Big week of Garment Sewing Group meetings and classes-

Garment Sewing Group:

Wednesday, May 10, 10:30, Ginny’s Fine Fabrics, Rochester

Thursday, May 11, 10:30, First Sewing, Blmgtn. and Fabric Swap!

Saturday, May 13, 10:30, Quilter’s Haven, Rosemount

Classes:

Thursday, 1-3:30, Sew Social at First Sewing’s new space

Saturday, 1-4 pm, Basic & Beyond at Quilter’s Haven, Rosemount

Here are the garments that Debbie and I showed at the April meeting. There will be one more post with more of your garments.

May Meetings are two weeks away-can’t wait!

Wednesday, May 10, 10:30, Ginny’s Fine Fabrics, Rochester

Thursday, May 11, 10:30, First Sewing, Bloomington

Saturday, May 13, 10:30, Quilter’s Haven, Rosemount

Debbie’s Garments:

1. This pattern was in my stash – I like wraps and I like peplums so I thought I would give it a try.

2. It is a petite pattern so no length adjustments needed. I went up a size because I didn’t want too much negative ease. Also the necklines is too low .

3. I have other wrap tee patterns to try so I will give this one up.

1. I  did make a muslin and worked hard to get a good fit. I did a narrow shoulder adjustment, shortened front, back and sleeve between bust and shoulder, cut width of collar and narrowed sleeve from elbow to hem.

2. I used light weight shoulder pads-the pattern does call for them.

3. Sewing with the leather was not a problem. My only struggle was where to use it on the collar-inside or out? Fabric matching was a challenge. The uneven plaid caused me to eat a lot of chocolate.

4. I would not use this pattern again but I really like the cut of the lining so I will keep it in my stash.

KwikSew 4069

1. Eleonore is a TNT pattern for me and the fabric feels great and a pleasure to sew.

1. Kwiksew 4069 is another TNT pattern. I added a cuff to the 3/4 length sleeves.

Kristin’s Garments:

Classic Slender Pant (worn with Butterick 6491 jacket and Vogue 9244 hack top)

Burda 7062

Gray travel fabric (polyester)

1. Added several inches-probably need a few more.

2. Sewed pants and then cut them down one size smaller. Not sure if that’s due to stretchy fabric?

3. Because the fabric is stretchy I omitted facing and zipper and serged 1”elastic to right side or waist, turned to wrong side wrapping seam allowance and topstitched down.

4. Slit has nice deep hem.

5. As usual, Burda makes a great fitting pant.

Double Wrap Top (worn with Vogue 1648 jacket)

Burda 5900

Version 1-Cotton knit, Version 2-poly knit

1. Basically you make 2 one shoulder tops and wear one over the other.

2. Version 1 has an interfaced deep folded facing. I chose to topstitch to tidy it up. The fold stretched out and the facing was tight.

3. Version 2-the facing has been trimmed off and a 1.75” band applied to “neck” edge. I like this version a lot better and could see sewing the side seams all at once to keep the shirt together. The Version 2 knit is also lighter and a better choice for the pattern.

Barry Pants/StyleArc Patterns

No stretch woven bottom weight twill or duck

1. Needed a pant to match the jacket-not quite sure why I chose something so stiff… but they still worked.

2. Straight of grain line is interesting after pants are sewn together.

Frill Neck Top

Burda 6146

Rayon

1. Straightforward blouse with bust darts and facings. Frill at neck is what drew me to pattern.

2. Frill is to pattern; hook and eye replaced ties.

3. Sleeves and cuffs were too large so cut down lower half of sleeve and omitted gathered cuff replacing with elastic and casing.

It certainly was a week of snow challenges but we came through it with lots of fun meetings and inspiration!

Here’s some of what we saw on Saturday-

Garment Sewing Group-March 2023

Debbie’s Garments:

Rosy Textured Zip Peplum Jacket

1. This is my second make from this pattern. It is a favorite. 

2. The jacket is unlined but I added lining to the sleeves. It is difficult to find just the right zipper so I used a contrast and did some topstitching to match zipper tape.

3. I am not fond of the pattern construction order so I go about it my way-complete facings, and collar before side seams and sleeves.  

