And then there were Kristin and Amy’s garments…
Amy’s Garments:
Drop shoulder, boat neck, loose fitting top.
Bias finish on neckline. 3/4 or short ruffled sleeves. First time I made the shorter ruffled sleeve and prefer the look and the fit.
I like the use of elastic for a hint of waist :-). You can do elastic on both front and back, just one, or neither. Good summer top if you like the loose fitting look.
Pattern calls for a band in self-fabric attached to the front and back, right sides, to encase elastic. Good approach for a semi sheer fabric. Instead, I used a sheer tricot knit bias tape (1-1/4 inch–1-inch would probably work) and put the casing on the inside of the top.
Armhole darts. Edgestitched and topstitched neck and armhole facings (no understitching).
Side vents and topstitched hems. High hip length. Make any size adjustments on the hip before cutting out, since there are side vents. Probably best in a solid color fabric–due to topstitching of neck and armhole facings.
I need to adjust fitting before I make this again. Not sure whether the armhole bust dart improves fit or not…..
Makes a nice two-piece dress when paired with a skirt from the same fabric–I made a pencil skirt, mid-calf length (Loes Hinse Brussels skirt OOP).
This avoids having the emphasis (the knotting) focus right on the belly, which happened for me on this make. To fix that, I added a panel of fabric and attached it to the side seams and the high hip horizontal seam. This way, there is not a gap that your eye goes to. Ideal fabric would be same (or v similar) on both sides, because the back side of the fabric peeks out of the knot. I did a few hand stitches to control that.
Kristin’s Garments:
After giving in to the obvious pattern choice (tuxedo bib and collars-duh!) Omitted the back center pleat and added a seam at each shoulder blade.
I cut backs and fronts apart to give more A-line shaping. The pattern has fold over front plackets so I a made separate placket pattern piece to keep the center front long line.
Then I cut the last 12” off of the bottom of the dress pattern for the bottom border. I probably could have done that better…but it turned out fine.
The side seams of the sleeves were widened to get the kimono style width.
The long points of the collar were the icing on the cake 🙂
All fabrics were pretty great to work with.
Used the same size I had used for Alabama Chanin/Marie Claude and it was perfect! Had to cut off a few inches from the hem so it wouldn’t show under sheer dress.
No hem-just cut off cleanly.
Made a size 16 but took only 1/4” side seams and inseams.
Used the front pocket pattern and like the construction. Got a bit thick tho with the velvet.
Zipper went in well. Contoured the waistband for a better fit. Cut off 3/4” from bottom hem and turned up 1 1/2”.
November-cohost Linda Kallio
Wednesday, November 11, Sew Inviting, St. Paul
Thursday, November 12, Creative Sewing, Apple Valley
Saturday, November 14, Open Studio, Mpls.
