Completed: The Plaid Clusterf-

The real name for this shirt is actually The Plaid Clusterfuck. I wanted to put it in the title of this post, but I realize that a lot of people have my blog linked so that the titles show on their blog and I don’t want to make anyone mad soooo YOU’RE WELCOME. Also, meet the Plaid Clusterfuck, as well as my unstyled hair. I like to call it my Brentwood Soccer Mom hair.

Princess seams, bias side panels, and a front ruffle? DON’T MIND IF I DO.

Oh, do you like my little sewing corner? I did some freshening up in the ol’ sewing room over Thanksgiving weekend. I got a second desk from Lauren Winter, painted it a really obnoxious shade of teal green (and I will never do that again. SOO many coats, even with a primer, and it’s STILL not solid! BOO), and also touched up the mint desk as it was filthy with dirty kitty paw prints. Next order of business is to deal with the other side, where my fabric is stored. Mama needs more shelves, wah!

This is McCall’s 5803, which is so out of print, it’s not even in the out of print section of the McCall’s website. Also, it is a Hilary Duff pattern. Remember when she tried to do that?! HAHA. Anyway, I picked this pattern up for free99 during the free out-of-print pattern sale at my local fabric store (actually, it was on the same day that I got that Butterick knit dress pattern. I love free shit, gah.). I thought the shirt was really sweet, in a kind of over-the-top way.

I tried a new FBA on this pattern, adding 1.5″ to the side front. I still don’t really get princess seams; I can never really figure out exactly where that seam is supposed to hit. But I think this one worked out ok.

The original pattern is cut in a size 4, with the aforementioned 1.5″ of bust room added. I also shaved the front seams down by about 5/8″, the back seams by 3/8″, and the side seams just under the arm by 1/4″. I still think the armscyes are a bit too high, but at least they aren’t stupid droopy like The Dress Who Shall Not Be Named. Oh, and I also lengthened the button placket by about 1/2″ and shortened the collar band by a LOT – it was way too long for the neck opening. I’m not sure if that’s because of a pattern error or because I cut that piece of the bias and it stretched when I was fusing the interfacing to it. Either way, it fits now, so whatev.

I had a devil of a time trying to match the plaid up at the princess seams. I futzed around with that shit for-fucking-ever – I’m the kind of plaid cutter who cuts everything on one layer, one painstaking piece at a time – and the lines STILL didn’t match up. UGH. So I ended up cutting the side front and side back panels on the bias, with the front and back on the straight grain. The neck band and button placket were also cut on the bias, as was the front ruffle. Hence why I am calling this shirt a Clusterfuck – it’s going in all kinds of directions! I’m actually surprised at how well it works, to be honest.

Here is my shame, though – THE SIDE SEAMS DON’T MATCH. ARGH!! I guess I forgot to flip the pieces so they were opposing (instead of mirroring). BLECH. And, of course, I didn’t have enough fabric to recut. Not that I would have anyway; by the time I discovered this little issue, I had already serged everything together. It’s not the worst thing ever, but it still drives me nuts. Oh well, I guess we can’t always have perfectly matched plaids :’(

Let’s keep this our Sacred Secret, k?

I just love these front ruffles! FESTIVE.

I don’t know why there are basically two of the same picture. Sorry.

Here’s a better picture of those mismatched plaids. FUCK.

This shirt ending up costing VERY little to put together. The fabric was part of a big lot I picked up from a fellow blogger, the buttons came from the flea market last week (2 cards for $1!), and even the pattern was free. Not bad!

I topstitched the placket and collar band because I think it makes the shirt look more profesh. Also, I totally love these buttons.

This was not intentional, but look at how nicely the plaid matches up at the button plackets.

The ruffles are finished with a rolled hem edge (done on my serger), instead of the suggested turning under and stitching.

As a side note, I’ve been watching my stats for the past few days and I’m like 50 hits away from reaching half a million! HALF A MIL, Y’ALL. OHMEGERD.

Completed: Another Negroni for Landon

Alternate title: This Was Supposed To Be Landon’s Christmas Present for 2011.

