Travel Wardrobe Tops

To create my travel wardrobe I had 2 colorful skirts and had several color options for tops.  I had a few purple knits in my stash and one of them happened to be exactly the right shade.  It's a lightweight drapey jersey, most likely a rayon blend (which is not my favorite).  Since I did not have a huge piece, I needed a pattern that wouldn't need much.  I decided on Jalie 2794: the Sweetheart top.

I cut a size X and made the neckline narrower as I did in my previous versions.  I made the cap sleeve version and added 3/4" to their length.  Here is the finished top:

Next up was New Look 6470, view D:

Many reviews commented about the neckline being very low so I made a muslin using some purple burnout jersey.  Lo and behold, the neckline was very low and I added a little modesty triangle to cover up more skin:

Much better:

For my real version, I used a black cotton lycra from Spandexworld.com.  I cut a 16 for the front and did a narrow upper back adjustment (ie I cut a size 12 between the shoulders) and graded up to a 18 at the hip.

The fit is snug and flattering.  I normally don't wear black near my face, but this top nips in my waist in such a fantastic way, this top will be worn quite a bit!

Next up is something I won't be wearing much:  Jalie 3245 Racerback Tank:

There's nothing wrong with the pattern, I just didn't like how it looked on me.  I altered the back to be less 'racerback' to hopefully cover my bra straps.  I didn't alter it enough, I'm sorry to say, and my straps are peeking out on both the front and the back.  What is glaring to me in these photos is that my arms look flabby and my shoulders look narrow.  Thumbs down.  :(

In the future, I will avoid the tank pattern and give the raglan sleeve version a try instead.  I am not including this top in my Travel Wardrobe 6 pack since I have no desire to wear it out in public.  It will find a new home in the pajama drawer.

The next tee is also not finding its way into my Travel Wardrobe simply because it doesn't coordinate with both skirts.  This is McCall's 5890 View C, the princess seamed tee.

My pattern started at size 16 so I needed to grade it down.  I made a quick muslin and was pleasantly surprised how nice it was.  I made the back quite a bit narrower, which is a normal adjustment for me, and added a CB seam to conserve fabric.  The fabric was a Leaf Green active-wear knit from Fabric Mart, leftover from my Jalie 2566 cardigan and the green just so happened to match the green in my refashioned Target skirt!

I am very happy with this pattern and love that I was able to squeeze it out of small pieces of fabric.  :)

Last up is a chiffon cardigan made from McCall's 6559, view B:

I was straightening up my fabric closet and discovered a bright pink chiffon saree I had purchased in India.  The color perfectly matched the bright pink in the striped ITY skirt I had just made!

Making a cardigan from the chiffon saree would give me more variations in my Travel Wardrobe, so I popped a brand new size 9 needle in my machine and off I went.  I knew that chiffon was not easy to sew, so I lowered my sewing standards so as not to drive myself nuts.  I knew that my sleeve caps would have visible gathers and I was ok with that.  I cut the pattern pieces on the cross-grain so I could use the selvage at the hem.  I added 2" of width across the bicep.  I needed about an inch of extra room and I knew that any stress would split the fabric so I made it 2" wider.

I used french seams on the shoulders, side seams, & underarms, and a narrow serged seam on the armholes.  To finish the front edges, I used a rolled hem foot and a straight stitch.  My first pass resulted in a slightly wavy seam, so I rolled it again!  The resulting double rolled hem (if that is a thing) was much straighter and firmer than the original.  The bottom hem was folded twice and stitched with a straight stitch.  The selvage was very sturdy and made this very easy.

On to the finished photos: (the color is a little odd in these photos, but it really does match!)

  

In hindsight, I should have made the shorter cardigan (View A) since I am short waisted.  I am wearing this up at my waistline rather than long.  I found it to look rather frumpy.  See:

Chiffon shouldn't add visual pounds.  For the purposes of the Travel Wardrobe contest, I will keep this cardigan in my 6 pack, but I may shorten it for future wear.

Here is a collage of my Travel wardrobe:

There you have it!

Sewing for kids

I managed to do a bit of sewing for my girls this Christmas.  First up is a blue corduroy skirt that I made using Jalie 2908 (yes, the jeans pattern) for a starting point.  I wanted to replace a denim skirt that she had loved to death, and I could not find a fly front denim-type skirt pattern.  This was my result:

I used gray topstitching thread for all of the topstitching. The pockets and fly shield were made from light blue poly crepe.

 

 

I made the length of the skirt a few inches below the knee and added a kick pleat to the back. 

Altering my pattern from jeans to a skirt was very straightforward.  I angled out from the widest point of the hip creating a flare for the front and back.  For the center front and back seams, I drew a straight line extending the center front at the fly, and center back at the widest part of the hip, down to my new hemline.  The only change I made was rotating the lower edge of back pockets outward toward the side seam.  As located per the pattern the pockets were a little odd looking and too parallel to the center back seam:

After rotating them outward...much better:

 

Next up for my Christmas sewing was a Jalie 2566 cardigan made with an argyle interlock knit.

 

My buttons were small pink hearts.  I thought I should use them while my daughter is still young enough to think they are cute.  She really likes this top.  I think the band lays strangely at the top button.  My version of this cardigan has this same issue, perhaps it is a pattern issue rather than an operator issue.  Much to my surprise, this pattern seems to be OOP.

 

Next up are 2 long sleeve versions of McCalls 6787 for my youngest.  The first one is made from a printed cotton jersey from Spandexworld.com.

 

 

The second version used a rayon knit for the top and a quilting cotton for the skirt.  I think it came out adorable:

 

 

 

That's it for my Christmas sewing.  It was a big success.  :)

Happy New Year everyone!   

Cardigan of the year, McCalls 6844

McCalls 6844 must be one of the most popular patterns released last fall.  To date, there are 33 reviews on PatternReview.com.  This is the pattern envelope photo:

 

It is a cardigan with peplum and length variations.  Here are the line drawings:

I am not on the peplum bandwagon, so I made view B, the longer version with no peplum.  Why am I not on the peplum bandwagon do you ask?  Well, #1: I'm not a trend follower, and I often dislike trends on the principle of them being trends, rather than what they are.  #2: I really really don't need extra volume at the hip/butt, I have plenty of volume on my own. 

 

I bought the pattern in the Large-XXL size range, before reading the reviews on PR.com.  Most of the reviews said that the pattern ran large and that cutting a size smaller than your measurements suggest is wise.  I, however, was skeptical and only adjusted the shoulders.  I cut a Large and graded to an XL at the hip. I cut the each of shoulders about 1/2" narrower than a size Large.  While the shoulder width is now pretty good, there is still too much width across the upper back and across the upper bust.  I will grade the pattern down in those areas to make it more like a Medium. 

 

The pattern states that this is a close fitting cardigan whose fronts do not meet.  Wrong!!  Even though I essentially cut a size too big, the fronts definitely overlap.   See?

 

Here it is belted and unbelted.  I am very short waisted; my natural waist is only a few inches below my bra band and I always wonder how it looks when I wear belts like this. 

Granted, with a big, loose style of cardigan like this, not cinching it in some way can add all-over volume, which isn't a great look either.  I'm not sure which way is best.  Here are some back views.  See how I really don't need the extra volume that a peplum would give me?  I'm all natural baby!

 

The construction of this cardigan was very quick and easy.  I didn't interface the front bands and I am happy with the result.  I used a sueded jersey knit from Denver Fabrics.  The sueded just means that the wrong side is a little fuzzy, which is very nice and cozy.

One more thing to check out...the hems:

Wait a minute...that looks like...is it?...Yes!  It IS!!  A Cover-Stitched Hem!  That's right friends, Santa was good to me this year.  (And by Santa I mean me)  My husband is not good at gift giving/shopping, so I placed the order for a Brother 2340CV and received it while he was out of the country on a business trip. 

I sent him a facebook chat: "You just bought me a lovely Christmas gift.  Thank you." 
His response was: "?" 

I have been putting money aside for most of the year saving up for a Cover-Stitch machine.  I had been looking at the Janome 1000cpx, but I simply could not justify the extra $$$ for it.  My serger is a brother (5234PRW), and I am very happy with it, so I felt comfortable with the brand.

So there it is, my first finished garment of 2014 and my January Garment of the Month.