Sewing Ups and Downs.

A sewing ` up ` was this T shirt using my favourite pattern Kwik Sew 2965 . I think this is my 6th version now.  I only had a mere scrap of stretch panne velvet so I had to cut the back with a centre seam. The pattern is quick , easy and only uses small pieces of fabric. Win.

Another sewing `up ` was my first ever refashion ! I wish I had a before photo but years ago I made a jacket from some blue polar fleece . I paid full price for the Butterick  6835 pattern and full price for the polar fleece which wasn`t particularly cheap.  I wanted to make the shorter version and bought fabric according to requirements listed on the back of the pattern envelope. This turned out to be way too  much so I had enough for the longer version. The end result was a humongous ugly short coat / long jacket . But because I had actually invested some money in this I wore it - in public ! ( Amazing my daughters let me do this ) After a couple of years I came to my senses but put the jacket away in my cupboard to do something with.  Several years later I finally got around to it. 

I unpicked the jacket and because it was so huge it was easy to get new fronts , sleeves and a back on the existing pieces. I used another old pattern, this time  Burda 8881.  This pattern is much better sized but the instructions are  weird. It says to hand sew in the front zip !! What the heck !! No way. Apart from that little bit of Burda madness the pattern was very easy. I left on the pockets from the original jacket but they were massive too in keeping with the whole over sized thing  . I unpicked them but you can just see the impressions where they were. Still this is much better than the original garment and I have worn it many times . Win. 

But what goes up must come down . 

Sewing down . 

Down . 

 OK I think I have found a worse fabric to sew than silk chiffon . Really. Loosely woven sweater knit . Ravelly . Poor stretch recovery . Curly. It looks so pretty with its raspberry ripple appeal and so soft . It lured me in but what a devil to sew. I did try really.

I cut strips of bias cut interfacing and stabilised all the seams as directed. I treated the fabric like a new born baby , handling it so gently. I mean look how nice my collar looks . It was the hemming that led to my down fall. I measured where I wanted the hem but ahem,  cut a great bit honking hole in the main body of the pullover. I cut this off and overlocked the edge and it was all downhill after that . I tried to rescue my pullover by adding a wide band to the bottom but the seam line hits right on the fluffiest bit of my stomach and looked just terrible. I took a photo and chucked in the bin.
I am wondering if this failure is just not sewing karma because I used an old Burda magazine (August  1993 ! ) and cut out the pattern . Yes , I didn`t trace the pattern , I cut it out . After looking at the magazine several times I realised that I would never make anything else . Despite all this I really like the pattern and will try again . In a more cooperative fabric . And I won`t cut a hole in the front .
Hope your sewing is all up , up , up !

Style Arc Winnie-The-Top .

I have been continuing on with the sewing theme of making alternative casual comfy winter wear to tracksuit pants. I ordered this black and white jacquard knit online and it was quite a surprise when it came. I wasn`t expecting the print to be so large and so  loud - ah the hazards of online fabric shopping. A positive though was I received a generous cut .
I used my Winnie Top pattern from Style Arc , a freebie when I bought the Blakeley jeans pattern. Sometimes I wait to buy Style Arc patterns until I really like the free offering and this was one of those  patterns. It reminds me  of the popular Toaster and Talvikki sweaters .

This is an easy top to sew but has stylish features - the funnel neck , the hem splits and the just right amount of modern ease . The instructions on this one were easy to understand and I like how they construct the hem split which looks professional and very  neat.

Included in the patterns were little name tags - a lovely bonus . It sure came in handy too because telling the front from the back is near impossible. The only difference I could see is in the cut of the armscye .
As I said I received a generous cut of fabric so there was just enough to cut out a skirt . I chose to resew a Knipmode skirt that I made last year but was a total wadder due to the fabric but also operator flaws. It is just a simple pull on  slightly pegged elastic skirt but the elastic does not extend all the way around the front . I was determined that such an easy pattern was not going to defeat me. This time I cut out the notches marking the top of the skirt pieces and the waist seam. Once the fabric is cut out and held up it looks like a rectangle but this is deceiving and is one of the reasons my skirt failed last year . It also helped that although this fabric has some stretch it has good recovery as well unlike the fabric that I used last year .

      
The loudness of the print is growing on me and  I might or might not wear the skirt and pullover together but overall I am pretty happy with the results .  I will definitely be sewing Winnie again.

Big Collar , Little Band Raglans .

Blogging activity in no way reflects my sewing activities. I have made a couple of beige camisoles and acacias . I can see one of the advantages of sewing indie patterns is being able to write I made some acacias rather than I sewed some Kwik Sew 2100s but it boils down to  that I made some beige  underthingies and they are extremely basic and necessary and much better than shop bought especially in terms of comfort but totally boring and private so no way I will blog those.

Much more blog worthy are the raglan pullovers I sewed. I completed these last month but only just convinced my youngest to model for me ( it has been disgustingly humid and hot ) on the proviso they were headless photos ( morning , just got up , getting ready for work etc ) .

The pattern is from August 2017 , a raglan sleeve pullover with a ginormous collar . The fabric is a cosy , soft chevron thick knit from Darn Cheap`s $2/metre table.  I know this is seasonally inappropriate but I really wanted to get my daughter`s sewing out of the way so I could then be totally selfish and just sew for me. Also she is about to leave home for uni ! Happy and sad at the same time . This was a very easy project except for the pattern matching. Does anyone know is it even possible to match the raglan sleeves and the chevrons ? I think the answer should be don`t worry, who cares , life is too short but pattern matching is the holy grail for home sewers - one of the things that we do better than bought. Well  all I can say is that I tried my best.

I know this last shot is not headless as promised so please don`t look at her head but focus on the fluffy thing on the floor that is about to approach  her foot for a good tickly licking session.
Well now I have my selfless sewing out of the way ( three tops , one dress , one pullover in the last couple of months for my DDs ) the natural progession was to sew a raglan pullover for moi !

I used McCalls 6992 which was an entirely unnecessary pattern purchase  since  I already have an old Kwik Sew Raglan pattern and a saddle shoulder version in a Knipmode magazine but influenced by seeing so many fabulous versions out in sewing blog world . I used a navy and grey argyle knit from Clear It bought late last year.

This was another easy project BUT my neckline looks so much wider than others I`ve seen  and that annoys me because I used new , bought in a proper shop fabric rather than my usual op shop or gifted stuff . Perhaps I accidently stretched out the neckline applying my ( very old ) stashed ribbing ? Last time I sewed myself something with proper shop bought fabric that was also a dud so I am starting to get paranoid here. Well this pullover is not a complete dud  and I have worn it a few times .I will give  the pattern another try but will find some cheap opshop windcheater material next time.

Well so seriously sewing gurus could I have matched my stripey chevrons at the raglan Sleeves ?

And did you know that raglan sleeves were named after Lord Raglan (1788- 1855 ) a British commander in the Crimean War? No neither did I until just now. 

Burda Style 11/2012 . A Warm Snuggy Pullover in Summer !

Last year I made a pledge to myself that I would sew my 2016 fabric acquisitions in 2016 . A friend joked that I would be crazily sewing at 11.59 New Years Eve . Well , not quite because I like having flexi-solutions not resolute- lutions . But this pledge does explain why I have sewed a ` woolly jumper ` in Summer . I bought this knit late last year - another op-shop find so of course I couldn`t resist at $3.00 plus I have never seen fabric like this before. It has a fuzzy print on the outside with a smooth plain wrong side with only a small degree of stretch. I liked the abstract print in neutral colours too .
To fulfill another pledge to use my un-used patterns I found a pullover from Burda Style November 2012 which has been very popular. It is a very simple pullover , the main style aspect being the uneven width front and back hem bands which are sewn on separately.

This is a very popular patterns and checked out lots of reviews and took my fellow sewist`s advice. I made size 38 instead of my usual 40 , I did not add any seam allowances to the bottom thereby shortening the pullover slightly and raised the neckline by an inch . The neck line is still a little too low and I feel like the shoulders are a bit too wide but not too annoyingly so. The sleeves are longish but the narrow bands help to keep them off my hands. I didn`t use the bias binding for the neckline but  ironed on  fusible tape , turned this inside and stitched it down.

It was very easy and satisfying to sew and when the cooler weather arrives I will be able to warm my body and my soul with my home made jumper.
Happy Sewing Janine.