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.

Style Arc Blakley Stretch Jeans.

 This is the first pair of jeans I have sewn and they  might not even be the last. When I read an email from Style Arc in November selling the pattern / fabric bundle for the Blakley Stretch Jeans I pounced quickly and bought it.

 It came with the Winnie Top which I hope to make very soon. The jeans have a skinny leg style ,wide waist band with elastic , faux front pockets and a faux fly.

On the back though are fair dinkum , dinky di functioning pockets !

It is that time of year where we all complain about how dry it is and we wish it would rain. One advantage is that you don`t have to mow lawns and even the weeds have trouble growing. This year though we have enough feed for our sheep. 

I have already blogged about those pockets which were the hardest part of this project.
The jeans were relatively easy to sew. I did not follow the order of instructions which say to sew the pockets on first before constructing the jeans. I sewed them on last to get the best looking placement I could - I attached them just under the angled back yoke rather than the 2 or so cms gap recommended as that looked too low. I also sewed the front and back waist bands to the front and back pants separately so I could sew up the side seams last.

It did take me three goes to put in  the elastic - the first time I attached it  to the wrong part of the inner waist seam and the second time I got the insertion correct but the elastic was too long so the waist band gaped.
I also had to look up  a tutorial on how to do the faux fly as I could not quite understand the directions although the rest of the instructions were easily to follow.

The only changes I made to the pattern were to lengthen the legs by about an inch . I could find no reference to what height the jeans are drafted and I did indeed need every little bit of that extra length ( I am 169 cm tall).
I have never sewn jeans before because I have not had the need to . I don`t really wear them so much these days and bought ones fit fine. However the main advantages to me of making my own were the fun of decorating those back pockets . If I am not careful I might starting embroidering everything that doesn`t move ! I also liked having the choice of double stitching my seams with plain navy blue rather than the usual gold threat and there is always that satisfaction of making your own clothes.
I  might make these again but using some of the Style Arc Bengaline or other stretch woven. I would highly recommend this pattern as a great easy way to sew jeans.

On Sewing Mistakes ,Sewing Doldrums And Sewing Successes.

  I have been trying to make my first ever pair of jeans. When Style Arc sent an email advertising a pattern/ stretch denim package  for jeans I immediately bought it which is another first and I don`t know why . The mysteries of advertising which tap into the human psyche .
One advantage of making my own jeans was to be able to customise the back pockets .

My sewing machine has an embroidery function which I rarely utilise so a couple of weekends ago I set about relearning how to use this , looked through some folders of designs available to me ( which my late father created for my mother - what a man to spend hours doing this for her ! ) and practised some designs which I liked. I finally settled on one from a Pfaff Creative Card 300, design 27 .I even really liked their chosen colours.

I practiced on some old serviettes and then went to work on the denim of which there was not much to spare. It all went really well.
Now I have discovered that I mainly make mistakes in two situations . One is when I am tired and it is later in the day and I just want to finish up a project. I relearnt this several times and now I just do not go there. Once I am tired or a  bit sick of sewing I just stop even if I am really close to completing something.
The other time  is when I am really excited about a project so I just tend to leap in . I don`t think there is much I can do about this.

So I was in the process of sewing up the pockets and noticed that one pocket was slightly larger than the other . Then I realised what I had done. I cut the pocket out the wrong way so the stretch is going vertically , the pocket size is out and the design is going the opposite way. And here I thought I was so clever by making a see through plastic pocket template so I could centre the design properly !

I was seriously thinking about just making this a design feature but even though I am a bit of a slapdash sewist - a wrinkle here or there  doesn`t bother me- I knew the magic closet would not work with this one .
So last weekend I set up the embroidery function again and redid another embroidery.

Well everything was going really well until I got to the orange colour . Is it my imagination but does that look a bit different to the original ? Sob, no my glasses did not need cleaning , I had picked out the wrong colour. Sigh. So I worked out the correct orange embroidery thread and off we went again. ( very hard to tell in the above photo but the orange colours are different - one is more a bronze ) .

Success ! Finally . ( This saga does not even include the one where the embroidery thread broke and I realised too late ) . Now initially I told myself I was a sewing eejit but does that make me feel better about myself ? No. Does it get the embroidery done ? No . Now I am telling myself that it was all good practice and the wrong colour confirmed I liked my initial choice and I am much quicker at setting up the embroidery part of my Pfaff now . I am still frustrated at the waste of time but I am not putting myself down.
This leads me to sewing successes and how we perceive them. I recently read an excellent post by Diary of a  Sewing Fanatic asking whether we compare ourselves to others in term of how much sewing we get done. A lot of people admitted they did. I have  not  been a joiner inner on sew alongs etc. I joined in MMM and a fabric fast last year . I have always been on the fringe of things all my life and being part of the sewing internet community is one of them. But this is also why I think I am successful. My blog is so small but I have not given up. If I judged my success by the number of followers and comments then I would have quit years ago. I have read people complain about this but IMO this is not a reason to blog. I blog and sew for myself. I have never sewn the trendy indie patterns or the latest fabrics or sewn couture or been artistic  but I wear my home sewn clothes almost every day and keep them for years and years so this is a success. It does seem so obvious to say this but comparing yourself to others does not lead to contentment . Besides we only ever show the best / happiest side of ourselves on the internet.