Dolman Tee/Jalie 3352/Cotton Spandex

1. When I came across this knit I knew it would go with my jacket. However I had barely a yard of fabric so I pulled out my TNT go-to-pattern-when-there-is-a-fabric-shortage. It works almost every time!

Khaki Trousers/Love Notions Duet Trousers/Cotton blend bottom weight twill with a little stretch

1. This muslin was a lot of work but it might become a go to pattern for woven pants.

2. I eliminated the pockets – not necessary in a muslin but it is a great feature in this pattern.

3. I added one inch to front and back rise since the pattern is designed to sit below waist.

4. I shortened the pant length by 2 inches. I added a second dart at back and increased center back seam by 1/2 inch to lessen gapping.

5. The pattern offers a pattern piece for a curvy or straight waistband. The front waist is lower than the back .  It also has a wide or straight option.

6. I added the split hem at pants bottom – a favorite of mine.

7. Overall a good pattern that I will try again.

1. I used view A with lots of fit adjustments – Shortened front, back and sleeves between shoulder and bust. I shortened the length by 2 inches on front and back but only one inch on sleeve. The bust dart needed to be lowered and I also did a narrow shoulder adjustment.

2. I just barely had enough fabric so I used a contrast for placket facing and cut the cuff width in half.

3. The pattern has great fit instructions and options such as vertical darts versus tuck at back yoke. It has a tower placket but I did a continuous placket due to lack of fabric and wanting a less tailored look.

4. There is too much slip stitching in this pattern. There is a double yoke but no info on doing a burrito roll. I stitched the rs of facing to ws of blouse front for a clean finish on inside and not having to worry about securing the facing.

Kristin’s Garments:

1. My goal was a soft, warm, throw-on jacket and I came pretty close!

2. The fabric has a napped side and for interest I alternated wrong side with right side on each piece. This was an interesting exercise in cutting out pieces-hint: not only must you layer fabric right side to wrong side (typically it is rs to rs or ws to ws) but you must also alternate actual pattern pieces right side up and up side down. So the upper bodice pattern piece will be face up and the lower bodice paper will be face down. Brain gymnastics!!

3. I added an interior zipper pocket.

4. My February version was too big through shoulder/bust/sleeve so I cut it down to a 14 (one size smaller) and that worked very well.

5. Fabric was too thick for machine buttonholes.

Vests

Hot Patterns Fast & Fabulous Foursquare T’s/Double sided wool knit (Vee neck)

1. Eureka has a sloped shoulder line and the underarm curves out to give some shaping. The Hot Patterns vest has a square shoulder and straight underarm to side seam.

2. Neck and hems simply turned under on Eureka crew. Center seam makes vee a snap on Hot Patterns vest.

Shirt from months ago: Helmi Trench Blouse by Named-Added tucks and shortened

Narrow Legged Trousers/Mitchell Trousers by Closet Core/Mystery fabric

1. Loved these in wide leg version so had to try narrow leg. Added 1.5”-should have added a bit more to hit shoe.

2. Be sure to mark pleat marking on all pieces.

3. Fabric was linen like with a backing so kind of wonky to work with but I knew that going in.

4. Trouser facings, pleat, pocket and fly zip make a bit of extra work but worth it.

April GSG

Wednesday, April 12, 10:30, Sewing Lounge

Thursday, April 13, 10:30, First Sewing

Saturday, April 15, 10:30, TBA

Wednesday, January 11-Not the best driving but we’re on our way over. See you if it’s right for you 🙂

Merry Christmas! Happy Snow Day! We won’t be at First Sewing for serger or Sew Social today-

November meetings begin next week! All meetings at 10:30 am.

Wednesday, November 9 at Sewing Lounge, 987 Selby Av., St. Paul

Thursday, November 10 at First Sewing, 494 & Penn, Bloomington and Fabric Swap!

Saturday, November 12 at Treadle Yard Goods, 1338 Grand Av., St. Paul

Our meetings start this Thursday, 9/8 at First Sewing, and then down to Rochester on Saturday, 9/10, finishing at Sewing Lounge on Wednesday, 9/14.

Our Saturday regulars were feeling left out of our Wednesday trips to Rochester so they decided to go on their own and I figured we might as well have our Saturday meeting at Ginny’s! It all worked out-if you’d like to attend and want to carpool-email materialgirlsewing@gmail.com