Thanks for coming to Club this month. Each meeting/location has taken on a personality of its own and because of that Debbie and I have our tanks filled by the end of the week. We hope you were inspired too!
Here are a few highlights-(Club sheets can be found under Club Sheets/Garment Photos above)
And finally, just wanted to show you the final version of the striped Anthropologie Dress-
(Directions for the dress can be found in the Club Sheets.)
Contributed by Carrie Diamont
This idea started after I went through my fabric stash and started categorizing by color. I found a nice gray knit and another knit that was gray with purple stripes (Debbie had given it to me-some of her scraps). The two fabrics just looked great together but both were only about 1/2 a yard or so. I’m not very creative when it comes to color blocking so I wanted to find a pattern that basically offered me the creativity I wanted with out having to think about how to do it myself.
I found Kwik Sew 3842 awhile ago and loved the lines in this pattern -I think this pattern can be used for a great slimming affect. I decided my two gray knits would be a great muslin opportunity to try out this pattern. I admit I have a phobia of wearing anything with horizontal stripes – even very thin stripes! So to counteract any girth that could be added by the horizontal stripes, I kept the solid gray on the outside to create a column effect. The pattern went together quickly-very simple- the triangles were not difficult to sew on my serger at all. I made no adjustments to the pattern. I’m very pleased with the result and I hope to play around with some other color block combinations in the future. The pattern also comes with an attractive v-neck, long sleeve option.
My husband is very supportive of my sewing, in fact he likes to hound me to make things for him. This year for his birthday, Dave asked me to make him a western shirt. So, to encourage my husband’s country songwriting and guitar playing, I decided to find a pattern for a western shirt. My husband was really excited when he saw the pattern I bought and even came with me to pick out the material. I tried to encourage him to go with a fun contrasting fabric for the yoke, but he was too nervous. However, I did manage to talk him into adding a nice trim. Of course, Dave wanted this shirt to become my number one priority so I reminded him that he could speed up the production process by helping to prep the fabric and cut out the pattern. I have to say he did a great job and even put on the pearl snaps when the shirt was finished. BTW we bought extra snaps which was a good idea- because as careful as we were – we still messed up a few snaps.
I used McCall’s M6044. It went together easily. The only adjustment I made was to lengthen the cuff (and shorten the sleeve accordingly) so it would fit three snaps. Well, Dave’s excited to wear this shirt when we go see Garth Brooks in March!
Late breaking news!!! What Carrie doesn’t say is that she entered the shirt in a Pattern Review contest and won 2nd place!!! Check it out here.
Recently in an active wear catalog I found a dress with a center panel and ruching at the midrift area along both sides of the center panel. I thought – now that’s a clever way to hide a stomach pouch! I already had the Christine Jonson Princess Wrap Top which has a center front with ruching on one side.
First I made the top to try out the fit. The fit was fine – but the v-neck was a bit deep for me. To make the dress I added an inch to the neckline to give me more coverage. I also added a back center seam which gave me the ability to add shaping to the back. In order to create ruching on both sides, initially I tried to follow the model of the pattern which – because it is gathered on only one side- the pattern bows out along the gathered side to create a nice drape on the opposite side. Well, trying to create this on both sides of my center panel piece just wasn’t a good idea. A much simpler path would have been to keep both edges of the center front straight and then extend the length of the panel to account for the gathering. (The reason my initial idea didn’t work is because it created a ‘drape’ of extra material in the front area. You don’t want drape across your stomach – that added to the pouch.)
To determine the appropriate width and line of the skirt I followed the skirt pattern from Christine Jonson’s Wrap Dress. I found the key to ensure the gathering around the midriff is flattering is to keep the ruching under the bust and not too far down into the stomach region. Also – keep the gathering even on both sides and fairly tight across the front – if it looks to loose, it looks sloppy and like extra weight. Sorry the pictures with the pattern fabric I used make it a bit difficult to see the ruching.
