January Wrap Up

I have a par-tay to attend tonight and niece's birthday party to attend tomorrow so the sewing room might not see too much action. PLUS I am sick. This is bad, real bad. I think newly born infants have stronger immune systems than I do. So with life stress and busy, busy work and the slightest of slight illness I feel WIPED OUT. But I can't miss the party! (the owner of my company knows how to host a party!)

A little while ago on PR a thread was started about what you're really good at, and what you're not so good at. Well one thing I noted on the minuses side was that I can make myself irrationally afraid to try something.

I have had now 2 semi-formal events that I could sew a dress for but did I? Nope. And I know I can't fit the RTW dresses that I have. So I got myself all in a semi-depressed state yesterday over 1) being too fat for my dresses and 2) not just making a dang dress. But I have allowed myself to become afraid of making a lined dress. WHY? I. do. not. know. So I'm wearing a color blocked sweater dress that I forgot I owned - unless I can find a cute, sparkly cardigan to pair with this slubbed-silk Michael Kors tulip skirt I scored from the thrift store awhile back.

 

It's okay just not a party dress.

:sigh:


So this month was a doozy and I got a ton of sewing done. I cut 14 items out; 1 was a wadder and 2 are in progress.

I used up 22.5 yards of fabric but purchased 37 yards (7 yards of which were remnant pieces)

• 2 pair of Simplicity 2700 pants - 4 yards total
• 2 Burda 7866 tops - 4 yards total
• 2 Sew Simple 1523 tops - 3 yards total
• McCalls 6844 cardigan (which was made 3 times prior) - 2 yards
• Simplicity 2255 top (which had been made before) - 1.5 yards

(are we noticing a trend here?)

• Burda Style 02/2014 drape top - 1.5 yards (probably more like 1 3/8)
• Butterick 5927 jacket - 1.5 yards (not counting lining)
• Butterick 3314 pj shorts (1.25 yards
• Burda 7509 bias cut top (in progress)  - 1.25 yards
• McCall's 3830 pencil skirt (in progress) - 1 yard
• Simplicity 1699 jacket (WADDER) - 1.5 yards

Hopefully this weekend I'll get the pencil skirt done. For now it's basted together...needs final tweaking then facings and hemming. I have a black SUPER soft brushed cotton that I want to make another S2255 from. I might be able to squeak that out this weekend if I don't start feeling like death.

Stay warm!!!

I did it!! BurdaStyle 02/2014 #135A

Soooo, I posted here that try as I might, the idea of tracing off a Burda Style Magazine pattern just wasn't working with my brain. I have opened the "roadmap" of patterns, looked at it, thought "how in the hell??" and folded it up and put it away.

But I got lots of good feedback and suggestions and decided I'd dive right in with a simple pattern (well...something with no more than 2 or 3 pattern pieces) to get me going.

I have to say, I was most inspired by Kathy. I decided, okay, that sounds most like what I'd do so I'm going to go with that!

So since I was inspired by Kathy (and not inspired to make a skirt - it was -25F here on Monday!), I decided I'd make the "crazy" draped top from the February issue.

Yes, I thought to myself...that is a crazy and impractical shirt. And then I saw Kathy's and thought...wow that's pretty dang cute! And Kathy is way more pear than I am but I decided it would look pretty dang good on me too!

Then I found out that Chris at Handmade by Chris had made it and hers was pretty dang cute too!!

I woke up on Saturday and it was bright and sunny (and cold!). I spent more time locating my pieces than I should've because I don't follow directions.

"OH!", I  exclaimed, "that red 21 tells me where the pattern piece is!"

Uh. Yeah.

Now, I have a little secret that perhaps other Burda Style mag tracers already knew...THE TRACING PART ISN'T THAT BAD! Seriously! It's like the other lines just kind of disappear and "yours" is the only one you focus on!

I buy my tracing paper from Blick Art Supply in Minneapolis (HERE). I get a 24" wide, 50 yard roll for under $10. It's $15 and I have almost always had a 40% off coupon when I go. My latest coupon expires next week so I need to hurry and restock! I use my very nice mechanical pencil that got me through my last two years at the U of M and the plethora of science, engineering and math classes. I like pencils!