This has actually been completed for a couple of weeks now – the actual sewing of the shirt came together rather quickly (it helps when you don’t have to futz with the fit during construction!), then it hung for a week or so while we debated buttons. Landon originally wanted pearl snaps – and I was originally excited because I love any sewing that involves using a hammer – but then he decided that they actually hated them… and every other button I offered. Picky guy! Then we were faced with the Darkness Dilemma (I do get up early to take my pictures in the AM, but Landon actually leaves for work far earlier than I do – not happening!). So the shirt waited to be photographed.

I ended up taking these pictures at the first available opportunity – which happened to be on Thanksgiving, at my grandparent’s house in Somerset, Kentucky. Such a pretty backdrop, although a bit bright. Oh, and I guess I should mention that while this shirt waited to be photographed, it did NOT wait to be worn – it’s been worn a lot, and washed twice! Plus, we drove 3 hours that morning. So please pardon the wrinkles

This version is essentially the same as the first Negroni, and other than the original laundry list of changes, I made no other alterations.

The fabric I used is a lovely flannel from my local fabric store. It’s super soft and super warm. It also super likes to shrink, apparently. I prewashed it twice, but I guess that wasn’t enough – the sleeves still got shorter after the third wash. BOO.

Cutting that buffalo plaid out was a BITCH. My usual workaround is to cut as much as I can on the bias, but I barely bought enough shirt fabric to make this, so it all ended up on the straight grain. I was feeling super nitpicky about the checks matching up (you should hear me when I’ve had a few drinks & I’m surveying the plaid shirts at the bar. Lots of plaid shirts, very little matching up. Drives me fucking crazy!), but it all came out perfect in the end. Well worth the effort!

I mean, look at those matched checks!

LOOK AT THEM.

I did cut the pockets on the bias. I guess I could have matched the flaps up better, oops.

The unfortunate thing about this materials is that it does tend to wrinkle pretty easily. But, hey, check out the winning buttons – we cut them off an old shirt that was destined for the trash can. Yeah!

I do love me a beautiful sleeve placket.

And, of course, the rolled-up sleeve test.

If you are wondering why there are a bunch of rocks scattered all over the grass here, that’s because I tried to clone out this giant shadow and accidentally added some rocks. I never claimed to be a master at photoshop, guys.

Overall, I think we have a winner! Landon has already worn this several times and it’s gotten lots of compliments (and a lot of people who think I’m fucking with them when I mention I made it. lolwut.). I keep catching him eyeballing my stash, like he’s trying to figure out his next shirt. Ha! I’m thinking the next one will actually have a collar stand and button placket – gotta step it up, keep things interesting! Also, no more handmade gifts from me. Clearly I can’t be bothered to finish them on time :B

Sorry, one more picture. He’s such a babe!

And here’s a terrible picture of the two of us. D’AWWW!!

Completed: Another Alma Blouse

I’m still wearing those damn Thurlow jeans, btw. SORRY FOR NOT BEING SORRY.

But, hey, look, new blouse!

This blouse is extra-special to me because the fabric actually came from Liz – can you believe she dumped this in the swap pile!? I certainly couldn’t! I snatched it up with visions of an Alma floating in my head. I almost felt like I needed to save the fabric for something more, I dunno, substantial – like a dress. But I’m pretty happy with the end result & I think it will get a lot more wear in it’s blouse-form. So there!

This fabric is pretty amazing, at any rate. It’s actually a double fabric (I’m guessing double-gauze? Maybe? Help me out here.), fused together. Which mean it’s super warm and actually kind of heavy when sewn up into a blouse. Almost like a lil’ non-knit sweater! So obviously, long sleeves were in order. And a peter pan collar because, c’mon.

I knew I wanted the collar & cuffs to contrast (although I love the look of a solid print on everything, I think this fabric was just a little too much!), but I couldn’t find a suitable match in my stash and I REALLY didn’t want to tromp back to the fabric store after spending so much at Vogue while I was in Chicago. Then I had a no-shit-Sherlock moment when I realized I could just flip the fabric over for the perfect orangy contrast! That’s right – all the orange accents you see here are actually the wrong side of the fabric. I’m so brilliant, durrp.

There is totally an invisible zipper right in that side seam. Oh, you can’t see it? Neither can I!

I just think this pattern is drafted so beautifully. The collar pieces include separate under collar pieces, so there is no fug seam ruining my beautiful collar line.

Really sorry these pictures are so cruddy, by the way. It’s overcast today and I guess my camera is on strike or some shit.

Since this fabric is so thick, I separated the two pieces for the collar & facing, then interfaced the single layers.

I actually ran out of interfacing while I was cutting out the pattern, and rather than wait for more to arrive in the post, I kept the cuffs at their double-layer status & just sewed as normal without interfacing. I’m not sure if I’m totally thrilled with the end result, they don’t exactly sit right. Oh well – they have leaf buttons! LEAVES, you guys!

The fit on this guy is a little different than my previous Alma blouse – I wanted it to be a little more loose-fitting, like a cozy sweater. I did have to shorten the sleeves about an inch, and take about 1/4″ out of the sleeve seams.

I love the little leaf buttons, as impractical as they are.

Thought I’d have a little fun with the different fabrics – surprise undercollar!

The inside of the shirt is actually quite orange, just the facing matches the outside fabric Since this is a double-layer, I was able to catch-stitch the facing down so it doesn’t pop out.

And here is proof that there actually is an invisible zipper in that side seam. Haha! I’m quite proud of this zipper insertion – it’s a metal invisible zipper, which is probably one of the most wtf sewing notions ever. Seriously, these things suck! They don’t fit in my invisible zipper foot, so I have to use a regular zipper foot & push the needle waaaay over. The teeth don’t press down, so sewing it in is a matter of pushing the teeth down with your fingers & praying that the needle doesn’t sew through something it shouldn’t. And apparently there’s a really fine line between “invisible” and “this shit won’t zip up.” I bought these stupid things at the flea market, and I can’t say I’m surprised that they don’t appear to be manufactured anymore.

The end result is pretty good, though, and yes I’m tootin’ my own horn Deal with it.

Completed: The Negroni Shirt

Alternately titled: I Am The Worst Girlfriend Ever When It Involves Gift-Giving

I bought this pattern – Colette pattern’s Negroni – as part of Landon’s Christmas present. I also bought him a nice fat gift certificate to the fabric store, and we picked out two suitable fabrics – a stripey cotton shirting, and a soft checkered flannel. I dutifully made a muslin, and when we checked the fit, I realized a lot of changes were going to need to be made to get this Landon-appropriate (not that the pattern is a bad one, fit-wise – he’s just really particular about how his stuff fits. Kind of like me!).

Then the pattern & the muslin sat in my sewing room for, oh, about 6 months. LAWL.

Most of the issue here is that Landon wouldn’t freakin’ stand still long enough for me to put the shirt on him, pin it closed, and really asses the fitting changes needed. Or, rather, that’s what I’m blaming it on. Either way, I felt bad! So I finally bit the bullet and came to terms with the fact that he wasn’t going to let me stick a bunch of pins in him, and pulled one of his favorite button-ups out of the closet (which is quite conveniently located inside my sewing room, hee!) and used that to measure against the flat pattern. Made a quickie muslin, forced it on the dude once he got home, and lo & behold – the fit was perfect! And once that was out of the way, the actual making of the shirt came together quite quickly.

Here’s a rundown of all the fitting changes – hopefully this will help you understand why I dragged my feet for so long!
- Landon has a pretty big neck for his size, so the shoulders & neck are a size M, tapered down to smaller than a S (don’t remember the exact amount I took out, sorry!) below his chest. The sleeves were also tapered down to less than a S.
- Shortened the torso about 2″ (I think)
- Shortened the sleeves 2″
- Raised the armscye 1/2″
- Lengthened the sleeve cuff about ~1 3/4″ (it fit perfectly out-of-envelope, but Landon doesn’t like wearing his cuffs that tight – he likes them to slide over his watch)
- Widened the bottom of the sleeve to accommodate the new cuff length
- Added a single button to the middle of the placket
- Rearranged the placement of the buttons & added a few more to the front placket, omitted the collar loop
- Cut the yoke, collar & cuffs on the lengthwise grain for visual interest

Also, please ignore all the stray threads and the fact that I did not properly press the collar – I was rushing to sew on all those buttons and get some pictures before the sun set!

I think that’s it!

The actual sewing of this shirt, like I said, was surprisingly fast & simple. Even with the sleeve placket & all those flat-felled seams, it came together in a couple of days – and would have been finished even sooner, but we had an issue with the buttons (they were listed as 1/2″ but they looked reeeally small, so I measured them and they came out at under 3/8″! WTF!). At any rate, the instructions on this shirt pattern are gold. Seriously. Even if you don’t care for this relaxed style of button-up, the instructions alone are absolutely worth the cost of the pattern. I feel like I can tackle anything now! Anythingggg!!

Let’s have some pictures, yes?

This is Landon demonstrating his range of arm movement

I love the contrast of the horizontal stripes on the yoke.

What was that? You wanted to see more of that beautiful placket & topstitching? WELL, HERE YA GO-

unffff

“Landon, tilt your chin down a bit.”

Tried to climb a tree, realized all the branches are beyond dead.

HAAAA, ok, that’ll be enough of that!

Overall, I think he’s pretty happy with the finished shirt! I do want to make more of these… and try out some ~real~ button-ups with a proper collar stand & front button placket – does anyone have a TNT pattern they’d like to suggest?? I will definitely be making this again at least once, in the blue flannel shirting, but I am going to have him wear this one around for a couple of weeks so we can sort out any fitting issues that may not be apparent when he’s just standing under a tree

Oh, and one more thing – today is Landon’s birthday!

You heartthrob, you.

For real! He’s 25 today Happy birthday, you gorgeous man!

Completed: The Taffy Blouse!

I don’t even know if I can legitimately call this the Taffy blouse. I mean, yeah, I used the pattern pieces for the front & back… and I cut the front on the bias. That’s about where the similarities end & the mad scientist in me started cooking up something entirely different.

I started out with this fabric. Isn’t it so pretty? Approximately 1 yard of floral rayon, I found this at the Goodwill for a whopping $1.99 YESH. I envisioned it as the Taffy Without Sleeves and promptly cut the front piece out of my fabric.

… and then it was time to cut the back piece, and that’s when I realized I had made a huge mistake. I may be a small person, and I may wear my clothing very fitted, and this may be ~just a top~, but uhhh… it’s still a bias-cut pattern, and it needs more than a yard of fabric! I frantically tried to fix my mistake by moving the back pattern pieces around the sad flap of fabric that remained. I tried cutting the back pieces with a seam (as opposed to on the fold). I tried piecing them. I tried making only the bottom of the back floral with some kind of backwards contrasting yoke. No dice. I half-heatedly checked my stash for a lone piece of black fabric I could cut the back piece out of, thinking I’d do a two-tone look, but I didn’t see anything that even remotely matched. So, I did what any self-respecting seamstress would do – I got pissed off & chucked the top & all the little fabric scraps in the scrap bin. BYE.

In the meantime, I brainstormed until I had an epiphany. Do y’all ever get stumped by something sewing-wise & end up having an epiphany later that perfectly fixes whatever ails you? Or maybe that’s just me. I usually get them right before I fall asleep haha. Whatever, I ain’t complainin’!

So anyway, I ended up cutting the back piece in a black knit fabric, figuring the stretch of the knit would complement the stretch of the bias on the woven side (so if you’re wondering – the black knit wasn’t cut on the bias. It was cut on the… stretchy knit grain, or whatever you call it, I dunno). I did cut off a half inch or so of the back side, since it was extra stretchy. It still does not have negative ease, but I think it drapes pretty nicely.

The front (woven) part of the shirt is cut in a 2. I did have to pull up the shoulders quite a bit as the neckline was originally pretty freakin’ gapey, but I think it worked out in the end. It is still gapey & kind of lumpy in the back, but ehh… it’s the back, I don’t have to look at it. Haha!

