Simplicity 2923, Notched Collar Blouse with Directional Stripes

When I ran across Simplicity 2923 in the book, I was drawn by the brown version, looked at the line drawing, was repulsed by the blousy waist, looked more closely at the line drawing, and was drawn back in by the notched collar and interesting raglan sleeve and back yoke design. It's part of the Project Runway series. Is Simplicity putting out any patterns nowadays that aren't? It kind of loses its luster when it's overused. Anyway, there was no way I was making this into a shirtdress as drafted with the blousy waist, but I thought it would make a nice blouse with a bit of a 40s vibe.

This navy striped rayon is part of The Carol Collection, and I was tickled by the idea of playing with directional stripes. To that end, I modified the pattern a fair amount. In addition to my usual princess seam SBA at side front (see photo), I cut the back yoke in two pieces so I could get a chevron pattern with bias stripes, eliminated the back darts and replaced them with a single released dart/inverted pleat at center back, left off the front darts, and cut the side fronts on the bias. I cut the sleeves as drafted, but I had to sew a strip of fabric to the shoulder and the cuff to keep the sleeves from sliding down my arm and losing the big poof.

I did a pretty good job of matching the stripes (not like my usual self!), though if you look closely at the front you can see I did a better job matching the side front stripes to the raglan sleeve better on one side than the other. It's still better than most RTW and that's good enough for me, LOL.

The shirt ended up a nice addition to my closet. It's fun to wear but good for days when I don't want to stick out too much! I'm going to look for more notched collars. I like the way they open up and lay flat.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

BWOF 10-2008 #118, Dolman Sleeve Blouse

This pattern didn't look like much in the magazine, partly because they didn't show much of it, but when I looked at the line drawing I really liked the simplicity of it. It has enough interest with the gathered neck and dolman sleeves, but with the plain lines They had the right idea to use the pattern to showcase a beautiful print.




And I had just the print in my stash, the leftovers from Vogue 2858. I got this gorgeous silk print from Fabric Mart at least a year and half ago (reviewed the Vogue dress in May 2007). I didn't have a lot left after the dress--which I took with me to Vietnam and wore the night my hosts took me to dinner--but I had enough for a parsimonious project. Since I am perpetually in a quest for winter work tops the pattern and the fabric zinged together in my mind as the perfect match.

As I said, I had very limited fabric left. I mocked out the layout, but obviously I should have taken more care over it because after I had actually cut out the front I realized that there was no way, no how to fit the back onto the fabric. Dangit! I was pretty annoyed with myself for wasting the fabric and had to take a break from the project. The next morning I woke up and had my solution. I was always intending to wear the blouse with some sort of cinching belt; I just can't get the hang of wearing a sack. So I turned my miscalculation into a design feature. I cut the back as long as I could, which was to above the waist. Then I cut a strip of coordinating silk from the Carol Collection to make a tie casing, then I cut the lower back out of scraps. I also cut the inner band collar, sleeve bindings, and tie out of the same silk. To wear, I thread the tie through the casing and knot in front. Here's the back in action.

I have a bit of buyer's remorse about the contrast color I chose. I meant for this to be part of a 4 piece mini wardrobe with the Exquisite Fabrics wool skirt of Simplicity 5914, my BWOF velvet skirt disaster, and my Butterick 4985 off-white pinstripe silk blouse. However, (1) I didn't get around to photographing and reviewing all the pieces in time for the contest although I did finish them all with time to spare, (2) the velvet skirt was a disaster, and (3) the two different colors of teal/turquoise of the blouse accents and the wool skirt clash. The best laid plans.... I was also considering hot pink for the accents and I kind of wish I had gone with it; I was totally not thinking about the clash with the skirt. I suppose I could theoretically go in and re-do it with pink, but let's face it--that's highly unlikely.

Mini-wardrobe deficiencies notwithstanding, I really like this blouse and think I found the right use for that last bit of Fabric Mart Anna Sui silk. I ended up liking this pattern quite a bit, and as far as blouses go it's a quickie, what with the dolman sleeves, band collar, and self-front placket. If you have a precious silk print in your stash take a look at this pattern.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here. The booties I'm wearing are a new purchase; I've been wanting booties like that forever and I found these Clarks, which are *highly* comfortable, at Macy's on clearance and my friend had an additional 15% coupon. They were still too much (though a good chunk less than at Zappo's, I'm pleased to see), but I neeeeeded them. Cute, no? I felt validated when I was at the register and the woman in front of me said that she would never have considered this style but she saw me try them on and had to get some!

Vogue 7898, Asymmetric Hem Mock Wrap Dress

When I was deciding on my wardrobe for Germany, I planned to take my black suit to wear on the most formal day, and then dresses to wear under the jacket for the rest of the days. A black jacket is very versatile and gave me a lot of flexibility in the dresses.

When I was going to pick up my serger I knew one of the first things I wanted to do was my first sweater alteration, but I also wanted to try out the legendary serger sewing of knits!

For some reason, I felt the urge to go into deep stash. The mesh knit overlay fabric and the Vogue 7898 pattern had been earmarked for each other and sitting in stash for at least a year, and probably quite a bit longer, so that qualified. I was seduced when I saw the mesh knit on the $2.97 table at G Street; love the print and the colors are totally me. I bought it even though I *knew* that mesh knit would be an absolute bear to cut and sew. (I was right.) On my way back from picking up my serger I stopped by Exquisite Fabrics' moving sale for the wool to match my Goodwill Bennetton suit (they are still closed; the website says their tentative opening date in Georgetown is January 17). Because they were closing out all the inventory there wasn't much left but I managed to get the last four same-color cones of serger thread they had, in navy. Good enough!

When I was preparing the pattern I could see that the angle of the asymmetric hem was way too steep. There was clearly too much difference in length. I think this pattern is showing its age because it had to have come from a short moment in which ridiculously dramatic asymmetric hems were de rigeur. I shortened the long side of the pattern by three inches before cutting out, and even still it was too much. Had I cut it as drafted I think the long end would have dragged on the ground, while the short end is above my knee! Ridiculous! I shortened it another three inches, and now I think the hemline is interesting without looking clownish. In preparing the pattern I also, of course, did an SBA on the front neck edges.

Laying the pattern out for cutting was dreadful, as it was impossible not to be stretching the mesh knit. I thought I got it right in the end, but when it was all sewn together the underlay/lining was hanging several inches longer than the mesh overlay. I had sewn the lining and overlay separately, joining them only at the armscye, in case of any weird pulling. At first I was going to trim away the lining, but then I decided (1) that would make the short parts of the dress too short, and (2) I actually kind of liked it with the two layer effect.

Other than the hemline and my usual SBA, I didn't change anything other than the tie method. This is actually a mock wrap dress, though it looks like a real wrap. The directions want you to sew the fake tie into the left side seam and the D ring onto the right front, so they basically just meet. I thought that wasted a perfectly good opportunity to have the tie go across the back and deal with my swayback issue, so I sewed the now slightly-less-fake tie to the right side seam and bring it around the back to catch into the D ring. The right side is gathered around the D ring; I found it necessary to sew it in by hand.

I used my new best friend for knit wrap styles, clear elastic, to snug up the neckline. Pin each section of clear elastic slightly shorter than the neckline section so that in the end your elastic is about 3 inches shorter than your neckline and twin needle in place. The neckline on this is very low and no amount of futzing with how I placed the right side over the left raised it. Since I am flat-chested I don't think it's too va va voom for work on me, but someone who has any boobs at all will have to save this for evening, I think.

I wore this dress the day of the official state dinner for the conference, and felt very pretty in it. All photos are here and the review is here.

Knip Mode Pencil Skirt with Pleats

I didn't make many skirts last year because, well, I already have a.lot.of.skirts. I was on the phone with a friend a couple years ago complaining that I didn't have the right skirt for an outfit. She made me go in my closet and count how many skirts I had. I think it was somewhere around 50. So I have slowed down my skirt making since then! That said, I am ready to speed it back up because most of my skirts from years past are A line, and the pencil line is all fashionable now. And maybe I'm just being influenced by fashion, but I think it may be more flattering on me, and unquestionably it looks better with voluminous tops, of which I've made a fair amount recently. When I saw this one, Knip Mode 11/2007 #12, it had to go into my closet.

So I don't speak any Dutch, but I'm pretty sure "Met slimme details" means you'll look skinnier so I was sold on this skirt. Actually, I just loved that assymetric pleat detail. It gives a little interest to a straight skirt without making it too crazy. I am really digging the Knip Modes I borrowed from Cidell. In a way I almost wish I didn't know it existed because now I wants and have no way to gets.

The fabric for this came from Kashi, purchased during PR Weekend 2007. I thought that I could brag that I had used all the fabric I bought that weekend within 2008, but dang it! Now that I look again I see that the blue/gray stretch woven on the lower right is still in my stash. (The maroon jersey became a hideous wadder.) This skirt is a lovely gray stretch wool (on the blue-ish end of gray, but not actually blue) with orange windowpanes. Kashi alleged it was Italian, but as Karen points out, doesn't he always?

I hesitate to point an accusing finger at Knip Mode, because the patterns seem exquisitely well-drafted, but you can see that the skirt does not hang quite right at the side seam with the pleats. I actually corrected the line a bit during construction when I first noticed the problem, but it's still not right. Normally I am happy to take the blame, but I actually made a serious effort to get grain-perfect in cutting this out. It was cut out in single layer, so it's not an issue of folding it incorrectly. I even cut off the selvages of the fabric because they were distorting the lay a little bit! So I don't know where the problem arose.

The pattern directions have you cut a straight piece of fabric for a waistband, but I really prefer a contoured waistband so I drafted one. It pulls away from the body a little bit above the pleats, another thing that bothers me. I thought this was because I was an IDIOT and cut out my single layer lining the same orientation (right side of fabric up) as my single layer fashion fabric when, in fact, they should be cut out opposite. I didn't want to re-cut so I just put the lining in backwards or sideways or mirror image or however you would describe it. That's slapdash for ya. But it bothered me so much that I actually went in, opened out the lining, and added a gusset there. No effect. So perhaps a straight waistband would be best for this after all.

As you can see, I reversed the pattern in cutting to change the pleats from the left to the right side. I prefer to have details on my right side, probably because I am right-handed. I just put the pattern piece on the fabric upside down.

Although in theory I love the higher waisted skirts that are coming in style, I think it will take a while to get used to them. They seem perfect for my body type--emphasizing a small, high waist; shortening my relatively long torso and lengthening my relatively short legs--but I felt kind of thick around the middle in this. Cidell's comment on seeing the photos (without me telling her how I felt) was that the waistline is very flattering, so maybe it's just a comfort thing. Low-rise was the thing for so long and it has been a decade and a half since I tucked anything in; maybe I just need an adjustment period.

All photos are here and the review is here.

Oversized Sweater to Sweaterdress

So I have been wanting a sweaterdress for ages, but after my bathrobe attack disaster I feared the sweaterknit. This season the sweaterdress is *everywhere* and I really wanted in on the trend. When I went on my thrift store sweater-buying melee this sweater did not fit my 100% wool criterion (it is nylon, angora, and metallic) but I am drawn to all things shiny and soft and I had to have it.

When I got it home and tried it on I thought maybe, just maybe, I had found my sweaterdress. I decided it would be perfect for New Year's Eve, casual yet cute, sparkly yet tasteful, so I took scissors to it when I got back in town from visiting family for the holiday.

You need a sweater that is many sizes too big for you for this project. I really don't know what my RTW size is, but I'm guesstimating that this sweater was about 6 sizes too large (I'm probably around a RTW 4 and this was an 18/20). For a sweater that is only a little too big, you can take it in by sewing into the sleeves and side seam as one, but for something that is much too big you have to take off the sleeves. I also cut out the shoulderpads--given the price of shoulderpads that alone paid for the sweater!

After you've cut off the sleeves, try it on mark with pins 1) the new bottom of the armscye, and 2) how much to take in the side seams. I considered making this just a body hugging t-shirt dress style, but I am just too self-conscious of my belly so I didn't tighten it all the way at the side seams, leaving room for the center pleats I would add later.



Once you have sewn the new side seams, put it back on and mark the shoulder edge. Trim away the excess. This sweater had been constructed with twill tape to stabilize the shoulders. If yours isn't, you might want to add some shoulder stabilization here. I should also note that as soon as I made any cuts I immediately took it to the serger and finished the edges to prevent unravelling and too much stretching.



At the same time you're trying on to mark the shoulders (and if you want a short sleeved dress, the oversized shoulders turn into a cute cap sleeve), pin out your center pleats. I did three inverted pleats at center front right under the bust for an empire look. I sewed them down about two inches long on the inside.

Now it's time to get back to the sleeves. You're going to turn them upside down so that the larger armscye becomes the lower hem of the bell sleeve. I sewed the elastic casing by hand because the ease situation would have been a pain on the sewing machine. When I first tried on the sweater I was sure I'd have to shorten the sleeves, but in fact once I had fitted the sweater and shortened the shoulder they were only just barely long enough.

Cut the wrist edge into the rough shape of an armscye. I didn't worry about being too precise here because the sweaterknit stretches and I knew I could ease the sleeve into the armhole. I did pull the sleeve onto my arm up to the shoulder to make sure that it was about the right size. My sleeve was tapered at the wrist; if yours is not you might need to take it in a little to fit in the armscye. Set in your sleeves and thread elastic through the lower casings; you'll need a longer piece of elastic than you think because the sweaterknit adds a lot of bulk to the casing.



I could have stopped there, but I am just not a fan of the crew neck. This is not for the faint of heart because you're going to have a wiiiiiide neckline once you cut off the original finished neck edge, there is no way around it. First I cut off the collar as narrowly as possible and immediately rushed to the serger to finish the edge. Then I stabilized the edge by twin-needling over clear elastic, stretching the elastic slightly to take up as much of the neckline as I could. Then I squared off the neckline by hand-gathering at a diagonal from the neckline toward the shoulder.



And voila! This isn't a super-quick project; it probably took me about four hours all told. So allow enough time for yourself. I put a decorative pin over the center pleats to emphasize the empire shape; it's not functional. I am so happy finally to have a sweaterdress! Especially for under $5!!!

All photos are here.