When I located my pattern pieces I drew intersecting lines _| at places where the pattern "turned". This helped me stay on track. At one point, navigating a curve, I had moved from the size 42 (second largest) to a size 38 (second smallest). When I didn't reach my intersecting lines I realized I'd messed up. No worries!  Just erase and get back on track!

It took less than 10 minutes to trace the pieces.

Now. What did I do next? I set them aside and when I came back I knew there was *something* but couldn't place it. And I cut the pattern pieces out. With no seam allowances! Oooops.

I decided, No Worries! It's a knit and needs minimal sa. I'll just cut them when I am cutting the fabric. I cut approximately (:snicker:) 3/8" sa and hit the serger.

Oops. Doesn't work if you sew the wrong parts together.

Luckily I hadn't cut the sleeves so that was a minimal piece of the white knit ruined. Ok. slooooow down. Kathy has graciously put an excellent little pictorial on how to do the drape. I got out this odd green knit that I'd gotten in a FM bundle but didn't love. I recut my pieces and sewed them CORRECTLY.

The verdict? love. So much so that you can't get good daylight pics...just basement pics. Because I love it!

I cut a size 42 and it fits well through the body. The neckline is too large but I am not surprised. It's wide and drapey on the model AND I have a really narrow neck/shoulder compared to the rest of my upper body. I would (if I wanted to bother) cut a 40 neckline and 42 in the rest. The sleeves have a good amount of room and aren't constricting. The top flows over the body really nicely.

It is short though. I have a tiny, tiny hem. Like I turned it up 3/8" and stitched 1/4"

The neckband was supposed to be 29 7/8". In my head I had 29 3/8" and I didn't need to stretch it really at all. So I think that it is drafted a little too long and you might want to measure and draft your own.

But I serged it in place and did a little edgestitching to secure the serger stitches.

(the hem photo shows the color more truly)

It's so weird but CUTE!

Luckily I have a short torso so there is no belly action

Even Lily looks good in it:

Sleeves were turned up 3/4" and stitched with a 5/8" hem

I think I'm ready to tackle another magazine pattern!!!!  :-D


This is what he does when he visits me in the sewing room...he serges! LOL! I know it isn't the sewing, it's the power of the serger. I am repeatedly telling him to "slow down" and it's like he's 4 all over again! :-)

But this time he used the sm too

Organization (again?!?!) and Sewing plans

I discovered a horror upon horrors...TWO patterns that are in my stash were not cataloged on Pattern Review!

GASP!

I keep my pattern stash updated there as it's easy to sort by company, category or both and decide what I should sew next. I like both sewing the popular things with tons of reviews and sewing the potential "sleeper" pattern with no reviews. So I was not happy about finding patterns that aren't in the log because I use that more often than my physical patterns to decide on a project.

So I printed out the list and will go through them sometime in the next week. I sorted by pattern name (you can't sort by 'type') because I should be able to then quickly go through and check things off.

Also, for my February MAGAM project I'm thinking a vest. I like vests...and I want a vest...My two patterns I'm deciding between are McCall's 6149 (view C) and Simplicity 1499 (view C).

I'll have to go home and "pet the stash" a bit to decide on a fabric. Definitely a dark color - you can never, ever have too much grey or black! The McCall's pattern is lined (which presents the opportunity for something fun on the inside), the Simplicity pattern is not. But the simplicity pattern has that cool asymmetrical zipper...while the McCall's pattern has a cool angled hem line. Decisions. Decisions. :)

Also, I cannot stop looking at the weird hip wrap that was a part of the 10-2013 US edition of Burda Style Magazine.

 

It's impractical. 

It's a bit weird. 

I like it.

I would make it using stash fabric...I have a cut of flannel, a cut of some heavy black fabric (twill?) that I got from the remnant bin at Hancock and some faux suede. It can't take that much fabric...

