Blouse Inspiration, Spring/Summer 2010

I am trying to focus on separates lately for Spring/Summer. I enjoyed the tailored look over Fall/Winter and think it is is easier to achieve with a fitted skirt and interesting blouse than through dresses. Although we'll see how long it lasts as I have a serious love affair with dresses! These are from the offerings at Saks.

All kinds of ruffles are still in style, which I love. Well, actually, I love them in theory. In truth I have very few items that actually have ruffles. I am a small person and (for the moment) I look younger than my age, so I do have to be a bit careful about too much sweetness. But I am always inspired by *seeing* ruffles. And these ruffles are quite sophisticated, I think. The Elie Tahari is more like origami than ruffles (still love the origami trim I did on this wrap blouse), which has the femininity without the juvenalia. The Fendi top is a more casual look, but I dig the external seam/ruffle situation, and a more wearable version--maybe even in the office with a jacket--is this St. John's version.







Speaking of wrap blouses, here are two variations with plays on the collar. Love the wide, drapey lapels and watercolor print of the Etro--and I already have that look covered with my new favorite Burda 02-2009-123 wrap blouse with self-collar. More ruffles with the Marc Jacobs--double ruffles! And how fun it is to use a different colorway in the same print motif? This is something that can go from Marc Jacobs to Garanimals real quick, but I think here it is strictly grown up.













The shoulder is still "very important," to quote a bit of silliness from Michael Kors' judging during Project Runway (early in the season). A way to use the shoulder without the molded shoulder pad are details like the subtle yoke on the Akris blouse, where the shoulder is emphasized by the directional usage of the gingham or the extravagant ruffles on this Elizabeth and James top (as for the tie dye--yeesh!).






Draping is another trend I like. I don't care for the unfinished look the of the Hanii Y t-shirt (I've already been inspired by a Hanii Y garment--my lace skirt), but I do like the double layer/asymmetry. Nanette Lepore shows a symmetrical drape, but the ribbon detail gives it a little more interest and I like that the tank is built in. BCBG has a classic oversized cowl tank; I think you get that look with the cowl neck version of the HP Three Graces top. I haven't been crazy about how huge that version looks on others who have used the pattern, but it does look rather appealing on the model.




For pure inspiration, I love this Derek Lam faux corset top. The draping of the upper bodice and that little collar are so great, and the contrast color and closer fit of the lower bodice with the coordinating cuffs makes it a real impact piece. There are several patterns out there that could be used for this look--Butterick 4985, for instance--if you dare. I don't see myself dipping into this well in real life.






You all know how much I love a print; I rarely sew with solids. However, at this point it has been about three years since I bought any clothes and my old standby H&M t-shirts (which I've actually had for longer than three years, more like six) are eventually going to give out on me. But really, I just don't see how I could possibly sew plain t-shirts without experiencing an aneurysm of boredom. So I always like to see a variation on a tee.

These two illustrate what you can get just by altering/embellishing the sleeve. The Princess Seam made some tees similar to the Gabi Ponti top (on the right) a couple years ago and I have had them in the back of my mind since; her blog post also includes a photo of how she altered the sleeve to get the look. While out and about last weekend I saw two people wearing short sleeve t-shirts with a long, gathered sleeve cap like that, with elastic or gathering running along the center of the sleeve/outside of the arm. It was a cute little touch.

All my inspiration photos for Spring/Summer 2010 tops are here.

Slapdash and Stashoholism Confessional

I gushed about the combination underlining/faux Hong Kong finish on my Simplicity 2827 '50s dress. However, nothing gets by my amazing readers!!!!

CJ asks:
I have a "slapdash" question. I love interior finishes like this, but how did you take the side seams in 1.5 inches after you did the underlining? Did you tear the whole thing apart after sewing it, and then re-underline it? Or did you test fit by basting the fabric before you sewed the underlining in? Or do you just have almost 2 inch seam allowances at the sides? It's alterations like this that always make me afraid of doing a nice interior finish. Thanks!

Ha! You totally caught me! Actually, Elizabeth did too over email. You all are too smart! You know I don't usually muslin but just adjust as I go, so it definitely is a danger if I've done a nice seam finish before construction that I will have nicely finished but unattractively enormous seam allowances.