One last photo - an outtake for my latest sewing project yet  to be blogged . A sewing mistake and success all rolled into one ! .I was using the self timer and my daughter was trying to get past .
Well hopefully anyone in the sewing doldrums can read this post and feel better about themselves.

Purple Peta Pant Pyjamas .

 Over the years I have made lots and lots of pyjamas . In fact if I had one dollar for every pair I have made I would probably be a hundredollaraire . I have used patterns from Simplicity, Burda , McCalls , Vogue and Grainline . Grainline PJs are only short and the fit is good but most of the others are crazy big . You know pants that look like they come from one of those weight loss pictures with someone fitting both legs into just one and shirts which are long enough to actually be nighties.  So when  I found this lusciously soft Lincraft brand 100 % cotton lawn , 3 metres for $5 from the op shop I knew I wanted to make a new PJ set . However I knew it would be a tight fit to get both pants and a shirt with my usual PJ patterns.
I thought using  the Peta Pants from Style Arc might get me there as I have made these twice before ( neither of which made it onto my blog ) and they are a comfortable fit without being too big and baggy.

I was able to get the PJ set cut by using the 3/4 leg version and the shirt was made from a very old McCalls pattern 2764 . I have made the shirt a couple of times before too , over 10 years ago , and recall this was also nicely sized being comfortable but not too loose but didn`t remember how large the collar was ! I made the dartless version and it includes built in facings so it is relatively easy to sew as are the pants .

On the back of my recent tunic failure ( which has now gone to one of my daughters ) I decided to have a bit of fun making the PJs so I added lots of lace to the  hems and a pocket ,  mauve satin bias binding to prettify the pockets ( which no-one will see ) and mother-of - pearl buttons which I love and were the only ones I had to match anyway. These PJs will replace an older pair of another home made set which looked quite glamorous  but were made using some very nasty polyester which frayed , shredded at the seams and made me feel hot and sweaty . Before I could change my mind about getting rid of them I ripped the elastic out of the pants to use in my new set .
I don`t why I haven`t bought more Style Arc patterns because the two I have have been used multiple times and  I would definitely recommend this pattern for pyjamas and day wear pants . Well it is always good to follow up a failure with some success and my youngest daughter said even she would wear these.
PS I cross stitched the pillow on the chair back in  my teenage years when I knitted, macramed , latch hooked,  embroidered , long stitched , painted and sewed . Ahh the days before internet , work , children , animals and housework !
SO is there  anyone else  who likes sewing PJs as much as me ?

StyleARC Abby Cardy Meets Animal.

I whipped this little number up over four weeks which is pretty sad really  !  This is by no means anything to do with the pattern . I really thought I had been sewing more than what reality indicates but life has been very busy . I really am missing sewing and reading all the sewing blogs  . Anyway I would highly recommend this pattern. I will definitely sew this one again in a plain fabric.

 

I used a remnant knit  left over from my Butterick dress I sewed last year for my muslin  . I only had enough to sew the short sleeves unfortunately .

As with all Style Arc patterns there are no detailed instructions.There is the list of steps involved and one small diagram showing the centre back neck/ shoulder  and where the facing attaches. The pattern pieces are quite well marked though.

It is a very simple cardigan to sew however  so the lack of detailed instructions does not matter  but if you were completely new to sewing it would be a challenge.  

 I really like the end results - unlike some other drapey cardigans it does not have masses of fabric at the front , the fit is great and it can be styled in several different ways. Also I was very impressed by the service I received from this company - the pattern arrived the week after I ordered it and the costs were quite reasonable.I also really like the small swatch of fabric they include - this really helped with my material selection .  I will definitely buy more patterns. ( I also have the Peta Pants patterns and have sewed a muslin - another happy success !)

I hope to get more sewing done in the next month - I have been on a prolonged break from work and go back to the real world in a month. Also I have lost my nocturnal foot warmer for the next 4 weeks - my husband and middle daughter have gone to France while I stay home with the oldest and youngest daughters - sigh .We are expecting some extra special souvenirs - well they better or else !  I don`t know what the or else is yet - hopefully we won`t have to think of something ;)