I mean, what's to lose?? We all know I am very good at laughing at myself and then moving on to something else! :)

Not much sewing will be happening today. Even though I planned ahead and picked up a rotisserie chicken for dinner tonight, my daughter needs help with precalc and when there is any sort of homework help going on between her and I, boy-oh-boy. She has already told me I should never be a teacher. ;-)

I hesitate to lay out plans because then I want to (quickly) diverge. But I'm thinking in the coming week I'll be sewing my BurdaStyle magazine pattern (that I traced!!), this hip wrap and perhaps a plain white (knit) top.

WAIT?!?!

Did I mention I scored BIG at Hancock the other day?? I happened to stop in for a Butterick pattern and spotted a knit fabric on the spot the bolt table that I liked the last time I was there for the stb sale. Well the dang fabric was $.69/yard!!! So I went back and grabbed every knit that I liked. There were no "good" wovens (I bet that wool got snatched up quickly!). And now, I'm upset I didn't grab that khaki colored cotton sateen!

Anywho, I ended up with 6 1/3 yards of white cotton knit(SCORE!), around 2 1/4 yard of the green heathered knit I was interested in, almost 2 yards of a purple/black argyle knit and about 2 3/4 yards of a funky red plaid knit for...$10!!! TOTAL!!

So expect a few white tops around here! :)

Finished Item: B5927 - My First Lined Jacket!

 I was pretty excited bout this especially after S1699 was a wadder. This jacket is somewhat similar in style; a boxy, short jacket and I figured it would be a good start before making a more traditional blazer with notched collar/lapels.

I flat pattern measured. I tissue fit

I was focused on the bust and didn't realize how far "over" the neck extended. 

Holy, too long shoulder! Yowza! A narrow shoulder adjustment was definitely in order.

That's a whole lotta excess sleeve width

I should have realized the sleeve would be difficult here...

I ended up taking a 3/4" narrow shoulder adjustment and adding 1/2" to the sleeve length. I also tapered the sleeve seam to remove some of the excess. I decided I didn't need an FBA but today after reading a lot about FBAs, I decided that while I didn't need anymore width I certainly could have used a little extra length to navigate the bust curve. You'll see that I have some pulling/diagonal wrinkles angling towards the bust.

In this post, I talked about some of the issues I was having with this jacket...the sleeves especially. I am so glad this fabric was so stable! I ripped and resewed a whole bunch of times. A WHOLE BUNCH!!!  It is some bottom weight woven that has somewhat of a denim look, from FabricMart. Lining is 'blueberry' pongee, also from FabricMart. This jacket used 1.5 yards of each which is nice.

Swayback. yes. I know. I am eager to do my bodice sloper lesson with Louise Molin. I think I need a smaller back size with a swayback adjustment and broad back adjustment. All of that excess fabric isn't just due to swayback.

See the pull towards the bust? 

The pattern instructions? Err. No. No thank you. I just did it. I used Grainline's tutorial for bagging a lining (here) and managed to screw that up eleventy times. The pulling through the sleeve is slick and I will definitely use that method for bagging jacket linings.

SO professional looking!

Don't look at my nails! LOL!

The way the lining in the sleeve works is genius! Ok, so you all probably already know this but I was AMAZED!

This stinking pattern did not include a facing for the back pattern piece and I could not wrap my head around taking the back piece and making a new lining piece and facing. It just wasn't working. I just sewed the facing/lining/jacket together...figuring the lining is so thin it wouldn't add bulk at the neckline. Careful trimming and clipping and it lies very nicely. I finished the facing with bias tape and stitched it down to the lining (before bagging).

The offensive sleeve

The jacket is comfortable and I think I'll wear it. I do not think I'll touch this pattern again. Ever.

Blog readers: Do I add a closure or not??

In the works is a simple bias cut sleeveless shell. I need more of these. I get too hot (FAR TOO HOT) to wear long sleeves under a jacket/cardigan. But I love jackets and cardigans. So I need more sleeveless tops. I am bloated enough right now that this picture almost made me cry. The shirt is hanging in my closet until next week when I am less swollen. It needs the neckline and armholes finished with self fabric bias tape and boy is it short. But the fabric is GORGEOUS (a silk/cotton voile) and I hope that I do end up loving it!

aaaaaaaand!!!!!! Hint. Hint.

