LhBD - Little Heather Black Dress And an Award!

Well, to start off, Lisa from http://sewrandom.blogspot.com/ has awarded me with the Brillian weblog award! Thank you, Lisa! It does mean a lot to me when fellow sewers notice what I do because it is more than a hobby at this point and somewhere between a passion and obsession:) Secondly, I finally finished the jumper and here is the review:

Pattern: Burda WOF : 09-2007-121

So, it took me awhile to get this jumper done. After finishing the muslin I was not sure if I liked it. With it, for me, everything was about the right choice of fabric. First, I decided to make it from a striped jersey but was not sold on it. Then, I found great heather black wool knit and I just knew that was it!

Fabric: Wool knit and satin lining from Textile-o-philes (a local independent fabric store: http://www.textileophile.com/Home_Page.html) Btw, if you are ever in the Denver/Colorado Springs area - this store is a MUST VISIT! It has an assortment of fabrics comparable to Emma One Sock and better (think silk jersey, angora, camel hair, cashmere, wool knits, designer print silks, designer cottons, etc.)!

Construction details:

- The skirt of the dress is interlined and lined at the same time with medium-weight stretch lining that has a nice tonal satin stripe.
- The hem is finished with lace.
- The lower edge of the bodice band is reinforced with a strip of the lining cut on a bias.
- The fronts are cut not on a fold but as two separate pieces and the front neckline is stabilized and understitched.

So, that is about it. I wrote about my fit and design alteration when I posted my muslin entry, so I won’t repeat myself here. If anyone is interested, pls refer to that older post or to my review on PR.

Having started with immense hesitation, I actually live how the dress turned out! I was afraid it would look dowdy on me but, to my pleasant surprise, it actually looks modern.

Would recommend it to anyone with two caveats:

1. muslin is a must because fixing the fit of the bodice during construction may be a nightmare (due to the way the dress is constructed and sewn), and

2. I had to rethink the placement of the back pleats to flatter my deriere.

Draped Scarf/Hood

I am not sure why this style is called “snood,” but it is…
My version is derived from a Michael Kors style that was made from ribbed sweater knit.
The purpose of a snood, in my understanding, is to be used both as a collar/scarf and as a hood/hat. I have a HUGE head (although you may notice it by just looking at me) and hats VERY rarely fit me, therefore, the idea of alternative head-covering methods appeals to me. I remember my grandmother knitted a snood for me in the mid-80s but then back where I grew up it was referred to with the less sophisticated “sock-hat!”

Initially, I thought of knitting the snood, but then I fond these cool and soft knits at Textile-o-philes (a local independent fabric store with delicious variety of fabrics) and decided to use them instead, for now at least.
The pattern is a basic rectangle that is sewn into a tube and then folded in half, the same way you would construct a turtleneck. My version is less structured than the original M. Kors snood, however, it drapes beautifully. I may attempt knitting an exact version of the original, or better yet, bribe my MIL to knit one for me!

Slouchy Plaid Pants

Pattern: Vogue 2981, View B

Inspiration:
For these pants I had no particular inspiration other than lusting over plaid pants and pants with a menswear slouchy flair to them for two years.

Size:
My size according to pattern envelop is between 8 and 10 for hips and 12 for waist. I cut size 10 throughout. My overall fit-size conclusion: as opposed to other Alice & Olivia pants, I did not find this one running big. I suggest you go with your true hip and waist size, leave bigger SAs at the CB, and adjust as you muslin the pattern. Due to the shape of the WB, I find that it is almost necessary to make a muslin, if only with very short legs – to check for the overall hip and waist fit.

Alterations for fit:
Took about a total of 1.5” away from the side seams at the waist and blended at the hips
Shortened the pattern with 0.5” at the shortening line just above the hipline
Straightened the hip curve to an almost straight line (I do that with all patterns)
Lowered the back at the CB with 3/8” and blended at the back waist notch
Made a 0.5” deep back dart
Took 0.5” from the WB at the sides
Moved very slightly the front pleat towards the side seam
Had to take more from the CB seam (the pant part) to match the shape of my body (this is inevitable with any pattern though).
These might seem like a lot of alterations but it was really tweaking to achieve a better fit. The front and back crotch I found to be drafted nicely.

Design Changes:
Front pockets changed to iseam pockets.

Fabric:
Subtle plaid on gray background. As far as content, there is more polyester in the fabric than I would have liked but I was not sure how I would like neither the style, nor wearing plaid for bottoms, hence, decided to go with a minimal investment.

Construction:
Pant legs are lined to just below the knee.
I changed the front pockets from slant to inseam, seemed like it went better with the plaid fabric.
I have my own way of making front fly zippers (reversely engineered from some high-end RTW pants) that I always used instead of the pattern instruction. When making these pants I took photos of each step of making the closure, so hopefully some time soon will post the tutorial, if anyone is interested.

I also changed slightly the belt loop design. I stitched each belt loop 1” from the top edge to allow for inserting a skinny belt. This is actually a very minor design change but for me it made a lot of difference.

My Sweater, Your Sweater, It’s All in the Family! And it is Fall!

I have not made anything for DD in 2 years and thought it was time.
For this fall-winter season I decided to again make some of her clothes and started with some sweater dresses.

The scarf to the left is made from an open-knit sweater knit fabric and I used the selvages to simulate short fringe.

Dress #1:

A long sleeve, A-line dress, with a turtle neck, fully lines with soft jersey.
Fabric: the jersey is from denverfabrics.com and the sweater knit is actually a former sweater of mine, hence the title for this post.
How it is made:
- Traced (roughly) the pattern from an Old Navy sweater dress my DD wore last winter.
- Made some adjustments at the armhole and for length to accommodate her growth
- Applied the pattern to my sweater and used my sweater’s neckline and shoulder seams.
- Cut out the sleeves from the sleeves of the sweater
- Used the hem of the sweater as the hem of the dress
- Cut out lining, constructed it and attached it to: the neckline (fully) and partially to the armhole, sleeve hems and bottom hem.
- A heart-shaped button appliqué on the front

Dress #2

This dress has a straight cut, turtleneck, and ribbed banding at hem and sleeves. This dress is made from a sweater of mine as well. The dress has corduroy epaulettes at the shoulders and an attached corduroy belt. With the exception of the epaulettes and the belt, the dress is made pretty much the same way as dress #1. This knit is super soft though, which allowed me to avoid applying lining. On the photo the dress is worn with babylegs (babylegs.net). I cannot begin to tell you how much I like those!

Dress # 3

A close copy of dress #2, this dress has a piece-sign button appliqué on the front.

Garment #4: Knitted hooded poncho. This poncho was my design , so I have no pattern for it, but it is esseantially nade of two rectangles + a hood and buttons under the arms to form sleeves.

Note: All pictures are courtesy of my husband. Thank you, Sig!

Marni - Inspired Sweater Coat

Inspiration:
This particular sweatercoat is one of the two in my winter sewing plan and is inspired by the lines of a Marni coat. I love sweater coats and they are very appropriate for the weather here in CO, do not wrinkle and are unassuming. This is the link via which you can check the original coat: http://www.yoox.com/item/YOOX/MARNI/dept/women/tskay/3FD17CD7/rr/1/cod10/410637082C/sts/sr_women80

Unfortunately, the original Marni coat is black and the otherwise lovely site yoox.com is not one with great photos. Anyway, I hope you can at least see the general siluette of the garment.
My design is a bit of a departure from the original - the sleeves of my coat are shorter and wider and I made a short funnel neck similar to a coat by MARC BY MARC JACOBS:

I also feel that my coat hits slightly lower than the original (lengthwise).

Pattern:
I drafted the pattern myself and was fortunate enough to need only one muslin. It is really an extremely basic pattern, the only two things you need to figure out are the width at the bust and width of the sleeves.

Fabric:
A lovely colored sweaterknit which unfortunately is probably 100% polyester. I wear color a lot, prints not so much, therefore the ombre-ish effect of this fabric appealed to me as a lovely compromise. I actually bought a year ago it from Joann of all places (I avoid buying fabric from there, unless it is in the clearance section and usable for muslins) with no idea what I was going to make from it.

Construction:
The entire coat (short of the facings) is underlined with lycra jersey knit. The front edges are cut on the selvage and are left unfinished. The sleeve hems, hemband and facings are bound with soft lightweight jersey. The closure consists of antique gold mega snaps.

The belt is my own Fullum belt that I labsolutely love, mainlt due to the unorthodox closure!

Quarter Sleeve Layering Blouson - Burda WOF 09-2007-120Review

Inspiration:
This top by VPL:

And this is me, sorry for the frown!


Description:
This is a raglan top, very low-cut front neckline and cowlneck-like collar. The sleeves are 7/8, the hem is cinched at the hips.

Size:
I could have cut this pattern in either size 36 or 38, but decided to go with the oversized (I think – modern) look and cut s.38. Here is the thing, my bust measurement is 34. The blouson measures 40.5” under the sleeves in size 38. My advise would be: If your fabric is fluid (as it should be for this top), go a size or two up. I actually wish I had gone 2 sizes up, to s.40.
Side note on Sizing:
IMO, if I go two sizes down in the bodice (not the sleeves) and lengthen the top to a dress knee-length, it would make a wonderful dress to be worn with a wide decorative belt.
Alterations:
1. Fit-wise:
Well, short of shortening the bodice 1”, none.
2. Design-wise:
I made the waistband 1.25” wide instead of 1” – a totally not major change. A more major change was omitting the waistband and extending the front and back pattern pieces with the length necessary to make a casing for 1” elastic. I did this because IMO it renders a RTW (as opposed to home-sewn) touch to the garment. Also, I omitted the front inset. I am going to use the top as a layering piece, thus, I thought the inset was redundant.
3. Construction-wise:
The magazine suggests you cut the collar as two pieces that connect at the fold of the collar. I think this is completely illogical; I cut it as one omitting a seam exactly where I wanted excellent drape.
Fabric:
Unless you aim at looking huge, you should choose a really fluid fabric. I went with a lightweight rayon fabric from http://www.gorgeousfabrics.com/. As of right now I have used every square inch of it and my only wish is to have bought more – such a great fabric and so pleasant to sew with and wear.

Fall-Winter Sewing Update

So, the Marni-inspired coat is ready, I only have to install the sew-on snaps.

Also, there are some changes that I've made to my sewing plan:

1.I tried on a high-wasied skirt by Rebecca Taylor.
http://shop.nordstrom.com/S/2991910?Category=&Search=True&SearchType=keywordsearch&keyword=rebecca+taylor+in+All+Categories&origin=searchresults Fitted me like a glove and I fell in love with it. Unfortunately, it had linen in it and that was the part I was not so fond of. Also, I thought that I could make something of comparable quality for 1/5th of the price. So, I will be making Vogue 8425, view A. (the blue skirt).

2. I have been wanting to try a slouchy pant for about 2 years. Also, for about the same amount of time I have been fancying plaid. So, I decided to blend my two fancies into a plaid wide leg slouchy pant and I have a great fabric for it! I'd be using the Vogue pattern below and perhaps would incorporate the backpocket treatment of the DVF pants to the right.

3. Lastly, but not leastly, I need a piece of advice. I have been contemplating on making high-waisted trousers. I am not sure if they will work on me and it has also been hard to find an inspiration piece. These are the two I’ve come upon:

The first is by Nanette Lepore and the second by Burberry. Do you think it is worth trying? Which do you think would work best, or have you stumbled on a good pair of high-waisted tailored pants you can refer me to? Or maybe I should stick just with the high-waisted skirt?

I will be reviewing the Burda blouson and the Marni coat shortly.