In this instance, it actually worked out OK, just by happenstance. Because the bodice has a cut-on sleeve, the side seam kind of morphs into the sleeve's seam allowance. The pattern was drafted with much longer sleeves--low bicep or thereabouts--which just did not look modern or attractive. I shortened them considerably, when meant essentially eliminating the bend at the underarm. Because of that, I was able to fold up that extra side seam allowance into the hand hem (catching in only the underlining for a completely invisible hem on the outside) of the sleeve and it is not noticeable or unduly attractive that I have extra seam allowance in there. There have certainly been times I've not been so lucky! And just to answer your next question, I did not do the lower hem by hand! It is over 100 inches wide, are you crazy?!?! I used my machine blind hem.

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I finally made it out to G Street Fabrics' new Rockville, MD location at 5520 Randolph Road. They used to be sort of catty-corner to the metro, but moved to a new spot further away. I had been meaning to get out there and make sure it is still walkable.

Bottom Line: I still consider it walkable, but it will be a 20-30 minute walk, depending on your speed.

Short directions:
Exit White Flint Metro and make a 180 degree turn to turn around.
Right on Old Georgetown.
Left on Nebel.
Left into Montrose Plaza.

Long directions with details and landmarks:
Come out of the White Flint Metro stop and make a 180 degree turn (turn around to face the opposite direction you got off the escalators).
Walk along Rockville Pike, the large main road that will now be running along your left side.
Make a right at the first street you come to, which is Old Georgetown Road. You will walk a fair distance on Old Georgetown (my random guess is a little under half a mile) down a hill, passing large apartment/condo complexes on your left. The road curves to the left at the Harris Teeter grocery store; stay on it. Old Georgetown dead ends at Nebel Street.
Make a left on Nebel and walk about 4 blocks through a complex of warehouse and retail space. On the way, you will pass Accents Beads on your left. If you have any interest in beads or jewelry you should try to fit in a visit.

Finally, you will come to a large traditional (as opposed to warehouse-y) shopping center on your left. It's called Montrose Plaza. You can't see the G Street at first, but you will see a Gold's Gym. Make a left into the shopping center and G Street will be on your left.

The store is slightly smaller than the old location, but it is definitely not tiny or cramped, and it does not appear that they reduced the breadth of the stock. I went because I was desperate for zippers, but I just *had* to cruise past the $2.97/yd table (hey, it was near the bathroom!). I found the knit print above, and couldn't pass it up. Love hot pink, love graphic prints, it is all me.


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I have plans to make several solid colored straight or pencil line skirts using the stretch wovens I got from Kashi when I went to NYC last month. I have finally come to acknowledge that you really need a slippery lining in a skirt--whether separate skirt or skirt half of dress--because if you ever wear tights with it a cotton-y interior with catch the tights and look horrible while you walk. However, I am planning to make the skirts snug to take advantage of the stretch, so I need silky stretch woven linings.

I checked out the usual suspects, Fabric.com and Fabric Mart. Neither had any kind of stretch woven lining, or silky wovens with lycra that are not officially lining but could work as such. Crazy! So I went to Fashion Fabrics Club, which not only had some great poly/lycra prints (when did I ever think I'd say that?) but also a wide color spectrum of stretch lining. I ordered the two prints above and 6 yards of a light colored stretch lining.

After a long delivery saga, imagine my dismay when the solid colored lining turned out not to have any stretch! It is listed as 2% lycra, which I know is not much, but it is seriously the most stable silky polyester I have seen. Ugh. I am negotiating with them now on the return--I do NOT think I should have to pay return shipping for a fabric that was misdescribed on the website and therefore useless to me when I received it. I really wish Fabric.com had something that would work! Fabric Mart now has a cool gray-tone Pucci-esque poly/lycra print, but I really need a solid, light color to use under non-opaque fabrics. Grrr. However, I think I have enough of the two prints above to line my skirts, and I'll be on the lookout at PR Weekend.