One Year Sewing Anniversary!!

**Do you know what today is?**

Eeek!

Around Christmas of 2012, I was vying for a sewing machine, a Ninja or a KitchenAid stand mixer. But money was tight so we scrapped that. My husband then asked one day, "would you rather have a mixer or the sewing machine?"

I emphatically answered, "A sewing machine!".

One year ago today, I purchased my first sewing machine; a Singer Talent 3321. I had no clue what I was buying...we were in JoAnn and all I knew was that I didn't want the cheapest machine or the most expensive one.

As many of you know, I took off and haven't looked back! As a pigheaded enthusiastic new sewer, I had no comprehension of what I "should" or "shouldn't" be trying to tackle. I just went for it! So glad I did!

My mom sews, not many garments, but she has always known how to sew. She used to give me fabric scraps and I'd make clothes for my Barbies. My mom was never one to make you come and learn ___. If you had an interest, she would show you though. She didn't make me learn to cook - and hence my kids ate a whole lot of Hamburger Helper when they were toddlers. I was interested in typing (she worked as a court reporter for awhile and therefore typed ridiculously fast!) and learned to type at 7. I type really, really fast now! I was less interested -then- in the things my mom was doing and probably way more interested in what my dad was doing.

I was never a "tomboy" but I certainly didn't take home ec in high school. I did take auto shop, wood shop and some programming classes though! :) I am a very technical person and to say I pick up on things quickly is an understatement. So while I may not be very developed on the creative side of sewing, the technical side? I'm all over that!

Some things I've learned in my first year and would tell other beginning sewers:

 

 1. Sew what you want! If you are a beginner and you don't want to sew tote bags and pillowcases - DON'T.

This was a HUGE source of frustration for me when I first found Pattern Review. I DO NOT WANT to make a tote bag, I want to make a shirt!!! :) (I'm a stubborn one if you can't tell.)

2. Know your learning style.
I don't do as well with books as I do with videos. So I didn't run out and buy all the books suggested and instead used my (fantastic!) public library to check out about 98% of the books suggested. Still, most of the things I've conquered have come from watching YouTube videos.

3. Obsessive-compulsive behavior does also extend to sewing.
I have like 265 patterns including Lekala & Hot Patterns. I have 3 Burda Style mags. I have 6 totes of fabric plus some random boxes with random stuff in them, plus I've sewn a lot of things. I have bought a LOT of sewing goodies--A LOT. It was different when it was fueled with the money from crocheting...now I need to slow down a bit. So I am being more selective. 60% off notions? I am there. I almost always buy needles at these sales.

4. And speaking of patterns...

• Look at the line drawings!
• Pattern Review is invaluable but google a pattern too. Lots of people that are sewing are running a blog but not participating on the sewing site(s)
• don't overlook coordinate/sportswear/wardrobe patterns; especially if you're lucky enough to be in the US with Hancock and/or JoAnns stores nearby and catch a $1/$2 sale.

5. Oh. And Fabric...
Yummmmmmmy. Don't you just love to fondle your stash? If you are a person that shops for fabric on a per-project basis, I am amazed at you. Amazed. That would drive me crazy because inevitably I'd know *exactly* what I want and then not be able to find it anywhere. ANYWHERE. I live by FabricMart sales. I can count the number of "bad fabric" I've gotten from there. Very little. Sure there were times I didn't read the description properly or just saw the color or print or something and then....ohh. This isn't really appropriate for me/my life/whatever. I very rarely buy fabric from JoAnn or Hancock. I just feel it is SO overpriced. And I have SR Harris. I want to marry SR Harris...whoever he is. :)

6. Invisible zippers are actually not the most complicated to sew!
Sure it isn't a centered zip but it actually goes rather well if you have an invisible zipper foot and baste the zipper in place first.

