Style Arc Billie Top

I was looking for something simple and quick to make and it seemed that this top ticked all the boxes. One pattern piece quickly sewn together and Voila! a chic top to bridge the change of seasons.  A teacher friend at a school I work in wears lots of this sort of thing and looks sensational and I forgot for a moment that sometimes this does not translate well.

I have a few pieces of statement fabric that would look better if the pattern was not broken up by seams and so I made up a trial in a heavy but nice feeling rayon knit from Bernina Tauranga's remnant bin.  

First I checked around the net to see what the verdict was on this pattern and other than the facings which seemed to get the thumbs down there was not much else said.  I wanted my top to be more a tunic and the ones on the net looked shorter than I wanted so I began by going down a size (to a 20) and adding 220mm to the length. The result was at first a disaster!  The neckline dragged down to my belly button - the armholes gaped and I looked a little like a young girl trying on her mothers dresses.  Not the look I was going for!

So firstly I stabilised the neckline and put a Tshirt Neckband on it which has solved that problem, however to pull it in has resulted in a slight gathered look which IMHO does not look tooo bad? The same treatment was applied to the left armhole which has made it a little better on the matter of gaping. Now it looks more like a lagenlook dress perhaps or maybe art teacher chic?

Anyone for a toga party??

 My next thought was to download and printout the Size 18 to see if that would look better in this knit.  And a night was spent assembling with the cat helping by anchoring the next piece each time!

The thought was to pull it apart and recut to the smaller size but now I am not so sure, time to sew is in short supply at present and when I folded it up to a tunic hem length suddenly it did not look so bad ... well may not so bad. It still looks larger than the pattern drawing but I do like the look of the fabric pattern at this length.

It is still too long off the shoulders and perhaps stablising the shoulder seams for this weight knit would have been a good idea.  In addition the pleat does not fall accross the body as it looks like it does on the pattern - rather it slips off the bust and disappears under the armhole.

I am still reconsidering recutting it a size smaller what do you think?

NISM2015

 Penny, Carolyne, Sandra, Sara, Trish, Toni, Jacqui, Juliet, Robyn, Helen,Kate, Kate, Sandra, Kirsty, Nikki and Mel   Photo courtesy of Mel.

NISM2015 finally arrived and I packed the car up with far too many projects, machines and cake.  So eager was I to get there I arrived far too early!!!  The Arts Village, in Rotorua, was new to me so I enjoyed the time to check it all out and met the volunteers who run it.

Mel and Sandra turned up and it was all go. Lots of sewing, shopping, gossiping and eating ensured.  I was fortunate to room with the lovely Robyn who had a neat dress and skirt that I need so more pattern buying!  In fact a feature of this weekend was seeing close up many of the independent patterns that I had been wondering about.  I love the Muse Gillian Dress and can see myself making that up soon.

Next time I will be more organised and cut out a few more earlier than the night before!!! I cut out two Style Arc Anne long sleeve T-shirts. I also brought my bomber jacket, Pamela's Patterns Magic Pencil Skirt both of which were unfinished.  I completed the Anne T-shirt in a beautiful french viscose knit from Emmaonesock and the Pencil skirt.

Style Arc Anne T-shirt without the gathers and The magic pencil skirt.

Styled for work 

I have worn both items and love them both so win.  I have my sewmojo back and am now thinking about a spring wardrobe.

Excitement Alert

The wonderful Sandra and Mel from the Wellington Sewing Network have organised a Sewing Meetup and wonders of wonders it is just around the corner from where I live!  Already registered and saved on the calendar I now have to decide what I want to sew and get it all ready!

With a pattern and fabric swap optional I think I will raid the stash and take some goodies along - which will help reduce if we have to move!

Looking forward to a weekend of sewing fun!

Sorry Temporarily Out of Service

Winter's Frost in the Waikato

Blogging has become very difficult to fit into my life at present; along with sewing, sleeping and gardening.  Personal circumstances which I have mentioned previously i.e. job loss, have not improved.  Luckily I was able to obtain a job working in the weekends which meant that I could continue to be available for Relief Teaching during the week.

Unfortunately the weekend job has now been been redundant as the company re- centralises its operation and moves back to Auckland.  It was a fun job working as a QC Supervisor for My Food Bag.  Great people to work with and the left overs were distributed to the staff so that helped the budget! I am now back in the hunt for a job, along with the man in the house who still has not been able to secure work.

All this makes thinking of spending any time in the sewing room a daunting proposition.  Thank goodness for Bernina Club which has become my one extravagance each month.  Many times I have thought to just pack the machines away but the few hours I have managed to spend at the machine over the last few months have been very revitalising.

As always there is a silver lining in all this disaster and I now weigh considerably less due to a combination of better portion control, more vegetables and less carbohydrate and sheer stress.  I really need to organise myself to the 20 minute a day sewing plan to get a new wardrobe that fits the new figure.  It is hard to know what to plan as depending on the job sucess will dictate the wardrobe required.

I need to send a shout out to all the wonderful sewing bloggers out there who have kept me sane.  I have spent some of my precious time reading all the wonderful posts and dreaming of a time in the future when I will be able to have more time to think of sewing and sewing.

Make a Garment a Month Challenge

Joining the MAGAM challenge, created and curated by SarahLiz, is with the hope of doing more sewing for myself.  The aim of the challenge is to create a garment for you each month within a theme.  The theme is broad enough that it can be adapted to personal needs, ideas or desires.  January’s theme was “Just Try Something New” very easy isn’t it?

Image from McCalls website.

I decided that I need shirts, or is it blouses? So using a pattern long in the stash but new to me that I love the look of, I made a blouse.  McCalls 6286 has always attracted me – the raglan sleeves and the wider collar framing the face would perhaps flatter my short neck.  I paired it with a mystery fabric from the huge Trademe fabric haul a few years back. 

 

Image from http://sewing.patternreview.com/Patterns/44600

Burn tests (thanks Chris for the help and link) show that it is probably cotton with maybe some rayon.  It burns to a dark powder that smells faintly of burning paper but also has a finish that leaves a slightly oily residue.  It feels and looks more like silk shantung with a shine and texture running through it. It is very nice to the touch and against the skin. 

I like that the pattern has the Finished Garment Measurements on the envelope back and I decided to make a size 20 with a finished bust of 46 1/2” grading out to 22 at the hips with a finished width at the lower edge of 50 1/2”.  This ultimately proved to be a little close fitting at the bust and measurement of a blouse in the cupboard shows that I am more comfortable with a bust measurement of 50”. This I should have done before making DUH!

Making up the blouse was straight forward until the collar; reviews of the blouse mentioned the difficulty with iron on interfacing so I cut out these in silk organza.  This was a great decision and worked a treat until I tried topstitching the collar.  I found the way the collar is assembled and the front facing attachment a little perplexing and made a bit of a botch which was fixed by hand sewing the exposed seam down.  One side of the collar and lapel lies flat against the body and looks good; sadly I cannot say the same about the other.  It wants to flip over and stands proud, I think it is a grain issue forced when I decided to top stitch (pattern does not topstitch) any suggestions on how to fix this for next time would be gratefully received.

Trying on the blouse shows that it fits well across the back with the darts in place, the side seams are straight but the CF pulls which indicates not enough fabric to cover the girls.  My question is, should I go up a size for the bust (22) or do a FBA?  I am little intimidated by the double darts regarding a FBA and would love to have some feedback about what I should do. 

I will definitely be making this pattern up again and in the same fabric. 

Blink and miss it.

Six months or more gone in a heart beat!

The poppy display was more awe inspiring in the real - it brought tears to my eyes
and wish that that modern leaders would realise the sheer waste of war.

Birmingham Bullring markets - fabric!

So what happened?  Lots of sewing, a trip to England to see my father, a new contract teaching English to Japanese children on holiday to NZ.  2014 has passed in an blink and now we are almost into the second month of 2015.

I spent lots of time in museums looking at
costumes - Lyme Regis Fossil Museum.

So far 2015 is not looking to great and if only I could be a bear and sleep it away.  Real life is intruding and it is not pretty.  While everyone else is celebrating the lower energy prices, we are anxiously watching for it to stop dropping and starting rising.  Mr DK has joined the ranks of the laid off, of which there are thousands in the oil industry.  Always a volatile industry, the oil business for the contract worker is precarious with long periods of layoff.  We have gone through this before and I guess will again in the future.

To help alleviate the depression I have joined the MAGAM sew along and have launched a campaign to tame the wilderness that was the garden.

On the topic of sewing I have become a fan of the Ottobre Magazine, as a former Burda aficionado I am disappointed in the direction it continues to go.  For the trip I made clothes that could be layered over each other for the fickle English weather as advised,  but England turned on a really hot autumn so did not wear much that I made.

The most successful item was a Merino Hoodie from the Autumn/Winter 2014 issue of Ottobre.  The fabric from Morlands Fabric in Hamilton was a pricy merino rib knit originally intended for DD#1.  I cut a size 50 with no alterations and it was just right to go over jeans etc and under jackets in Birmingham.  When I got back I passed it to DS#1 as he is off to Palmerston North to varsity and it snows there occasionally.

The rib knit means that this does 'grow' but does
go back after the wash.

DD#1 loves the relaxed fit.

6 PAC Sewing with a Plan

I make detailed plans for my sewing: but sadly often  they remain as strips of fabric, pictures and pattern numbers.  I take pleasure in creating a journal of the plan but need to move onto the actual task of sewing up the ideas.  It is with pleasure that I find myself completing a plan.

Inspiration for Shirt

I love the croquis from  Fashionary 

My eldest daughter has just completed her undergraduate degree in Architecture and is continuing onto her Masters.  As a poor student she was happy to have Mum make a few things to help extend her wardrobe.  At present she is enamoured with black so that was the base colour, not my favourite thing to sew or wear! I managed to slip in some petrol blue and grey to the mix for some variety.

First up were two tops from Ottobre Spring/Summer 2013.  A draped Tshirt (Lemon Juice No 13) cut on the fold to create the draped side.  This is a  petrol blue merino lycra blend from The Fabric Store in Wellington and I plan to make it in a larger size for myself.  With one piece for the front and back, the side is placed on the fold to create the drape.  

The second top was No 2 Summer Basic, made firstly in a burnout knit from the Auckland Fabric Store branch.  

I adjusted to add 3" length in the back above armhole  and 4"in the front.  The daughter wanted the long at back short at front look so the hem was lengthened.  Made in a beautiful merino knit from The Fabric Shop, Otara this is a great basic quick to make and extremely useful as a layer.

Next time I will shorten the light colour for a better proportion - although it looked good on her.

They looked great on her but unfortunately she disappeared back to Wellington before I could get photos.  She reports that they are getting a good work out in the wardrobe.

Finally a shirt was made from Autumn/Winter 5/2013 No 10 Parisian Chic.  This is a gathered from the yoke loose blouse made in a polyester polka dot.  It went together easily but the fabric was difficult to sew and pulled in places.  I normally dislike polyester but loved the polka dots and the colour.

 The gathers on the shirt meant that I did not need to make any alterations for width and she liked the look.  The final garment in the six pack is a Style Arc Skirt which is nearly finished.

Ottobre have some wonderful styles but my first experience with them proved to be disappointing as the dress was not a good fit.  These were all made in Size 46 and were a very stylish fit, I am now convinced to try some other styles in my size so watch this space.