I bought this beautiful fabric at Treadle before leaving MN. Â It was so beautiful- and I didn’t really know what I wanted to make with it – but I knew I had to have the fabric. Â I bought 2+ yards of it and I’m so glad I did. Â I’m learning that if I really love a fabric – buy 2-3 yards because it will give you the flexibility to make one bigger item (like a jacket or dress) or a couple of smaller items. It’s similar to the theory that if you like a pattern and get it to fit you well – make two or three more!
First, I made Vogue 8597 with this fabric. Â I did check out Pattern Review first – and there were a few complaints, pretty minor, most people had good things to say. Â One person wanted more drape in the neckline so included instructions of how to create more drape. Â However, I’m very happy with the drape of the neckline and I think it really has to do with the choice of fabric. Â Isn’t that the best part of sewing – when you hit the right combination of fabric and pattern choice? I’m so glad even some of the experts recognize that this can be a difficult thing to do! This fabric works perfectly for this style. Â (One note on the fabric – I did find that it seemed to catch on the metal plate of my Elna Lock, so I had to keep a close eye on feeding the fabric through my serger.) I’ve been finding that when making knit items using Vogue patterns, if I use my regular pattern size -the finished garment ends up too big. So, for this top I compared the finished bust measurement to other patterns I’ve made and either liked or didn’t like the fit. Based on the finished bust measurement of this pattern I decided to size down and it fit exactly how I wanted the first time around. Overall the top came together quickly, nice and easy!
Next on deck for this fabric is a t-shirt using Vogue 8536. I’m always looking for a great T-shirt pattern! I know other ladies at club have made this pattern and it is a great basic fit. They’ve dressed up the basic T by adding a bit of gathering on the side at the bustline and an easy-to-hem side vent. I like that this pattern includes several options- vneck, cross over, sleeveless…great to have in your pattern stash.
One more note on the fabric, I first saw this at Treadle over a year ago, I have since seen variations at Mood in NYC, Christine Jonson online, and even a local independent fabric store – so if you like it you should be able to find it some where!
We’re told this dress looks good on everyone-here’s what Carrie, our California transplant has to say:
I’ve really been trying to hit on the best knit dress pattern for a while- but first I had to find the right knit fabric. I picked up that fun
animal print knit from SR Harris – great body, hand, and stretch. I really took a step out on the print – but figured what the heck-
animal is always in for Fall!
I had two wrap dress patterns to choose from – the easy Vogue 8379, and Debbie gave me the Christine Jonson wrap dress pattern. I did my research on PatternReview.com and it seems that there are several adjustments people have commonly made on the vogue dress – sleeve cap too puffy, skirt too voluminous, and neck facings not staying put were common call outs. By the time I got through the reviews – I’m not sure why this pattern gets such high ratings! The Christine Jonson pattern has very few adjustments noted on PatternReview, one of the most common being the length is very long. I decided to go with the Christine Jonson given the reviews. I also like that it has the knit stretch worksheet to determine the best size – I don’t know why the big 4 don’t mention the need to adjust for stretch on their knit patterns. I did like the collar and cuff styling better from the Vogue pattern – they just seem to have a bit more “style” to them. However, after trying to get a nice point at the end of my collar I realized knit fabric doesn’t really lend itself to these fashionable details ; ) In the end I’m very happy with my dress and will make it again. I do think I must have a bit of a sway back – I seem to have about an extra inch of fabric pooling at the dip at the bottom of my back. My ties are also extremely long – but not much to complain about really.
Here is my picture – now I just need some great accessories to finish it off!
We’re busy sewing for Fashion Sewing Club at the Expo. We hope to see many of you Thursday at 9:30 or Saturday at 10:15. Wear your garments so you can model them on the runway. I registered for classes yesterday and some of them were full and the hotel is fully booked so it should be a great Expo.
If you want to see us before then or get a jump on some Christmas sewing, we’ll be at Eagle Creek at 1 pm on Saturday (11/5) for Cute Skirts or serging yoga pants/leggings at Treadle on Tuesday, 11/8 or napkins/scarves at 6 pm. A phone call will get you registered-Eagle Creek-952-233-3774 or Treadle-651-698-9690.
October Fashion Sewing Club pictures are on the website-our first Saturday morning meeting at Treadle was well attended with 10 people and Dress Your Best was a packed house with 22 people! It was a great day and I’m trying to continue the momentum of managing my stash and sewing wardrobe capsules.
Well, it’s back to my machines. I’m trying to get into a Project Runway frame of mind-they get their garments done quickly, right? and everything goes perfectly? I can always dream…
The pictures and Club sheets for August are on the website under the “Club Sheets and Garment Photos” heading. If you weren’t there, we missed you and if you were, this should help you remember what you saw. As always it was good to see everyone and the weather was fine. Such beautiful summer days we are having.
On a more creepy note-some of you may have gotten an email or Facebook message from me about being mugged in London. The good news is it’s not true and I have my accounts back again (I think anyway, this makes you feel like you should always be looking over your shoulder or checking your accounts). If you sent any email to me between Monday, 8/15 and Wed. 8/17, I didn’t get it but someone else might have enjoyed it. Please resend anything so I can get back up to date. And thank you to those of you that alerted me to the problem as soon as you saw it.
Here are show and tell pictures from the Hancock meeting. Lots of fun and inspiration!
Monday night was webcast of Peggy’s blouse construction webcast. We didn’t watch it at the Fashion Sewing Club that night because it was mostly on technique and not fit. The techniques in the webcast are also on her “Factory Tips and Techniques-2″ video (pant construction is also on the DVD).
So anyway, I thought I’d give it a try and bought her #600 pattern which she used on the webcast. I had the pattern all cut out and turned on the DVD. Slow sewing was all over the letters to the editor in recent sewing mags but Peggy is out there to git ‘er done! And she delivers. The webcast was 50 minutes long and she finished the blouse-well, except for fitting darts, hems and buttons. I also got that far on my blouse. I took time out for a long phone call and paused the webcast when she got ahead of me. All in all it probably took me an hour and a half. Not bad when I had to look at the pattern once in a while to see what she was talking about. Having said that, it was fun to just sew and have her telling me what to do the whole time. That in itself was a timesaver. I had also watched her DVD once so that may have helped me a bit.
Just a few comments-She talks about sewing on the sleeve and turning off the differential feed. In my experience, all differential feeds are neutral in the middle and turned in one direction to gather and the opposite to stretch. Not sure what serger she’s using… The sleeve did go in very well-not much extra fabric. I really didn’t need much from my differential feed at all. Sewing on the collar with her method is pretty slick and I must say it looks good too. The front plackets add a nice stability to the garment and certainly is quick.
Trying the blouse on this morning I probably should have used a size 3 instead of 2. I went for 3 inches of bust ease-measuring my favorite blouses as she suggests. I forget that she has that 3/8” seam allowance so there’s no grace. The blouse fits-even at the bottom. Bust is great. There is just a bit less ease of movement in the shoulders than I’d like.
Sometime today I will watch her fit webcast for this blouse and I’ll let you know how that goes. Anybody else try this pattern and methods?
Show and Tell on Valentine’s Day! We even got birthday treats and bookmarks as we celebrated Ruth’s birthday at the Treadle morning meeting. Yet another good reason to come to Club 🙂
This month’s offerings came from a larger pool of sewists. Thanks to Cheri and Carrie for filling out the line up as Laurel improved her vision and Debbie and Kristin worked on an early tan. Thanks to all of you who attended and keep up the wonderful show and tell.
Here are pictures of most of the garments:
And a few Show and Tell highlights:
Happy Sewing and hope to see you in March!
Material Girl Sewing 