Vintage Simplicity 2827, Vintage 1950s Shirtdress

When Pattern Review announced that the challenge for April 15-May 1 would be Vintage Patterns, I decided I should interrupt my regularly scheduled sewing to actually stitch up one of the many vintage patterns that I own. However, nothing was really grabbing me in my vintage pattern stash. But then I remembered this pattern, Simplicity 2827, which for some reason I had put into my regular Dresses-Woven pattern stash instead of with the rest of the vintage patterns, probably because it totally works for modern day.

I have no idea where I got the pattern. For some reason I associate it with Karen. [**EDIT** Confirmed! Karen tells me she gave this to me at PR Weekend 2007. Thank you, Karen!!! Both for the pattern and for jogging my memory.] It does not have a copyright date, but the style and the price (I looked in the Vintage Pattern Wiki for comparison) put it in the late 1950s.

It is a Miss Size 14, 34 Bust (corresponding to a 26 waist and a 36 hip). I am a 32 bust with a 27.5 inch waist, so I had to do some altering. When I pulled out the pattern tissue there was a tiny shorten adjustment pinned into the bodice, which I thought was so cute! I traced the bodice front and back. On the front, I scooped out a little width under the arm, narrowed the two darts, and added some width at the waist. For the back I just added to the waist. After I put the dress together, although the bodice had seemed the right length in the tissue and in the fabric, once I added the skirt it was too long, so I shortened it by 5/8 inch. The bust area was still too large, so I tightened the side seams, taking out a total of 1.5 additional inches. As with my vintage 1947 shirtdress, I think the illustration shows a much more fitted dress than it was actually drafted to be. I guess ridiculous ease is nothing new to the Big Three.

I bought the fabric, a large scale abstract floral print, from Fabric Mart in June. I have been feeling so guilty about that order because I hadn't sewn anything from it! I just couldn't find the perfect project for this print (and seriously, it was $3.74/yd) so I dithered and dallied and now I am so glad to have it done. Of course, there are three more fabrics in there waiting to be sewn... I got the buttons at last year's Goodwill Trunk Show; I don't know how old they are, especially as there is no price printed on the card, but I would hazard that they are older than I am. They don't match exactly, but I liked the idea of using vintage buttons on a vintage pattern.

The cotton print was somewhat sheer and needed to be underlined. I underlined with cotton batiste and used Julieb's tip from pattern review on doing a combination underlining/faux Hong Kong finish This is my new favorite thing; I just used it on a skirt (haven't photographed it yet), so when I had to underline this project I used the same technique. You can only use it to finish the seams along one axis, either the horizontal or the vertical. In general, it will be best to use it for vertical seams, as your horizontal seams will be finished by hemming and a waistband or neckline finish.

The tip has you cut the seam allowance on the underlining twice the width of the fashion fabric seam allowance, but that was too wide for my taste in the skirt project. So for this dress I cut the underlining an additional 3/8 inch wider than the fashion fabric. As with my cheater French seams, I use the serger to stitch together the layers, which gives a very precise seam allowance.

Each piece is finished individually before being sewn together. After cutting the underlining an additional 3/8 inch wide, line up the cut edges of the fashion fabric and underlining, right sides together. Serge together.

Then turn the piece right side out. Lay out the piece so the serger stitching lies flat with the underlining wrapped around it and press. That's it!

I love this method because it is only a hair more work than just constructing a pattern normally (I'd underline sheer fabrics and serge all those edges anyway) for a really lovely finish on the inside.

You can see how pretty my seams are in the photo at right. To finish the upper edge of the skirt I first did the vertical seams as describe above. Then I turned the piece so the right sides were together again, rolled the underlining of the vertical edges outward, and serged along the top edge. Turned right side out and pressed, this time with the serged seam at the top, rather than the underlining rolled over. It's nicer than having the serged finish showing.

The closure on this was interesting. If this were designed now, it would have the buttons and buttonholes along the front opening edge the same way, but the lower edge of the button bands would be stitched together and there would be a short invisible zip at the side seam. However, this has a sort of faux fly in the center front seam with snaps. This gives enough room to get in and out of the dress with the look of a continuous skirt. I only had x-large, large, and teeny snaps. I'll have to remember to get medium snaps the next time I go to a fabric store and then I'll replace those large snaps. They don't affect the look or hang of the dress and are perfectly functional, but I think aesthetically they're too large and heavy.

I love the little bow on the back neck, it's one of my favorite parts. I was a little disappointed with the back neck as the pattern illustration shows visible gathers but there's really not enough extra fabric there for visible gathers. But the bow is cute. Unfortunately, with my print it kind of disappears. I am going to have to look for a royal blue ribbon to replace it.

I had fun dressing this up for the 50s with a crinoline and pearls and a chignon (I tried gloves but I only have off white gloves which looked weird with the white of the dress), but it can also be worn in a modern, non-costumey way. All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Stylish Cloche Japanese Hat Making Book Project and Review

I ordered Stylish Cloche from Amazon.jp after seeing the project made by Diary of Matter Hatter and falling in love with it. I did a google search, but didn't find it anywhere. I should have done a little bit more research; although the book was a reasonable $18 the shipping was $35 so the total cost was over $50. I see that it is now available on Etsy for $28 with $10.50 shipping, which is a little bit cheaper.

There are some pattern books for which I might be willing to pay $50, but when I received the book I realized it has just three crowns and three brims, and one of the crowns is a top-hat style crown and I already have several serviceable patterns in that style. The options are stylish and (judging from this one) well drafted, but had I known there were so few patterns I don't think I would have ordered it. Oh well, it's only money. Although there are limited options, the fashion photography in the book showing many different versions and combinations is beautiful and inspiring, as you can see in this image.

The patterns come in three sizes:
S 56 cm (approx 22 inches)
M 57.5 cm (approx 22 1/2 inches)
L 59 cm (approx 23 1/4 inches)

Seam allowances are included appear to vary somewhat depending on the piece (they are marked in the construction diagrams), but it is generally 6 mm, approximately 1/4 inch. The text is Japanese but the numerals are Arabic and the instructional diagrams are extremely clear and detailed. There is no real language barrier to using this book, which is quite a feat on the part of the technical illustrators! Hats off to them, if you'll pardon the pun.

My head is actually 21.5 inches rather than 22, but with the small seam allowances I figured I'd just sew them a little bigger if need be. However, those tiny seam allowances turned out to be a problem in my relatively thick fabric, and in fact the hat turned out too small, which is so annoying! It spent several weeks on my hat block stretching, but the stretching didn't really take. Sad. The upside is there is no chance of it getting blown off in the wind; the downside is the large welt it leaves on my forehead. In the future, I will plan to trace the pattern and then strip out the allotted seam allowances and add back my own, larger SA (I prefer 1/2 inch). Although seam allowances aren't marked on the pattern in the traditional Western manner (a dashed line along the entire perimeter), they are marked with little lines topped with a circle at various points so it shouldn't be *too* difficult.

For this project I used Crown M and Brim B in size small. I used wool tweed left over from making this pencil skirt. Actually, I cut out and made the hat at the same time, and there was pretty much nothing left of the fabric, which I thought was quite a coup.

The pieces fit together well and create a pleasing line. The crown does seem to be a smidge too tall for my head, but that may be because it is too small to properly pull down all the way.

I lined it with some of the Vera Wang Silk/Rayon blend (it's great for hat-lining, thick and slippery), and finished off with a ribbon.

Because it's too small I haven't gotten a ton of wear out of it--there is a small window of weather in which you can wear (1) a wool hat but (2) it doesn't cover your ears--but it was a promising foray into the book and I can correct the size issue on the next one. All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Simplicity 2497, Rufflicious Cocktail Dress

A dear friend got married last weekend and the attire was "cocktail." To me, this implies something different than semi-formal. They would probably be the same skirt length, but cocktail is a little more playful and stylish, rather than timelessly elegant. It seemed like the perfect venue for Simplicity 2497. It is not your typical "short, tight, and shiny" cocktail dress (much to my date's chagrin, I am sure) but definitely has an element of playfulness as well as a tasteful level of sexiness.

The fabric is the fabric.com $1.99/yd Vera Wang silk/rayon satin I bought in a frenzy in January. The fabric was lovely when it arrived (I couldn't get a photo capturing the satin sheen but trust that it is like normal satin), but pre-treating crackled and ruined the finish.

Figuring I had nothing left to lose, I ordered some iDye in violet from Dharma Trading (why did I not also order some iDye poly in black??? I am so annoyed with myself. I feel their shipping is too high to do a small order but I don't need anything else.) The fabric took the dye well, but I did not like the way the right (satin) side looked. The color was very grapey, and although the surface crackles were gone there was definitely some kind of textured look going on, sort of like a sand-washed silk, maybe. Bottom line, it just wasn't pretty or youthful.

When Cidell visited I solicited her opinion and she said she liked the wrong side of the fabric best. It took me a little bit to adjust to the idea of using the wrong side, but it was definitely the best choice. The wrong side dyed evenly and more richly than the right side. It has a twill weave that gives a little bit of visual interest. And I had been uncertain of satin anyway as it pretty much always looks like a bridesmaid dress.

The fabric is almost beyond medium weight into heavy, which had it's good and bad points. It did not need lining, which was fabulous. On the other hand, it did not interact well with my serger so I had to flash back to the olden days and zigzag all the edges. Ughhhhh.

The neckline and armscye are finished with self bias tape and I couldn't get a great turn of cloth on them. They are fine--especially as the neckline is covered by a ruffle!--but if I'd had time it would have been better to get some coordinating fabric for the bias tape. If I'd been thinking about it I could have thrown some into the dye bath, but it was way too late for that. To reduce bulk, I used lightweight lining for the front pocket bags and the midriff lining. I wanted to do a machine blind hem on the skirt, but there was no way I could turn under the edge and then stitch the turned under edge for the hem as it would have been too thick, so I used hem lace, which gives a nice little touch inside.

The pattern instructions provide a clever and vintage-y method for installing a pocket along the side seam with the zipper. I'd run across such directions once before but moved the zipper to the center back, as is my preference. Here, I feared moving the zipper to center back would make the back too bulgy. I followed the directions, which seem complicated but aren't if you follow them step by step. I am very pleased with the way the pocket turned out, although in the end I wish I'd moved the zipper to center back. Better a symmetrically bulging center back than one normal side and one bulging side. Ugh. It's not necessarily going to catch the average person's eye, but it is obvious to me that the two side seams fall very differently (you can sort of see it in this photo; the zipper is on the same side as the pin on the midriff).

My biggest complaint about the pattern is that the neckline is LOW. I mean LOW. I have no such thing as cleavage and don't mind a low neckline but even on me this was ridiculous and showing my bra. Because of the thickness of the fabric, I had to hand gather and then hand-stitch the collar to attach. I used the ruffles as strategically as I could to provide more coverage, but really I needed to raise the neckline at least half an inch, maybe even a full inch. Also, I took about an inch total, half inch on each side, out of the width of the front bodice below the bust point for a small bust adjustment. I think I should have taken it out of center front instead so that it would narrow the neckline.

I had very little time to make this dress and did almost all of it in 30-60 minute increments on week nights. Luckily, it's not that hard. I was pretty skeptical about it while I was making it and did not think it would be flattering. I feared the waist would fall too low and the bodice would be too billowy even with the SBA. I experimented with pleats instead of gathers but couldn't come up with anything satisfactory and was running out of time so just went with gathers. I was hoping it would be one of those projects that looks terrible until the very end, but was already figuring out which backup dress I should wear.

But I think that it did end up being one of those projects that looks terrible until the very end, and when it was finished I was mostly happy with it (the bra-revealing neckline and bulgy zipper in side seam being the causes of the "mostly"). I got a TON of compliments on it at the wedding, but most people knew I sew my own clothes so I can't tell if they felt obligated to compliment me or or actually liked the dress, lol.

I don't think plan to make it again but how cute is Meli88a's casual seersucker version?

I did not have Cidell to do my pictures, alas, but I did have a human photographer who even managed to include my feet in a few shots. All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

I'm going to have to do some sewing this weekend because I am now pretty much caught up on project blogging (Ok, there is a blouse and a hat still to go)! Eep! I still have a dozen or so pieces from last year I could write about, though, so maybe I'll just do some pictures instead. `-)