7. Pressing is everything. E.V.E.R.Y.T.H.I.N.G.
I don't really "iron" and was not "ironing" (in my head) when I first started. But I kept reading about pressing, pressing, pressing. Oh my gosh. (Well, duh, you all know what pressing properly does to a garment.) I do not have an expensive iron. I have a B & D classic that is heavy as heck and gets hot and steamy.

8. Maintain your machine!
One day (I thought I blogged it), my machine went clunk. And stopped working. And I almost cried. Now I am sure to clean and oil it as I sew almost every day. Oh, and CHANGE YOUR MACHINE NEEDLES! I read a lot of opinions on this but what sealed it for me was; "new needles are a lot cheaper than sewing machine repair".  Ah. That simple sentence changed it all. Yes. On sale I can get 5 needles for around $3-$4. Yep. I'd much rather change needles more frequently than have things go haywire.

Err...I was just going along and then realized I'd have nine things so thought I'd make it a list of 10! 9 is...uhmm...
9. Sew every day!! Even if it's just 15 minutes.
VERY often I end up not wanting to go to the basement (I can't wait to get a main floor room and should have just commandeered the sunny, huge living room that we aren't using). But then once I go down there, the energy starts flowing. Yesterday I didn't feel that well and only went down to wash towels. And yep, I spent about 15 minutes fiddling with the latest project.

10. The M word...Muslins. I do not like (in my toddler voice)!
I get the WHY...I do. I just can't. It zaps me of all the desire to work on THAT project. I'd have to be making something really important to me (and starting WAY ahead of time) and of fabric that I *really* love -- like it is truly ooak (one of a kind) or cost lots of money -- for me to muslin. I flat pattern measure, I tissue fit, I go. It mostly works out. When it doesn't, I move on.


Muslin. Don't muslin. Make the choice for yourself rather doing it because you "have to".

 

Edited to add:
Sewing tools I cannot live without - and some that I know I want to get

• My spray bottle. Necessary during pressing!
• Seam gauges. I have 2 and think I need a third one. One at the cutting table, one at the ironing board and one near the machine.
• My ham. OMG why did I wait so long to get this thing?!!? I have to buy a seam roll!
• Set of clear rulers. I have a 3 of different widths and lengths. Invaluable. I need a French curve too.
• My cutting table. I would often comment that I hate cutting. No, I hated breaking my back leaning over the 29" dining room table. (the 24x36 cutting mat goes hand in hand!!)
• My serger. :swoon: It sat in a box for almost 2 months because I was afraid of it. I still have lots to learn but I couldn't live without it!
• Chaco liners. Goodness gracious. These things make me only want to sew dark woven fabrics. lol! I have 3. Two white, one yellow.

What did I *have* to have and rarely use:

• Lily, my dress form. (Shhhhhhhh! I hope to get a Fabulous Fit System this year to make her a little more useful to me)
• Rotary cutters. I have 3. Meh. I like shears better.

 

Things I'm looking forward to in my next year of sewing

1. There are several contests I want to enter this year on Pattern Review.
2. I'm going to be a contest manager for the Vintage contest!!
3. I'm going to buy a new machine this year (if you have recommendations in the $500 range, please pass them on!).
4. I'm going to keep working on my skills and tackle things I've shied away from like welt pockets (even though my practice welts were a good start!) and silky fabrics.
5. I'm going to make a lined jacket (already in progress!), I'd love to make a coat too (planned for next month!).
6. I'm going to learn to do a stupid lapped zipper and to get decent top stitching.
7. I'm going to not covet 'every cool/nice/pretty garment that I see on the interwebs'.
8. I will not buy every pattern that goes on sale. I will look at the technical lines and decide if it really is something NEW and DIFFERENT that I don't already have in my collection of 260 patterns.
9. I'm going to purchase fabric a bit more judiciously. A bit.

And the blog? The blog will continue to be what it is.

• I am not a photographer and have no interest in learning photography. iPhone pics. That's what it is. 
• I am not a fashionista - I don't know what's in or out...I just sew what I want to sew.
• I am not a writer. I am a scientist. We learn to write in short, concise, factual sentences. I have no flowy words. I write like I think.
• I will be adding my own little "feature". I'll do a little 'wrap up' of the previous month's projects on the first of the next month. I will periodically (quarterly?) do a review of how garments/fabrics are wearing. Something I don't think happens a ton in blogland but is so helpful when it does happen.

Here is a sneak peak of the in progress jacket (hope to be completed this weekend!)

 

I want to make 7,000 lined jackets now.

 

Those tiny puckers are there to stay my friends

Also...today is ALSO my one year anniversary in braces! Woohoo! This was a difficult decision to make as I had already worn braces as an adult. My teeth were mostly straight the first time and I did an okay job wearing my retainer and then I bent it. I didn't go back to my ortho and uhmm...yeah. My teeth shifted back and in fact were a bit worse off than before. They'd started rotating and doing other weird things. So at my dentist's urging, I went in for a consult (took me almost a year to do it though!). A year later, here is my own personal "Colgate" ad! :)

 

Jacket Schmacket. Work on Butterick 5927

I want jackets. Several jackets.


I was all set to sew jackets and then lost my mojo and then L (of YouSewGirl) and I were gonna do a sew-along but my mojo was lost and then I saw HER in progress KLM jacket (go look!) and decided to make a jacket.

But then I chickened out on a jacket with notched collar and lapels and all that and went to Butterick 5927



And cut it out of this denim look suiting that I decided was too stiff for pants. And then I started to set the sleeve. And then no amount of easing was working. And then...boooo!!

I started a PR thread and also L gave me some tips with the fleece bias strip as a header. So I quickly tried on one sleeve the bias strip and on the other trimming the sleeve cap.

I think I need to trim a *tiny* bit off the cap (maybe 1/4" or maybe even using a smaller sleeve size) and use the fleece strip. Here are a bunch of in progress pics

No changes:

With shoulder pad (a MUST now that I see how good it looks)

After trimming the cap:

 

(it hangs funny as I trimmed too much off)

One trimmed sleeve (which is set well) and one fleece bias stripped sleeve (which looks scary)

Soooo I think I will trim the sleeve cap down AND set it with the fleece as this jacket is lined. More later!

 

I Just Can't Bring Myself to Do It

I now own 3 issues of BurdaStyle Mag.
03/2013
10/2013-US edition
02/2014


There are tons of things I love and want to make. T.O.N.S. But the tracing. I cannot wrap my ahead around the tracing :(


The US edition included codes to download some of the patterns online - SCORE. So my pattern for the Illusion jacket is a pdf that will be taped and traced:

There are pants and tops and a skirt and a dress and I want to make them...and obviously, people make them!!! But arrggghh! I need to buy a tracing wheel and some transfer paper to make it easiest or I was thinking about doing the whole, tape the stupid pattern map to the window and trace off. I keep telling myself to start with something simple (like the skirt) and go from there but nope.

And then I actually contemplated a 6 month subscription but...I haven't sewn anything from the ones I have and *had* to get! Oy!!!

Do you use Burda mag patterns?? How do you trace?

In other news, I wore my green top (LOVE) and plaid pants yesterday. Comfortable. So comfortable! I did hem the plaid pants a little long and the brown ones a little short. I got lots of compliments after I had to ask a coworker to snip a thread (there's always one more thread than what you snipped!) and she asked if I made it. The ladies were going gaga! One asked if I took orders.
1) No. No I do not.
and
2) My very best girlfriend will track you down and make your life miserable if I sewed for you!

:-D

In other sewing funnies, when I was doing the finishing on my pants, my daughter was sitting there. She gasped in horror and actually grabbed my hand when I went to to take the seam ripper to the buttonhole. "MOM! What are you doing?!?! That's going to cut them!" She's so sweet.

I am starting to notice a pattern of me coming up with plans and then those plans completely and utterly falling by the wayside. I do want to make a jacket, I really do...but I can't choose one. I haven't revisited the S1699 banana plaid jacket but maybe I should. That affected my mojo :/

(I have sworn that I do not want to quilt and then I saw this. "I can make a quilt fast. FAST!!!" Jeez louise. No to quilting. No. No. No.)

Friday is officially my 1 year sewing anniversary!!! Be sure to check back for my "anniversary post"!

The MOST Possible Amount of Finished Items!

uhmm. I have a whole bunch of stuff to show!! Like...5 new things. FIVE! I made 2 pairs of pants and 3 tops.

Now, to be fair, the pants are my S2700 TNT pattern and one pair of pants was technically finished last weekend; well they needed hook & eyes and a button and pics. But you can't take pics during the week because it's dark in the morning and it's dark at night.

One top is Sew Simple 1523 which I'd just made. The other two tops is a new pattern BUT they're the same so...let's go!

Simplicity 2700, reviewed before...

Plaid pair: there was nary a plaid matching attempt. Nary. I was in an uhmm, mood, so I went to the cave and pulled this fabric out and cut. After I'd cut out the front pattern piece I said, Ooops. This is  a plaid. But I only had 2 yards so there was no way I could even try to ensure I matched. I just went for it. It primarily matches (LOL!) across the front and back and the side seams. The waistband? Not. At. All. I never tuck shirts anyway though...

The brown pair: Uneventful. The only mistake I made was in hemming. I might have to undo the hem because I took too deep a hem. I'll have to see how they look with my "work shoes" (which are kept in my office).

Both suiting fabrics came from FabricMart during the $2, $4, $6 suiting sale. neither has any amount of give compared to the last fabrics I made these pants from. Oops!! So they're butt huggy but that's okay. 

I serged everything before sewing, stitched the seams so I could leave them pressed open. Serged the waistband facing, removing 1/4" and then undrestitched and stitched in the ditch (I love the look and the idea of the bias binding on the facing but it's so dang time consuming! Oy!!) . I also placed my hook & eyes too far "in" and there's a weird flap at the end of the tab...again, since I never tuck shirts, this isn't a big deal. I think I'm going to make the next pair a flat front.

Also, NO VISIBLE ZIPPER!!!! Yay! I managed to do it right -and- I did not consult any source to insert my fly this time. It took a little while, but now I think I have "my way" of doing it.

ALSO, perhaps you knew this but I didn't; the zipper package has a template on it for topstitching the fly. I probably didn't know because this is what my zipper packaging always looks like:

But if you don't manhandle the packaging, you have this:

And then this:

Then, I made another Sew Simple 1523 top. You know, I had pegged this knit for a different pattern but seriously, why fuss with another knit top when I loved this one so much!?! I sewed this in 90 minutes from start to finish. I felt like a ninja warrior sewer.

THEN, because I was still amped up, I cut Burda 7866 (which for some reason I can't find on Simplicity's website now). Here's the link to the pattern on PR: 7866. I bought this pattern a long time ago after seeing some REALLY cute versions around the web and never sewed it up. Well, when I picked up that ocean blue knit from SR Harris, I knew it would become this top. How glad am I that I waited!!! I loved the top so much that it wasn't even half finished before pulling out a snake print knit and making another one up! 

So here are gazillion pics of everything! :)

***I was going to be more judicious with the pictures but I inserted them all in this weird "block" and now, if I delete one, Blogger deletes them all so...you're stuck

Simplicity 2700 in plaid  and chocolate brown wool/poly blend suiting from FabricMart 
Burda Style 7866 top in (double? Sweater?) knit from SR Harris
Sew Simple 1523 in chartreuse jersey knit from SR Harris
Burda Style 7866 top in (poly/lycra?) knit from JoAnn

I did such a good job on matching the waistband seams! And look at that blind hem!!!!

The cuteness of those giant sleeves!

"What? Huh? OH!! I'm using a PRINT?!" Uhmm yeah. No matching there.

I was getting bored

My goofball daughter. I told her I was putting this on the blog!!!!

Review for the BurdaStyle top:

Love. I love it! This top went together super fast (SUPER fast). The front and back is one pattern piece (the shoulder is cut on the fold). