6PAC and Diversions

I have finally completed a garment for the 6PAC, the silk knit cowl neck using the Style Arc Creative Cate. I am not sure if I will get anymore done on the plan this month, I might just have to continue in the summer plan.

I love the fabric which was a dream to sew - it is a silk knit which came from the wonderful Global Fabrics in Auckland.  I also have the same knit in a dreamy turquoise that years ago was part of a DKNY collection I think.  I am trying to use more from my stash as it has expanded beyond the cupboards.  I keep stuffing more into odd corners and containers. It has become easier to buy something I need to complete a project rather than try and find what I need in the stash!!

Talking about buying fabric... after taking the husband off to the airport I cruised by Designer Textiles in Lovegrove Cres, Otara.  This shop has an amazing range of knits in all colourways and types of fabrics. I found a very yummy silk, cotton and metal blend from Charles Parson which just spoke to me for a pattern that I have wanted to make - Vogue 1309 by Issey Miyake.

 

This fabric was a bargain at $8.00/metre and I bought 4 metres as I can see it as a shirt jacket as well. It feels very smooth and soft yet with the metal can be folded and crushed to a shape.  It is slightly crinkled and this did cause some problems when cutting the rectangles for this garment out.

I love Issey Miyake patterns and have most of them beginning back in the '80's.  I have made a few of them up and loved the architecture of design.  This pattern intrigued me when I read the instructions and DS1 called it origami with fabric!

Sewtawdry made this up and I wish I had read her post before I embarked on this journey!!  I measured as best as I could as I am slightly bigger than the biggest size and it looked like it would fit.  So I cut out and off I went. 

I ended up marking the sewing line for the slit and the cutting lines for the bias as well as all the dots.  The fabric photo shows lots of little white squares, they are my labels for each of the dots.  Unfortunately they promptly fell off when I went to sew!! Grrrrr!! It is very important to mark which is A and B - this becomes more apparent the further you go in constructing this garment.  Ask me how I know.

The other complaint I have is about the seams - (this is in common with others who made this), some pattern pieces have 1/4" seam indicated but others do not.  The pattern instructions state that all seams are 5/8" unless otherwise stated. Not true and I ended up ripping seams a few times. Finishing the seams on the garment is not included in the instructions - I decided to just sew not worrying about the raw edges.  This fabric does not unravel much but I have decided to go through and hand finish the edges as I am rather compulsive about the inner as well as outer garment.  Next time I will overlock all edges before beginning.

I love the zip and sourced a beautiful silver grey and black one from Tauranga Bernina Shop, it wasn't cheap but completes the top nicely (and I decided that I could always rip it out and use it again).  Actual construction did not take long but ripping out and redoing certainly added a few hours.

At first try on I was unimpressed and left it on Gertie for some timeout.  This morning I took it for show and tell at Bernina Club where it met with approval - but with some modifications at the back.  The shoulders do not fit and need tucks  at the back and the underarms gap so I now have some alterations.

It is a bit hard to see the details with this material in the photo but it doesn't look too bad.  I am not sure that I will ever make this up again but the next time would be more fun now that I know what to do.