enough fabric to do the full length cape, so I used my large French curve ruler to trace a gentle curve onto the cape.  In cutting, I made the cape as long as I could with the fabric I had left after cutting the body and sleeves.

I also adjusted the neckline of the collar/cape to match the narrower back neckline of my TNT (back necklines on commercial patterns always gape on me) by taking tucks on either side of the center back marking.   I finished the collar with a serged rolled hem.  Easy peasy.

Lining a sheer piece always presents the conundrum:  to line or underline.  I prefer the lining to hang free, but I always get tripped up at the hem.  I have a very hard time getting the hems perfectly aligned with one another, especially when one of the layers is a tricky, slidey, unevenly drapey, impossible-to-keep-on-grain silk chiffon.  I have ruined at least one project at this final step.



Combined with my fabric limitations here I hit on what I thought was a genius solution:  finish the chiffon layer with an opaque hem band, and then the lining would only have to fall somewhere within the confines of that hem band, and if it was a little crooked it would make no difference.  What a relief!  Of course, this added an extra 4 or more hours to the project given I had to construct everything with French seams twice (once for the fashion fabric, once for the lining) and them apply the hem and sleeve bands, but I'd rather spend more time on a garment I will actually wear.

Using the bands also gave me that little extra length of fabric for my collar. Win-win!








The lining is joined with the chiffon at the neckline and the armscyes, hanging free at the side seams and the hem.  I am particularly proud of my best-ever French seams at the armscye.  Look how narrow and perfect!










To sew on the bands (both hem and cuff), I first stitched the right side of the band to the wrong side of the fabric.  Then I pressed under the seam allowances on the other edge of the band and folded over to the right side of the fabric.  It's important to make sure that your folded edge extends a little beyond the first pass of stitching so it will be hidden.







Finally I topstitched the bands in place.   Stitch-in-the-ditch while desperately trying to make sure you catch the underside of the fabric is way too much trouble for me.

The walking foot was a huge help with the silk, I don't think I could have gotten smooth hems without it.








This creates a beautiful look inside and out.  I think the topstitching on the outside might bother some people, but it looks like a nice finish to my eyes.











To finish the neckline, I used bias tape on all the layers at once--collar, fashion fabric, and lining.  I hand stitched the bias tape to the lining to make sure it stayed flat.






I am in love with this top!  The silhouette is not my usual.  Though it has shape, it is not closely fitted through the waist, and a defined waist with a belt or sash doesn't work with this style.  It can only be worn with jeans because it's too mono-column with a skirt and I don't want to tuck in and risk wrinkling the hem band forever.  But it is not *completely* shapeless and it looks current (at least I feel a little stylish in it).



The cape is interesting and I hope not totally weird, even across the back.

I try not to buy sheer silk fabrics because they are such a pain to work with *and* have to be lined so they feel like quadruple the work of opaque fabrics, but I have (well, had!) two in stash, this gray snakeskin print and a purple floral sheer for summer.  I'm so happy with this pattern that the purple floral will be made into a sleeveless version of this top when the weather gets nice again.  I have only one yard of it so the collar may be quite small indeed.  I'm even considering trying to find a mesh knit that looks good on both sides to do View A, the symmetric cape version.  This pattern is a surprising hit!

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Vogue 1282, Donna Karan Cowl Variation

I have had Vogue 1282 for a while, but wasn't motivated to sew it until I saw Cenetta's (The Mahogany Stylist) outfit; she originally wrote about the top here.  Suddenly I saw the possibilities!

I made most of this fabric into a dress, but had a large piece leftover.  Rather than just make a t-shirt, I pulled out this pattern.  I cut a 6 at the shoulders and bust, transitioning to a 10 at the hip.  Fabric limitations prevented me from cutting a 12 at the hip, and I needed it.

This is one GIANT pattern piece cut on the bias.  I appreciate that they give you a full size pattern piece, instead of a half pattern that you have to copy yourself into a full one.  I had to cut it on the floor, which involves knee pads and a lot of groaning.

I've never really understood bias with knit, but I figured I had enough fabric so I'd give it a try.  The resulting drape is very nice, but I'm not sure it's more drapey in this particular polyester knit than it would have been on grain.  For a sturdier rayon and definitely for a cotton knit, I can see how the bias would make a difference.

I cut a 6 at the shoulders and bust, transitioning to a 10 at the hip.  I ended up taking the tiniest seam allowance possible in the center back seam at the hip, so next time I will cut a 12 at the hip.


I stitched the center front seam up about 2 1/2 inches higher than marked.  It was impressively low.  Once I determined where I wanted that CF stitch line to end, I fused interfacing patches to both sides as suggested.  I shortened the stitch length to 1 near the end, using tiny stitches for extra strength.  I didn't have any issues with the stitches ripping out, though I may go back in and do a narrow zigzag at the top just for extra insurance.



I tested out a weight in the bottom of the cowl, as directed in the instructions, but I didn't think it added a lot to the top.  In my tests at home the weight did not stop the "pocket" created at the bottom of the CF seam from poking to the outside rather than staying inside the point close to the body, a phenomenon you can see in the photo at right.  And since I was making this for vacation, I didn't want to accidentally wear this to fly in and fail the metal detector!

Now that I'm back and not going near a metal detector for a while (nor hiking many miles in the top with the weight bouncing against my sternum all the way up the mountain) I'll put the weight in and see if I like it better.


I wanted to try out this pattern with a sleeve, because I think it would make a nice winter top in a sweater knit or other heavier fabric.  I used my favorite flutter sleeve from Burda 03-2008-113 (which has a fairly standard sleeve head) and just popped it into the armscye.  The armscye is cut out of this one-piece top in a very oblong shape with a point at the armpit end, kind of like an (American) football shape, so I wasn't sure how a sleeve would play with it.  Other than having to set it in in-the-round because there is no side seam (I infinitely prefer to set in in-the-flat), I had zero issues with the sleeve, even with the unusual armscye shape.  Knits are so forgiving.  This pattern is definitely on the list for Fall/Winter sewing.  Now I have an excuse to go sweater knit shopping, right?



The only thing I don't love about this pattern is the back neck.  When sewn as drafted I had serious sad little droopage/gapage at the CB neck, so I curved the seam in, taking about 1 inch on either side of the CB seam and it sits much more flush.  You can see that the neckline opening is finished by turning under a narrow hem, and then folding out and tacking down a cut-on facing.

I am not crazy about this, as I prefer elastic in the back neck of a knit top.  Next time I will probably create a casing using the facing and thread elastic through it, stitching in the ditch at the shoulders to catch the elastic.  I do not like a gaping back neck.  I could also experiment with trimming the cut-on facing off at the back only, serging in elastic and turning it down and then folding the front facing in place as before.  Because there are shoulder seams, this can be done cleanly.



For my Greece trip I packed 4 dresses, 3 tops, a pair of shorts, and a pair of yoga capris.  Everything got worn twice except for this top, but that's because it was new and I didn't want to sweat-stain it!  I wore it on the day we hiked from Perissa beach to Kamari Beach by way of Ancient Thera, where these photos were taken (yes, we hiked up from the black volcanic beach you can see in the background--it was steep!).

Although I only wore it once it is immortalized in my favorite photo of myself from the trip, at the "end of world" at Ancient Thera.  I think you can see how happy I am (though admittedly the top didn't have *that* much to do with it). (You can see the photos from the trip here.)

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Vogue 8870, High-Low Hem Surplice Birthday Dress

It takes me a long time to warm up to a trendy trend, like the high-low hem.  At first I hate it.  Then I am skeptical.  Then I see some cute examples.  Then I am ready. This process can take years. 

After seeing several cute iterations of this pattern on PR, I decided I could take the plunge with the high-low trend (I may be willing to do the trend, but I am not willing to butcher the English language by calling it "hi-lo") using Vogue 8870, sized XS-XXL.  I even went bold with double trending by using this ombre silk, one of the gorgeous pieces BadMomGoodMom picked up for me for a song.

After I had the dress almost done I saw this Lela Rose for Fall 2013.  It looks like my trends should last through at least next season!









I did my usual adjustments, including a broad back.  I should have been more aggressive with the broad back.  I didn't want the hassle of bringing the adjustment into the raglan sleeve, so I just did it on the bodice piece, and I don't have as much movement through the back and shoulders as I would like.



There was universal praise for this pattern among those who have sewn it, but I had an *awful* time with it.  I think the flowing silk charmeuse added a level of complexity the pattern could not take.



I had a little gaping at the back neck, which is not unusual for me.  I added a tiny dart, which took care of it.

My main issue, though was the length of the bodice.  The side seams drooped a full two inches lower than the center front and back.  I sewed it to the skirt like that thinking that once the waist was elasticized there would be some sort of miracle transformation.

There was not.

So I put the dress on inside out and tied elastic around my waist and snugged it even with the lower edge of the center front and back of the bodice, then marked on the side seams where the elastic lay, which was two inches shorter.  Then I ripped the skirt off (poor silk!), reinforced the stitch line with strips of interfacing, trimmed the sides of the bodice at my markings, and sewed it back together with the shortened side seams.  Much, much improved.

The side seams of the front bodice are cut on the bias because of the grain direction, so I assumed the problem was my carelessness in letting the seam stretch out (though the back side seam is pretty close to straight grain).  But comparing the pattern piece to the finished dress, the side seam was as drafted.  I really don't know what happened.



Part of the problem may have come in with my Small Bust Adjustment of shortening the front bodice crossover.  I probably could have shortened it half as much and not had gaping; this is *very* unusual for a Big 4 pattern.  Anyway, the front pulls up a little and it's hard to keep the shoulder seams exactly square on my shoulders.  (I did nothing to the length of the back bodice, though, and it had the same length problem there with a very high center back and the drooping side seams.)




Experimenting with the elastic in the "waist" casing, it looked best if it started and ended about 3 inches in from the side seam on the front, with the center front completely flat and unelasticized and the majority of the gathering in the back. 

It still isn't great, so I went for the universal solution to a bad waist:  the sash.  Without the sash it is just bad.

However, the Bust Pleats to Nowhere I will not take credit for.  I don't know if they are angled wrong, or too close to the center front (and I overlapped the fronts about an extra 3/4" from the design) or what.  But they do not create flattering draping over the bust.  They just create a bubble of fabric above the waistline.

Speaking of which, the waistline is way high!  It is dangerously close to empire, and I swore off empire last year, no matter how much I am tempted, because it is very of a moment for 2011 and the expiration date approacheth.

I like the raglan sleeves, though they are a tad restrictive.  The downward slope of the shoulder is pretty severe.



I finished the neckline with bias tape rather than a facing.  I used the leftover bit of white fabric from below where I cut the front skirt to make the bias tape and then dyed it using a mix of Teal (mostly), Aquamarine (a little), and Navy (just a few drops) liquid Rit dye.  I managed to get an almost perfect match for the turquoise in the fabric, much to my surprise.  In the photo at right, the dyed bias strip is above and the original fabric is below.  (Alas, an attempt to dye cotton in the same dye bath did not have good results.)




After sewing the bias tape to the right side of the neckline, I stitched the raw inside edge of the bias tape over the neckline seam allowance before pressing under.  It is kept in place by strategic hand stitches at the sleeve seams.

I cut the back skirt on the fold rather than with a CB seam, as did most everyone who made the pattern.  It required ignoring the grainline, but a seam would have interfered with the smooth ombre look of the skirt.

I lined the skirt only with silk/cotton Elegance from Martha Pullen.  This stuff is a dream for lining!  I drafted a straight across hem for the lining, rather than making it high-low as well.  It shines through a little, so maybe that was a mistake.  My pet peeve for patterns with "specialty" hemlines like this is when they do not come with a "regular" hemline marked as well.  It limits the versatility of the pattern.



It's frustrating that this dress turned out kind of meh.  I put a lot of work into it; I sewed it while my serger was in the shop so it has gorgeous French seams for everything but the waist.  It's a luscious silk.  And it will have to be my birthday dress (tomorrow!) because I had only 3 weeks to sew for the Greek islands instead of a month and a half.








When it is all dressed up with accessories, it passes for a cute dress.  But it definitely cannot stand on its own.

I like the idea of this pattern but I'm not sure I'll give it another try.  Definitely not the crossover bodice.  If the mood strikes I would try to draft a plain bodice with sleeves based on the spaghetti strap version.  I like the spaghetti strap version as is but seriously, bra.  Strapless bras are horrible.  I would recommend a stable but lightweight cotton as the best fabric; a good quality lawn would be perfect.  I think this could also work in a knit.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

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Trip sewing continues apace!  So far I have made:
-3 bikinis
-shorts
-yoga/hiking capris

-nightie

I have a knit dress done except for the hem, and a knit top about halfway done.  The last two pieces on my list are a little sweater and another knit top.  Though this is a long weekend, it will be full of birthday festivities so we'll see.

Vogue 1329, Colorblock Side-Pleated Ponte Dress

Vogue 1329 has taken the sewing world by storm!  I've seen so many great versions of it.  It has a ton of elements that make it flattering to any size or shape:

-Princess seams for easy fitting
-Colorblock possibility.  The sinuous shape of the side front panel coaxes even the most non-existent curves out of the closet.
-Suggested for ponte double knit (which most people have chosen), which has enough stretch to make fitting easier but is thick enough to smooth over lumps and bumps
-Pleating on center front panel offers some tummy disguise

Basically, this is pretty much the most flattering pattern ever devised for a fitted dress.

So I pretty much had to have one.  This sort of sheath dress is the kind of thing I need for networking events and other not-quite-suit-level work-related events, but I don't have many of them because they are not bikeable.  In the ponte, this one actually is bikeable so it's a win-win!

I got the black/white/red houndstooth from the G Street $2.97/yd table in August 2011.  It is aggressively polyester and has a very vintage look and feel, so it would be great for a 60s style loosely fitted shift.  However, when I thought about pairing it with black ponte (purchased from Kashi at Metro Textiles in November 2010, $6/yd) I was willing to sacrifice that vision for something that would suit me so much more.  The houndstooth is a woven with no stretch, but the narrow non-stretch panel doesn't interfere with the ease of wearing.



You all know how rarely I make a dress without a waist seam due to my swayback.  I did some aggressive swayback folding on the pattern.  Check out the size of that tuck--but even that only got me about halfway there.












When it was constructed enough to try on, I added huge "darts" to the side back princess seams, and took it in a little more at center back.  All told, I removed about 5 inches from the back waist.  Yes, my spinal curve is outrageous.











I did not do any small bust adjusting.  However, I noticed that the highest pleat on the center front panel is up pretty high and the lowest is still above the tummy.  I decided to just move the highest pleat down below the lowest pleat.  There is no looseness at the bust and the pleats are well-placed for tummy disguise.



That said, I think this had an unintended consequence.  The only issue with the finished dress is that the houndstooth side panel collapses/bulges in a weird way a little below the bust when I am standing still and straight.  I do not know if this is a side effect of moving that pleat, or if it has to do with pairing fabrics of two different weights and hands.  Other people do not seem to have this problem, so I assume it is one or the other.  The bulge is above where the uppermost pleat would have been, but that doesn't mean they're not related.  In motion, the problem disappears.

I think I will just add some boning in the seam allowance in the problem area for a slapdash fix to the problem.

The whole dress is meant to be lined, but I lined only the yoke.  I sewed the neckline and armscyes of the yoke and lining as per my usual clean finish method, leaving the 5/8" seam allowances unsewn at the lower edges.

I lowered the front neckline by about 3/4 inch.  My neck is proportional to my body, meaning, yeah, I have a short neck.  Super high necklines just look terrible on me.  I need to at least show my collarbones so as not to look like a head sitting on shoulders.



Rather than install a center back zipper, I made a center back opening on the yoke that closes with a button, and the dress portion is sewn closed.  I sewed about 1 1/2" from the bottom closed on the yoke and the lining center back seams, and then sewed the yoke and lining together from the upper neck edge down to the closed part.  I can actually get this on and off without opening the button so I didn't need any closure at all, in the end.





I finished the lower armcsyes on the dress portion with bias tape, then applied the yoke fashion fabric.

It was important that I left the seam allowance unsewn at the bottom of the yoke armscyes, because I then turned the lining seam allowance under and hand stitched it in place.

Untreated on left; Steamed and pounded on right

There was a LOT of bulk at those corners where the yoke and the dress are joined at the armscye, but heavy steaming and then pounding took care of some of it.  It is not noticeable in wearing.  (The slight gape from the dress being slightly too large is, though, grr.)












I ended up with a nice finish, but next time I would probably draft a facing the finish the neckline and the entire armscye at once, which would be a lot easier and eliminate that bulk.






I had major sharkfin at center back below the booty, presumably because of my body architecture.  I took in the center back seam by around 4 inches at the hem, tapering up to the curve of the booty.



The back is still not awesome and still does not have the traditional pencil shape with noticeable fitting at the hem, but I was afraid to mess with it any more lest there be nothing left of the center back panels.  From the photos (of course, I can't see this in real life), it looks like I need to take the side back seams in a little below the booty and have the CB seam hug that curve a little more.

Even with all these adjustments this was a satisfying, fairly quick project completed in a single day of probably 7 1/2 hours of sewing.  Ponte knit:  the future is now.  I just wish it was easier to find good quality ponte and divine in advance if it was going to pill.  I used this black ponte fabric in my Butterick 5677 Joan Holloway colorblock dress and so far that dress has held up well.  Fingers crossed it stays looking good because I want this dress for a long time!






If you want to feel insanely good about your sewing and your body, you must pick up this pattern.  I say this even with all the flaws I've just pointed out with mine!  Hurry, before colorblocking is totally passe; though it can, of course, be made in a single color.  Now I actually *want* to go to a networking event, just so I can show this off!  (Introvert=LOATHE networking, even when I know plenty of people there.  It is exhausting.)

All photos are here and the pattern review (my 300th review!) is here.