Tuesday, November 16, 2010

Stasholism Confessional: NYC and Otherwise Out of Control Edition

Life is funny. When I got back from Turkey, Cidell asked if I wanted to go to NYC for Veteran's Day. Since I had just returned from traveling and have some expensive travel planned for next year, I said I'd have to think about it. The next day at work an opportunity to speak in NYC on Veteran's Day came up and I took it. So fortuitous! It was a quick trip and I was working for a lot of it, but I did manage to squeeze in some meetups (and just a wee bit of fabric shopping).

LindsayT and Cidell Even in such a quick and busy trip, I was lucky enough to meet up with sewing friends. On Thursday, I hustled out to the garment district during a break in the conference in time for coffee with Ann and Cidell. I hadn't had the chance to meet Ann and it was very exciting. I was a little intimidated as I was wearing a new coat (will post it soon, once it is *ahem* entirely finished) that Ann had also made, but she was just so sweet!

Nancy K and RosieOn Friday evening, I was thrilled to see LindsayT, Elizabeth, and Peter again over cocktails, and excited to meet Ann, Nancy K and Rosie. (Yes, these are the same photos Cidell showed on her blog, but they were taken with my camera so whatevs.) I felt very sophisticated drinking prosecco in New York City with such a great group of stylish sewists! Everyone was showing off their style and sewing skilz. Elizabeth, Peter, and Trena Peter's shirt was impressively tailored, loved Elizabeth's coat, Nancy K was wearing one of my favorite colors, LindsayT had impeccable casual-chic-professional style as always, Cidell was exhibiting yet another great version of the Burda turtleneck (she might have sold me on the super-long bunched sleeves), and Rosie had on the absolute perfect color for her.

Unfortunately, it was all too short a dream and I had to run off early like Cinderella, but a great time was definitely had by all and I am looking forward to the next visit, which I hope will be less work and more play!

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What's that? You were wondering if I had any time between work and my jet-setting social life to do any shopping? Well, I might have squeezed in a little bit of fabric buying. Only a little. OK, fine, a lot. Too much, maybe. Agh!

First, a public service announcement: Remember when I was looking for bra strap keepers? The little ribbons with snaps that you sew into the shoulders and snap over bra straps to keep them in place? Found! At Steinlauf and Stoller for 75 cents per pair (the overpackaged Dritz ones are about $3/pair), in white, black, and beige. They don't appear to be listed on the website but they have them.

NYC Technical Fabrics, 11_2010 After successfully making gym pants, high on my list to acquire was actual technical fabrics. I expect the cotton-poly blend of my new workout clothes will pill and fade within a year and I'll want to replace them with something more durable and hopefully sweat wicking. Cidell did our research for us (thank you!!!) and found that Stretch House carries Supplex in lots of colors at $6/yd, a crazy bargain for that sort of fabric. I bought four colors for tops, along with some heavy duty powernet-type fabric for sports bras. The downside of buying at a bargain is that I'm not *really* sure what I got. The turquoise and the pink have the same texture and appear to be Supplex. The royal blue is a little thicker and doesn't seem to dry as quickly, while the green is much thinner and less sturdy. So who knows what I really got but I think all will be suitable for workout gear. Then we hit up Spandex House for heavy duty technical fabric (again, not exactly sure what it is) for bottoms. This stuff is sturdy with great stretch and recovery--at $12/yd, you pay for quality.

H&M Fabrics, 11_2010 Well, I probably should have left well enough alone there but of course I had to do a little more browsing. I was looking for fabrics I could make into relatively warm winter dresses. I didn't do so very well at that in H&M Fabrics (the location on 35th). This is the famed "Kabbala Man" that SarahinNYC turned me on to. The store has been "going out of business" for years. Who knows, maybe someday they'll succeed, but until then it has great bargains. With the news about the price of cotton increasing significantly next year because of crop losses, how could I pass up adorable cotton prints at $2/yd? The green and the polka dots are batiste weight, while the print is a little thicker. Cotton dresses are so great for hot weather. I wore the heck out of my Vogue 1086 Tracy Reese cotton sundress last summer. Seriously, I could have worn it every day. So these fabrics should give it a little break next year.

Wait, that doesn't help my winter clothing situation, does it? (Except that I think I will make a long sleeved blouse out of the polka dot--bought 3 yards for a blouse and a dress.) I have been in the mood for a red dress lately, I don't know why. I wore my Simplicity 4074 red dress last week--I think I only wore it for Christmas last year. So the red knit (almost as sturdy as a double knit) had to go into the stack. I haven't decided on a pattern. The black and pink houndstooth wool called to me. At $12/yd, it was a little expensive. After I bought all the cotton the girl helping me knocked the price down to $10, which was nice. It's a little thick for a dress, but I have visions of an 80s revival out of Butterick 5520 with the peplum. I'll have to contemplate the fabric a little more. I think it will work with judicious steaming and clapping, it's just the darts + peplum + waist seam that worry me.

Metro Textiles, 11_2010 A visit to NYC isn't complete without a trip to visit Kashi at Metro Textiles so that was my last stop. The last time I visited he had some nice double knits that I had considered but not purchased, so this time I bought some in black, gray, and deep green (I had a devil of a time getting the colors anywhere approximately close to real life in the photos). I think the green is for Butterick 5559, the Maggy London with the diagonal stitched-down tucks. I also bought a crazy expensive wool suiting for $18 yard (down from the quoted $22/yd). I have a bit of buyer's remorse about it because it's going to be so wrinkly to wear (and yes, I know about silk organza underlining and no, I really haven't found that it helps me), but it is gorgeous and totally my color.

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Fabric Mart, 10_2010 Hmm, you're thinking. That's quite a lot of fabric, but Slapdash hasn't been buying that much fabric lately and she's been sewing a ton so maybe it's ok. If only that were the case. But really, I've just been lax about confessing. First, there was the mustard wool from Fabric Mart. Since they have flat-rate shipping, it didn't make sense to buy only one piece so I added some of the Cache ponte double knit, now unfortunately sold out. This is some good stuff. I've already sewn it into a dress, which I wore in NYC and was much complimented by Ann, so you know it's good as she knows quality!

G Street, 10.2010 Then there was some hometown shopping. I couldn't resist this gorgeous silk chiffon remnant. Snakeskin print never appealed to me, but then someone (Tany maybe?) made a silk chiffon blouse with a snakeskin print and I thought it was so chic. This will be made into yet another Burda 02-2009-123 self-collar wrap blouse, intended to be part of an Endless Combinations set for the PR contest.

G Street & Joann, 11_2010 I made an emergency run to Joann for some thread (thank goodness for car share!) and was happy to see flannel on sale for $2.99/yd. I picked up two prints, which are already made into pajama pants. At G Street I got some aqua waffle weave to make a pajama top and a knit border print with huge red flowers (told you I was having a red mood). The border is so big that if I made it into a hem border it would start at my waist, which would just be weird. I bought the whole piece, which was about 3 1/2 yards, so I may be able to get a dress just out of the "border" and then use the remaining black half of the fabric for other projects. I was also considering another Duchess of Windsor dress, maybe with a long bell sleeve, but cutting it with the border at the top rather than the hem. I don't have immediate plans to sew this up so I have plenty of time to think about it.

Well, I think that's quite enough! I say this with fear and trembling, but I think I will try not to buy any more fabric for the rest of the year*. I was feeling good because I sewed so much for my trip and have continued to be productive since getting back, but this has more than replaced everything that came out of stash and I am feeling a little anxious over it again. The power to control that anxiety is in my hands!

*I plan to make a coat in December, for which I will need blue velveteen and possibly a lining. Those purchases will be allowed. Stash purchases will not be permitted.

Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Utilitarian Sewing: Gym Pants

Gym Pants Thumbnail

The glaring exception to my Look Cute Every Day philosophy is gym clothes. I spend a lot of time in the gym, and all of my gym clothes are horrible. Hideous Old Gym Pants The worst of the pants is exhibited on the left (but were they really the worst?). Seriously, is there anything worse than a sagging crotch? The waist on these stays up with a drawstring, just a regular drawstring and not an elasticated one. The little shoelace drawstring came through small eyelets so I couldn't really add elastic to it. As I worked out the waist and crotch would droop lower and lower, exposing my belly. Also, they have side seam hip-height pockets. Worn Out Old Gym Pants Because when you're doing squats what you're really hoping for is gaping pockets to widen your hips (I stitched the pockets closed). The pants at right were not quite so ugly, but I had worn them to DEATH as you can see by the fuzziness. I also had a pair of Kardashian-esque black drawstring pants with white stripes down the side that were clearly not actual athletic wear but fashion athletic wear (shudder). With a saggy crotch.

I have been planning to make new gym clothes for, like, two years. My failure to do so was a combination of procrastination and letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. I bought some heavyweight cotton-poly knit from Spandex House in March 2008. I traced a pattern from my one pair of non-horrible gym pants about 4 months ago. But then I was like, "Well, that cotton-poly knit is not really a technical fiber. And shouldn't I try to find/draft a pattern with a crotch gusset?" But really, what could possibly be worse than the horrible pants I kept wearing week after week? I will answer that question: nothing. Piecing together strips of rags and just tying them around myself would have been better than the horrible pants I was wearing.

RTW Gym PantsBut still, I kept putting off this boring, non-cute sewing until finally the day arrived that I could not face wearing horrible saggy-crotch gym pants for one more workout. So I pulled out my non-technical fiber and my non-gusseted rubbed off pattern (they don't ride up into the lady area and have all the movement I need so I don't know why I got hung up on the gusset issue) and got to work. I liked the wide, tall waistband of the original (Danskins purchased at WalMart while visiting my parents last holiday season) because no matter how much I raise my arms my shirt doesn't ride up above it and show my belly. I also like the little bit of color contrast at the waistband but I don't care for the volume-adding ruching.

I did one pair of pants as a construction test, and it worked well with the minor tweak of needing to add 3/4" to the top of the colored contrast inside waistband so I went ahead and cut out the other three pairs.

I probably should have waited until I actually did a workout in them because having done so now I should have used shorter elastic in the waist as they can slump down a little during vigorous cardio. And not being versed in the ways of pants, I can't tell if those arrows on the front mean that I need more room in the front crotch or need to shorten the front crotch (input appreciated) but whatever. Nothing could be worse than my old gym pants!

Construction:

Note: I constructed these almost entirely by serger. I used the sewing machine only to zigzag the elastic in place and to twin needle the hem.

1. Cut out. Add 3/4" inch to the top of the inside waistband (or take 3/4" from the top of the outer waistband if you prefer a lower waistline).

2. Inseam.

3. Outseam.

4. Crotch.

5. Waistband side seams.

6. Cut a piece of elastic to fit very snugly around your waist (will stretch out a little when applied).

Elastic Pinned 7. Place waistbands right sides together, with the inner waistband on the inside. Line up upper edge. Pin elastic through both layers about 1/2 inch below the upper edge, stretching elastic. Zigzag elastic in place along the upper edge.

8. Trim the upper edge seam allowances so it extends about 3/8 inch above the elastic. That extension above the elastic is what will cause the colored inner waistband to peek out at the top. I used the serger to trim out of laziness, though I really shouldn't as it stretched and mis-shaped the waistbands. Again, whatever.

Waistband Application9. Turn pants right side out. Fold inner waistband over the elastic, so the waistbands are right sides together. Line up lower edges of waistbands. Pin both layers of waistband to pants, outer side of waistband to right side of pants. Serge.

10. Hem.

Once the pants are cut out, it takes just about half an hour to sew them. Really, what took me so long?

Catalog Shot of All Four PairsHere's the catalog shot of all four pairs. The different colored waistbands are mostly so I can try to rotate them evenly, and because I like to have some color on anything I wear but black is the only practical color for gym pants due to the embarrassing sweat location issue.

My gym tops are similarly old but slightly less horrible than the pants so I'm not pressed to replace them now. And for the tops, I think I actually do need technical fabrics. I am lucky to have a fairly high tipping point for sweating, but once I reach it I am a faucet. Cotton poly is not good with faucet sweat. Also, I'd like to get a good supportive mesh for built-in bras. Of course, this means I will continue to wear my up to 8 year old horrible gym tops in perpetuity.

Side view You can see in the side view why I get so frustrated about my belly. I have a four pack and a curving line of muscle alongside it and then...a five-month-pregnant-looking belly. It's not for lack of trying (although laying off the sugar would trim it down a little, I know).

Back The back fit is good, and the waistband goes up high enough that I never feel like I'm going to expose my bum. And it is quite a bum. In yoga when we're in Warrior II the instructor is always saying, "If your bum is sticking out in this pose, tuck in your pelvis" and I feel like he is looking directly at me. I'm like, "Seriously, unless I can tuck my pelvis into the next county, my bum is going to stick out." I think he thinks I'm not trying. In fairness, I should add the I love the instructor, he is awesome and kind and gives a great yoga class. But, like so many male gym teachers, he has no concept that the architecture of the female body is quite different from the male body, especially in the pelvicular area (how I love making up words).

While making these I kept singing "Gym Pants, Gym Pants, I need gym pants!" to the tune of Sex Bomb by Tom Jones (link goes to video--mildly unsafe for work). I was practically giddy to get rid of the old pants. I don't think I have quite achieved Look Cute Every Day with these pants, but I am content to have moved up a notch from Look Horrible In Saggy-Crotch Pants Every Day. Now that I know how quick they are to make hopefully I won't put off replacing this set once they reach their expiration date! Although I would like to alter the pattern for those front crotch arrows--suggestions welcome.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

Thursday, November 4, 2010

McCall 6032, Gathered Loop Front Knit Dress

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McCall 6032 is totally my kind of pattern: a knit dress with a bit of volume in the front. I like the double V front and back neckline and the choice of sleeves as well. When I found the fabric at Fabric Mart ($5.99/yd) it seemed like a great match. The front of this dress is cut as one piece so it's a good pattern for a large motif like this, though the back has a separate bodice and skirt and a CB seam, and I did not handle the cutting layout very well I found when it was done! My main concern was not to get a giant circle over my boob, so at least I succeeded in that.

This calls for a center back zipper and for the bodice to be lined. To add insult to injury, the bodice lining is done the Bad Old Way where you have to sew the shoulders at the end, rather than the new, all-machine clean-finish way. This is a nice sturdy knit so it didn't need to be lined and as for a zipper in a knit, pfft.

Sewed Darts at CF and CB for elastic application When I made some unmentionables recently I finally pulled out the picot elastic I had purchased from Sew Sassy and I thought it was really cute and decided to use it as a neckline finish at the next opportunity. This presented the perfect project!

The front is cut on the fold, and I had cut the back bodice on the fold as well since I was not putting in a zipper. While cutting, it seemed like the back neckline was really low. When I put it together, the back neckline was indeed really, really low. The dress was overall a bit too large as well. And I was a little stumped as to how to get a good elastic application only by clipping into the seam allowance at CF and CB. I took a rather large dart at center back, taking up about 1.5 inches of fabric and finishing it a little above the waist. I cut it open and unstitched the first 5/8" for seam allowance. At the center front, I took a tiny dart only slightly longer than the seam allowance and slashed and unstitched it 5/8" as well. I cut two pieces of elastic, each slightly shorter than the distance from CF to CB, folded down the seam allowance on the neckline, and stitched in place with a twin needle, overlapping at CF and CB to make a point. I trimmed away the seam allowance only so it would like nice for the picture. Ha!

I was happy with the way the neckline trim looked--it adds a little pizzazz without being too obvious and using trim like this makes for a nice sharp V at center front and back.

Sleeve Miscalculation Here's my dumb move and slapdash finish for the project. I cut the 3/4 length balloon sleeve, even though every time I've tried this look in the past it is a disaster on me. It makes me look shorter and like I have tiny Tyrannosaurus arms, and also widens me across the middle. And also looks like an old-fashioned nightgown. This look works for many people so I'm always lulled back into temptation, but on me it is all around bad.

Instead of first going to narrowing the sleeve to be fitted, I decided to chop them off in a fit of mania and see if I could do a puffed elbow length sleeve. That didn't look good either. So now I was stuck with voluminous, unflattering sleeves. I could have cut out a new set, but then I wouldn't have enough fabric to make the Simplicity 2580 empire waist cowl top. So I carefully serged my cut off lower halves back on using the tiniest seam allowance possible and narrowed the sleeves. Luckily, the joining seam really doesn't show from 5 feet away so I think I got away with it...this time. I hemmed the sleeves with picot elastic to echo the neckline.

Back You can see that the low back neckline creates room for it to slip off my shoulders a bit. I don't have to constantly pull it back up into place, thank goodness, but I might need to make some sort of sloping shoulder adjustment if I were to make it again. Bra strap keepers would help, too. The way it opens up creates those little dewlaps at my underarms, but at least there's no swayback! I made my usual swayback adjustment, of course. But perhaps swayback puddling would distract from the terrible pattern repeat there at center back.

M6032 This was another piece that got a lot of wear on my trip to Turkey. Love the bright colors and sturdy knit, and the cut flatters my shape well.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.

So, it's cold now. Sadness. Cidell and I were talking about Fall/Winter sewing and she expressed skepticism that my knit dresses for winter actually keep me warm. They don't. The dresses are barely an afterthought in the scheme of keeping warm. First, you start with tights. Then come the wool knickers made out of thrift store merino wool sweaters. Lightweight, form fitting, and oh so warm. I think the wool knickers are the smartest sewing I have ever done. Now, don't get me wrong--they are so ugly that they are the anti-sex. Much worse than a chastity belt, because the chastity belt implies that someone wants to get at what's under there. With the wool knickers, it's like, "I wouldn't go near that with a 10 foot pole." But so warm.

Then you add knee high boots, a coat, a scarf, a hat, and gloves. Oh, and throw on a dress somewhere in there. The only place that isn't covered in a double layer is your knees, and if it's really cold you can put on some black Cuddl Duds (big fan of the product, despite the inexplicable spelling) or silk long johns, which can pass for tights on the commute to work but have to be removed in the office because they don't *really* look like tights. My office allows jeans on Friday so I usually do that, but other than Fridays I wore pants only one time last winter when it was too damn cold for a dress. Otherwise wool knickers/boots/coat/hat/scarf/gloves keeps you warm, despite the flimsiness of a knit dress.

Tuesday, November 2, 2010

Designer Inspiration: Fall/Winter Dresses

Yesterday was the most perfect day of the whole year, I think. Blue skies, breezy, not humid and not dry, not cold and not hot--somewhere in the mid to high 70s. The leaves are starting to fall and it was just like Hollywood's idea of Autumn, where the heroine walks through brilliant, drifting foliage in a sleeveless shift dress with boots and bare legs and it never rains or requires outerwear.

However, I know this enchanted Indian summer can't last (and indeed, it's much cooler today) and so my thoughts turn to what in the world to sew for Fall and Winter. After having inventoried my summer dresses and finding that I have over a month's worth I became sad when contemplating a long cold season with my paltry eight or so winter dresses. That's not even two weeks' worth! So I went on the hunt for some designer inspiration.

Saks.com - David Meister - Side Pleat Crepe Dress


One of my top picks is this David Meister side pleat dress.
Vogue 7762 is a reasonable facsimile, especially if it is feasible to pleat rather than gather the side seam.




I loved the yellow and green colors shown in this recent post on Capitol Hill Style, especially the mustard and chartreuse. I will be heading to NYC for work in a couple of weeks and am hoping to fit in a little bit of fabric shopping on the day I'm not speaking, so I tried to tell myself I could look for a wool crepe in New York. But then I found a mustard wool crepe on Fabric Mart (still a few yards left) and was done for. I haven't received mine to verify that the hand is suitable for dresses nor that I can wear this tricky color, but I am in eager anticipation.

Saks.com - Akris Punto - Wool Challis Print Dress





The mustard dress project will probably take a backseat to a quickie version of this Akris wool challis dress.
I'm thinking McCall 5661 is pretty much a dead ringer if lengthened into a dress, and with little fitting and the only complicated details at the sleeve and the neckline, this should be an easy $1390(!!!) dress.


I am still thinking on how, exactly, I will do the lining (wool voile is too sheer and lightweight to be unlined), but it's not going to be complicated. This will be great for Fall, and can transition into winter with a turtleneck underneath.







Saks.com - Michael Kors - Twist Front Shirt Dress


I thought I'd seen every variation on the twist but this Michael Kors is new to me and I *adore* it. How in the world you do a twist on a functional (?-so it appears) button placket is beyond me. It brings to mind a little bit Meli88a's fantastic Vogue 2742, but of course this out-of-print pattern doesn't appear to be available anywhere. Curses!!!! If you have this pattern sitting unused in your stash, I will happily purchase or trade for it.

Saks.com - Dior - Aurora Wool Dress










Ah, Dior, you are so scrumptious. I could probably cobble together something like this from various patterns (hint: Vogue 2975 (now OOP) and Burda 08-2009-128) but I would not look like a 6 foot tall Amazon in it, more like a neckless pygmy with an abdominal growth, so it will remain in the realm of eye candy if I know what's good for me. But I love the demure high neck and knee length, with the fitted bodice adding a little frisson of sexy to the schoolmarm.






Saks.com - Gucci - Wrap Dress




How is it that I don't have a pattern for this? It is such a great, simple shirtdress silhouette with the single drama element of the collar.







The closest I can come is Burda 01-2008-121 (starting size 38, ugh). Hmm. I guess the BWOF isn't actually that different, I'd just have to chop off the cut-on collar and add a new one. I would not wear it slit up to there, though.




Saks.com - MaxMara - Ruched Dress This one struck me only because it is similar to vintage reissue Vogue 2787, although with the "coffin dress"* problem remedied with the S seam continuing onto the back. It had never occurred to me to consider this pattern in a knit, but I can definitely see it working (with a lowered neckline--when I made this I found it way too high--and more relaxed armscye).

*Although I wholeheartedly concur with Kathleen Fasanella's distaste for clothes that are fancy in front with nothin' going on in back, in the case of this circa 1948 pattern, I would guess it has something to do with lingering wartime shortages/fashion preferences for fabric-economical designs.

Saks.com - Emilio Pucci - Zip-Front Jersey Dress-1 Saks.com - Carolina Herrera - Pleated Plaid Dress-1I found lots of other great pieces with great details that are beyond my capability to create, I just like to look at them. This vavoom Pucci is to die for! It would make for some hot winter date nights (I am already tired of my winter date night staple Vogue 1020 and I haven't even worn it yet this season!). And of course we have the magnificent Carolina Herrera.

Can I just say that I'm so happy I sew in a world where taupe is apparently the "loud" color? Ick! When skies are gray and all the trees and plants are hibernating, you have to bring your own color to the world, not succumb to the dreariness of black, gray, and taupe. I think that's why the Akris dress caught my eye--it's a (very very subdued) print with (very very subdued) color. Shocking!

There are plenty more pieces to drool and plot over in my inspiration folder.

What's on your sewing list? Seen any great dresses I should check out?

Simplicity 2369, Raglan Sleeve Wrap Top and Dress

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I had never paid any attention to Simplicity 2369, even though it is a knit dress. But then I saw the awesome version that KayY wore to PR Weekend Montreal. Loves the overall flattering shape, interesting sleeves, and wrap look with plenty of room for a belly. I picked it up the next time I hit a Simplicity sale.

For my Turkey Travel Wardrobe, I made the short-sleeved dress out of a poly knit purchased from Fabric Mart in June of last year ($3.49/yd). I ended up liking it so much that when I realized it was going to be cooler than expect, I whipped up a long-sleeved top out of some rayon knit purchased in Hong Kong. I brought both pieces with me. Alas, I was only able to wear the dress once but the top got lots of wear.

Dress Back Top Back



I altered the pattern with my usual small bust adjustment method of shortening the diagonal wrap line, as well as a swayback adjustment. The swayback on the dress looks better than the top, but I think it is the difference in fabric.




I have a grainline question on swayback adjustment, if anyone can help. This little publication from New Mexico State University is an *awesome* capsule resource for almost every kind of pattern alteration. However, they only show a swayback alteration on a skirt. For a skirt, you fold out your wedge at center back below the waistline. The grainline on the skirt is unchanged and waist tilts down at center back. This has worked well for me on dresses with a back waist seam (I've found I don't need to alter skirts for swayback).





However, the back of this dress is cut as one long piece and I don't know where the grainline goes in that instance. Because this is a knit and grain isn't such a big deal, I just split the difference and redrew (well, re-eyeballed) the grainline so that the altered grainline was evenly distributed and neither the top nor the bottom were on the original grainline (which, after the alteration, is now an obtuse angle of about 160 degrees), as crudely demonstrated on the left. But for a woven, I don't know if this is the way to do it. I have a few woven dresses with one piece backs in mind and would like to clear this up before proceeding! It seems like a bad thing to have either the top or the bottom badly off grain, but perhaps it is worse to have both slightly off grain.

Front Gather Detail One of the things that attracted me to this pattern is that there appeared to be plenty of fabric over the belly coming out from under the wrap. It is adequately roomy, but I found that the extra fabric wanted to roll away from my belly over the sides, so I did a touch of hand gathering where it is safely covered by the crossover to make sure the extra fabric stayed where I wanted.

Combined One Piece Sleeve for Top For the dress, I liked the roomy elbow length sleeve, though the proportion was too long for my arm so I shortened by folding out two inches between the cutting line for the short sleeve and the elbow length sleeve. The resulting length and width are flattering, I think. For the top, I didn't want that width, nor did I see the need for a two piece sleeve so I combined the top and bottom sleeve patterns, marking a dart where they diverge at the shoulder, and narrowed to a normal sleeve width. The sleeve looks great and I think it's the first raglan sleeve I've made where the dart apex is actually on my shoulder! (I have narrow shoulders and raglan sleeves can be a pain to alter for that.)

Method to Enclose Strap The only thing I didn't like about the pattern was the method of attaching the tie. You're supposed to sew the long edge and one short edge of the tie, turn inside out, and then just sew right sides together with the wrap edge. It's fine, but the attachment area is wide enough that when you knot the tie it shows a little and I thought there was a better way.

Neatly Enclosed Strap For the top, I completed the bodice as directed, and then took the unsewn tie piece and folded it over the pleated wrap edge of the bodice, right sides together, with the raw edges of the tie facing down. Then I serged the tie to the bodice along the short edge and sewed it for a few inches along the raw edge, using the serger to trim up to the stitching. I used the sewing machine for the long edge because I didn't want to accidentally catch in the bodice. Then I serged the freestanding short edge (the end of the tie) and along the long edge to within a few inches of my original stitching line. Turn the tie right side out through that opening and then hand-stitch to close. The result is a fully enclosed tie that looks a lot nicer than having the seam allowances hanging out.

To finish the necklines, rather than use the facing strip (sooooo much better than a shaped facing as used for wovens, which is what most knit patterns have so kudos to Simplicity) I turned under and twin-needled over clear elastic.

S2369 Top Front I'm really happy I gave this pattern a shot. I think it is flattering for a large variety of body types, and is fairly simple to make. I also like that it's seasonless (once you draft a long sleeve for it). I will have to try the buckle closure at some point.

All photos are here and the pattern review is here.