So obviously, my Taffy does not have sleeves. It also did not get the bias tape treatment – I decided to use some of my lace stash instead. Pretty black lace around the neckline & arm holes! Looove it.

The lace at the bottom was an inspired afterthought – I barely had enough black knit to get the full length out of the back piece (I know, I’m such a mess); it ended up getting cut about 3″ short. So I shortened the front piece to match & sewed this pretty wide lace around the bottom. I love the way it looks!

So that’s it! A pretty simple top that almost didn’t happen. I really like the way it turned out and I think this is a great way to use up smaller yardages of woven fabric that you might not have enough to cut both the front+back with – just sub a knit in there!

In other news – today is my birthday! Yay me, I made it all the way to 27
And I got some new fabric (and more is on it’s way – I placed an order with Mood this morning )

Sorry this picture is so bad – the plaid in the second bolt is actually really beautiful & colorful. Blame it on the rainbad lighting. Anyway, my mom found this at a yard sale on Saturday – the woman holding it had been an heirloom seamstress, so there was promised to be lots of batiste! I told my mom to let me know what she found. She called me as she was leaving and said, “Yeah, I saw quite a few bolts of the stuff. I didn’t buy anything, though.” WUT. I made her turn around & go back & buy… all of it! Hahahahaa! What you see here is something like 15-20 yards of batiste. She got the entire stack (including about 10 more yards of that blue on top – I took 2.5 yards & let her keep the rest haha) for $15! Which is awesome because I was totally about to buy more batiste, except I was going to spend $16 on 2 yards. Soooo, needless to say, I’m pretty thrilled with this find. And I love that it’s all on bolts; it makes me feel extra fabric-hoardy.

She also bought me all these buttons… I think they were a quarter apiece. Aren’t they sweet? I especially love the lemons & the flies (my mom says they’re bees. Whatever, they will always be flies to me). And if you creep the right corner, you can see some of the wooly nylon she also got. Fifty cents a spool! Uh huh, I love me some yard sales!

And on a final note… Morgan sent me some gorgeous fabric all the way from Skopje, Macedonia.

It is the most beautiful cotton I think I have ever seen! And she sent me two entire meters – which she purchased speaking only Macedonian! I am so proud of her & totally dying over this fabric. I have no idea what I will make out of it – I’m thinking it needs to be a maxi dress, though. The paisley repeat is just so huge & awesome. What do you think?

Oh, there were also hot dog flavored chips in the bag along with the fabric. I haven’t summoned up the courage yet to sample them (that will be tonight, after I’ve had a couple of birthday drinks hehe), but I’ll let y’all know how that goes down…

Happy Monday!

Completed: An Oddly Psychedelic Jalie 2921

I’m no stranger to little indie pattern companies – I loveeee Colette & Sewaholic patterns, and I LOVE when I can get away with not buying current Big 4 patterns (yeah! Stickin’ it to the man!). However, I’ve never sewn with a Jalie pattern before – and I honestly wasn’t planning on it, really, until Mikhaela had to show me up in her amazing scarf collar knit top, the top that made me so jealous I actually saw red for about 3 seconds. The pattern was Jalie 2921 and I NEEDED IT. And, so, uhm, I bought it. Pattern ban? What pattern ban? It’s (almost)my birthday, I deserve this.

I’ve actually been sitting on this pattern for about 2 weeks – blame the delay on my Bombshell-frenzy. I was finally able to sit down last night & start cutting… and sewing! I finished this lil number in record time, forreal! And it barely used any fabric. Hey-o, new favorite pattern!

A couple of thoughts on Jalie – while the pattern was easy-easy to put together into a cute finished shirt (and the finishing is sooo coooool, you just wait & see!), the instructions were extremely short & sparse. The pictures were difficult for my pinhead-brain to decipher, although obviously I was able to figure it out eventually. I also do not like the way these patterns are packaged (sorry!) – it came in a shrink-wrapped plastic sleeve, with a large color photo of the pattern front, and the pattern pieces printed on heavy white paper & folded neatly. There was no actual envelope to store the pattern pieces in. Not a huge deal – since I ordered this from fabric.com, I just used the envelope it was shipped in. But it did give me pause, since normally envelopes aren’t something I just happen to have on hand. Also, the sizing/yardage information was difficult to read, since it’s in both French & English, and the sizing varies from baby to big momma. But hey – at least it was easy to cut out! And no, I didn’t trace this sucker AT ALL. No hate for the pattern tracers, I just don’t want to put for the effort and anyway, I don’t mind buying another pattern if I need another size (it’s a small business! I support y’all!). I did save the rest of the sizes that I cut away, so I guess I can tape it back together if I need to. Not that I plan on sewing this for anyone else, heh heh heh.

For sizing, I cut an R & tapered out to a T at the bust & lower armhole, then back down to an R at the shoulder & neckline. I think it fits pretty perfectly with no other alterations! Yeah!

Of course, Landon thinks the fabric is too loud. I guess it is kind of hiddy, but I love it anyway!. It’s some super stretch polyester I bought from Walmart like 5 years ago. We are considering this my wearable muslin.

I do love the tie-neck, but my fabric is a bit too heavy so the bow droops pretty bad. Next time I make this, I will use something lighter… and probably shorten the ties, as I think they are a bit long.

The construction on this top is pretty cool (once I figured it out, I mean). It leaves a nice clean inside at the neckline- no seams! So pretty!

I hemmed the sleeves & the bottom with a twin needle on my regular ol’ sewing machine.

Here is your photo-story for the day:
Notice those pretty rosebushes in my background? Weeeeell they belong to my neighbors, and I’ve been eyeballing them pretty hard since they started blooming. They smell AMAZING, btw (and I have lots of honeysuckle on the other side of my house – so, despite living in a shitty neighborhood, it smells delicious right outside my front door lol). The light has always been way too harsh right there, though, which is why you get porch pictures. Today is overcast, so I thought I’d take advantage of those roses!

Until I heard a car driving down my (dead-end)street.

And then I realized they were not turning around, but actually parking.
Right next to the rose bushes, that they were going to trim.

“Well, this is awkward.”

Picture me high-tailing the fuck back into my house (they were STARING at me!).

AWKWARD.

So, sorry about the lack of decent pictures.

Here I have photoshopped out the wrinkles in my skirt, I hope that makes up for it.

Completed: Dotted Swiss Colette Violet Blouse

Swiss dot or dotted swiss? I’ve heard it both ways. Which one do YOU use?

I’m going to apologize in advance for 2 things – 1. These pictures are terrible (when am I going to figure out that white photographs like doo-doo?) and, 2. This isn’t even how the shirt looks now, and no I won’t be taking more pictures (see fig. 1).

Ok, now that that’s off my chest…

Here be the Colette Violet blouse in pretty dotted swiss! Let’s talk about the good stuff first.

I barely – barely squeezed this out of 7/8 yard. The under collar is actually cut on the bias and pieced in the middle. The bias part actually makes it roll quite nicely at the seam, so bonus mistake turned into a ~design element, yeah? My dotted swiss was extremely sheer, so I hand-underlined the whole thing with equally sheer cotton batiste – you can still kind of see the seams through the fabric, no biggie. I was originally going to leave the sleeves underlined, by a practically unanimous vote, but when it came down to it… leaving the sleeves sheer just looked like I had run out of underlining fabric. They didn’t go with the rest of the blouse at all, sadly. Instead of interfacing, I used a slightly heavier bleached muslin to stabilize the collar & facings. I wanted the entire shirt to be cotton/white/breezy – perfect for a summer bike ride

The fit was… interesting. I wanted this version to be more fitted, like Joanne’s fitted Violets, so I put some giant (like 1″) vertical darts down the front. If you’re curious how I did it – ehh, I sewed the entire shirt up, minus the hem, put it on inside-out and properly buttoned, and then just pinched away until it fit the way I like. Then I basted my darts, checked the fit right-side out, and sewed them down forreal. Easy! I think fitted looks much better on me and now I don’t have to tuck it in if I don’t feel like it

I sewed this up in a size 4, but cut the back down to a 0 at the side seams to make it a little less blousey. In the future, I will probably cut this to a 2 and add a FBA because my darts were all kinds of in the wrong place! You can’t really tell in the pictures – partially because I’m standing still so it stays in place, and partially because the pictures are total shit, but trust me. I wore this thing all day yesterday and every now and then I’d look down and notice the side darts were hanging out on the tops of my lady lumps. It would appear the shoulders were too big, which would cause the shirt to ride up every time I moved. I had originally moved the darts up when making my first Violet blouse, and they look fine where they are, so I’m not sure why these were such a pain. Maybe because this version is more fitted? Ehh.

Of course, the entire shirt is serged within an inch of it’s life, so any normal person would probably either deal or wad, but I REALLY NEED A DOTTED SWISS PETER PAN COLLAR BLOUSE TO WEAR WHILE RIDING MY BICYCLE THIS SUMMER. So I ripped up all the seams last night & spent an hour pinning, fiddling, basting, tucking, and pressing until I moved the darts into a more respectable position and shortened as much of the shoulder seams as I dared.

Flat – the buttons are from the flea market! Love it when stuff like that just appears for me

Inside – underlining, serged seams, oh and yes, my tag

Nevermind the dart creeping upward, here is a vertical dart for waist fitting.

Anyway, I am quite happy with my shirt now It fits nicely & the darts are in the correct places. And isn’t it perfect for a summer bike ride? Hm I need to sew me up some plaid shorts asap

completed: colette violet blouse

i know what you’re thinking – how the heck did i finish this blouse so freakin’ fast!? lol if by “fast” you really mean “slow.” let’s start this post with a confession: i started this blouse over a month ago, stitched up to the point of near-completion, then set it aside for other projects. for a MONTH now it’s been staring at me, one-sleeved & pathetic. i’m so glad i got this out of the way – i was beginning to think i could actually hear it whimpering!

so here is my second piece for my fall wardrobe! colette’s violet, made with a vintage cotton-rayon blend (that i picked up for a dollar! nyah nyah!). i interfaced the facings & collar with muslin, rather than fusible interfacing – i hate that stuff! hate hate hate! the inside seams are bound with self-bias tape, and i rearranged the buttons to include only 6, since that’s all i had and i reeeeally like these buttons a lot.

i only made a couple of changes to the fitting – for some reason, the darts were hanging out next to my underwire. lolwut. of course, i’d already sewn up/serged the blouse (aka my ~wearable muslin~), so i unpicked as best i could & repositioned them to reach the sky. they still aren’t *quite* in the proper place but i just can’t deal anymore today. i also took in the side seams a little – maybe another 1/2″ or so?

to be honest, i’m not thrilled with the fit of this blouse. i don’t like the loose fit, i’m more of it if-i-can-squeeze-into-this-then-it-fits kinda girl. i may end up redrafting the back piece to lay un-gathered & then pop a few vertical bust darts in the next version.

here’s my outfit – with my ginger skirt!
my expression in this picture cracks me up. “well hi there!”

remember those handmade tags i was working on? snuck one in i used speedball screen printing ink & muslin.

awesome buttons!

self-bound in bias tape

untucked. i don’t plan on wearing it this way – see how sad it makes me? so sad!

FUN FACT: this pictures were taken in the same room as yesterday’s pictures. it is amazing how different this wall color looks depending on the light! today is rainy & grey, meh.

aaand i’m outta here.

completed: colette sorbetto, v2.0

sooo i tried another sorbetto over the weekend. after my disastuh of a first version, the second version is kind of “meh” so i really don’t think this pattern works for me. which makes me sad – everyone else’s sorbettos are goooorgeous.

my version fits me weird – i don’t think i have the body shape for it – and maybe i just got too excited about the promise of a 1 hour/2 piece pattern because the construction is shoddy as hell. i’m not going to show you that. i’ll show you pictures of it on me, though.

first, look at the fabric i used: