I have learned something important regarding sleeves! A Denim shirt: Kwik Sew 3555

Another September make and another entry in the Fabric Stash contest.  This bit of denim has been sitting around since November waiting for me to get inspired.  I said in the title of this post that I have learned something important about sleeves.  First, I must give some background:

Almost 2 weeks ago, Mrs. Mole wrote a post about poorly fitting sleeves.  I was immediately reminded of the very nice email she sent to me in November after seeing my denim dress where my bodice adjustments forced me to take out a lot of extra sleeve cap ease.  Summarizing her email:  "Meigan, I think that you have removed too much in the sleeve cap as you have drag lines pointing to a need for more height."  She also suggested making a sleeve in gingham so I could see both the horizontal and vertical grain lines.  I was so relieved I got something wearable from the dog's dinner I made out of that dress that I wasn't too stressed.  Then the whole topic dropped out of my mind.

Fast forward to September...I made 2 woven tops (NL 6808 & NL 6407) where I unknowingly adjusted the sleeve incorrectly (again) and had sleeve caps that were not high enough. Then the topic of sleeve caps came up on her blog, and it all came rushing back.

Time to listen to the expert.  I bought gingham at Joann's and made a sleeve with lots of extra cap height for my KS 3555 per Mrs. Mole's suggestions.

You know what? Mrs. Mole was absolutely right.  I drew horizontal and vertical lines on the sleeves in marker.  Here is the sleeve cut in gingham and pinned in place as drafted.  Check it out:

Holy Cow!  Look how that horizontal line is pulled upward!!


So I unpinned the sleeve and let it drop so that the horizontal line becomes horizontal:

Horizontal line is horizontal!

 

Close up of Sleeve Cap

Each gingham square is 1/4" wide, so we can see that the new seam line should be 1.25" HIGHER at the top of the sleeve cap!   I did not expect it to be that much!!  Shouldn't these sleeves be drafted better???

 

I redrew my pattern piece adding the extra height needed at the sleeve cap.



Revised pattern piece

So I cut out my denim for my shirt using this revised sleeve.  You know what?  It fits so much better.  I have a full range of motion, and there is no pulling across my shoulder or upper arm.  Woo Hoo!!


Ok, so back to Kwik Sew 3555.  I bought this shirt to make with Craftsy's "The Classic Tailored Shirt" class.  I haven't finished watching the class, but I made this shirt anyway, because I like to (wait for it) "sew on the edge!"  (ha ha ha)  I made the long sleeve version, added a bust dart per "Fit for Real People", and added a sleeve placket from this Thread's magazine article.


On me:

 and on the dressform:

I added the bust dart for shaping and I may add darts in the back as well to remove some of the fullness.  One thing I have noticed is that the shirt is slightly snug where it hits my high hip.  I think that if I were to add a side slit, that slight pulling at the bust would go away.


So here is the important lesson I learned:  Not all sleeves are drafted well!!  When trying a new pattern, make a muslin of the sleeve in gingham.  Cut it out with lots of extra sleeve cap height, mark the grain lines, pin or baste it in, and see what happens!


For the record: I never doubted Mrs. Mole's diagnosis, I just wanted to prove it for myself.

Spring AHEAD! Another KS 3341

We had a snow storm on Wednesday which left us without power for part of the day.  I took advantage of that time by cutting out my next version of KS 3341, this time in a light blue denim from my stash.

Kwik Sew 3341

Using a non-stretchy fabric for the skirt made the assembly much easier than my first version.  I still had a bunch of the bright orange knit left so I used that for the shorts again.  This time I lengthened the legs of the shorts by 2", which is more comfortable for me.  I also lengthened the skirt by 2" as I did in my first version.  

A surprise bit of color underneath!

This time I kept the side slits at the bottom of the skirt. 

I used a leftover bit of cotton for the pocket facing.  I couldn't believe how well the blue in the print matched the denim.

The cotton was leftover from this top, New Look 6920 (unblogged and un-PatternReviewed), that I made in Sept 2011 in India.

(photo taken on my rooftop in India)

Again, the pockets come out really well, and very RTW:

Again I had difficulty constructing the waistband as directed.  I ended up making a casing with the waistband before inserting the elastic which worked much better than trying to attach the elastic first and then make a casing around it.  Now that I have made this pattern twice, I will do the waistband my way from now on.

A lightweight, light color denim skirt is perfect for spring and I'm hoping spring arrives soon.  I have had enough winter!

KS 3341 Golf Skirt/Skort: from Good Idea to Hot Mess and Back Again

I have finished Kwik Sew 3341, my bright orange knit golf skirt.  

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The making of this skirt was a journey which began with the hopes of using up some less-than-loved orange jersey knit.  This skirt has knit shorts underneath and an overskirt.  I lengthened the skirt by 2" so it is more appropriate for the golf course.  I made the side pockets as well.  The pattern does NOT suggest knits as a  fabric choice for the overskirt.  I used it anyways.  

The skirt was coming along very well until I attached the waistband.  I had basted the shorts and skirt together as instructed, stretching the shorts to fit the skirt.  I eventually got the waistband on properly...between the skirt, shorts, and waistband (a stretchy trifecta if you will) there was a lot of stretching going on and my initial attempt was rather sloppy.  Keep Calm and Grab the Seam Ripper!! 

source

I then serged all of those raw edges together to try to keep things neat.  So then after attaching the ends of the elastic to the interfaced (non-stretchy) front waistband...the instructions tell you to tuck the elastic under the seam allowance, then fold over and stitch in the ditch.  This excellent review on patternreview.com, alerted me to be careful here so I followed her advice and stitched the elastic to the seam allowance prior to folding it over.  This is where the "Hot Mess" happened.  There was too much stretchiness, too much bulk (due to the serged seam allowances perhaps??), too much mess.  A disaster.  Again, I grabbed the seam ripper and freed my elastic.

What to do?  What to do?  Well in a normal knit skirt, you'd make a casing at the waistband and then thread your elastic through it.  So that is what I did.  I left the interfaced front waistband open and folded over the back waistband and hand basted it down.  Then I top-stitched it to form my casing.  I switched my elastic to a more narrow 3/4" wide and sewed it down at the edge of the interfaced front waistband and threaded it through the casing.  Then I was able to try on the skirt and adjust the elastic to fit me.  It always makes me nervous when you are instructed to cut a particular length of elastic and sew it in before being able to try it on.  It seems like a recipe for problems (and for grabbing the seam ripper!).

Without further ado...here it is:

There's a little bit of extra pouf/volume/fabric at the waist right by the pockets.  You can see it well just below my right hand.  I'm not positive why this is here but there could be multiple reasons.  It could be because there is interfacing along the pocket edge which is creating extra stiffness and puffiness.  Serging the seam allowances could have added additional stiffness or it could be that there is simply too much fabric there.  I may slide the fabric more toward the back and then stitch through the waistband and elastic to keep the extra fabric toward the back.  Another option would be to make the skirt in a size smaller at the waistline (only if using a knit) to eliminate some of the extra fabric.  

Here is a view of the pocket.  The edge of the pocket is interfaced to make a nice crisp edge. 

Let's Review:

Pattern Description:  A skirt with knit shorts underneath with side pockets and elastic back waistband.  

Pattern Sizing:  XS-XL.  I made a Large and the sizing was accurate

Did it look like the pattern envelope?  Yes

Were the instructions easy to follow?  Follow?  Yes.  Implement?  Not so much when dealing with inserting the elastic at the waistband (see below).  

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?  I have a great golf skirt with attached shorts underneath.  This pattern was perfect to try to replicate it.  

Fabric Used:  I used a cotton-poly knit for BOTH the shorts and skirt.  The pattern does NOT suggest using a knit for the skirt, but I had a lot of orange knit that I wanted to use up, so I decided to give it a try.  For the most part it worked well, but since there were 3 stretchy layers (shorts, skirt and waistband) coming together at the waistband instead of 1 stretchy layer (shorts)  I needed to address the waistband differently to help deal with all of the stretchiness.   

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

• I made the skirt 2" longer so it would be about 18.5" finished length.
• I folded and hand basted the back waistband down to create a casing.  Then top-stitched it down.
• I threaded elastic through the casing and tried it on before stitching the ends to the front waistband.  
• Folded over the front waistband and top-stitched down.
• I also used a twin needle for the hemming of the shorts and skirt.  

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?  Yes and yes I would!

Conclusion:  This is a nice pattern that can be sporty or more dressy depending on the fabric.  I love having the shorts underneath.  While it wasn't recommended to use a knit fabric for the skirt, it wasn't disastrous either.  Considering that at one point I used the phrase "hot mess" to describe this skirt, I'd say this turned out to be a save and maybe even a win!

Kwik Sew 3290: Kids Fleece Jacket

This was my first Kwik Sew pattern and it really lived up to its name.  I opted not to use any contrast fleece for the side panels and to make a version without a hood.  For some reason our local schools don't allow kids to wear hoods.  Who knows why...probably some silly reason involving the work 'hoodlum'.  

Here is the finished jacket:

I made a size small (4-5) for my 6 year old.  The size was perfect.  The instructions were very easy to follow.  So easy, in fact, that I skipped step 14 which instructed me to slip the pocket under the front facing and tack them together with hand stitches.  My daughter wore the jacket for a few weeks and complained that she didn't like the "floppy pockets".  So I stitched them to the front facing and to the bottom hem, all the while thinking how smart I was and how silly the instructions were for not coming up with the idea themselves.  This is what I did:

Then, writing up my review on patternreview.com I realized that yes, I was the silly one.  Step 14 showed those instructions as plain as day.  Whoops.  Oh well.  That wasn't the first time I've done something silly and won't be the last.  

The only thing I should have done differently (besides reading all of the instructions) is to use a non-pill fleece.  After a few washes, I already notice pilling.  Oh well, next time.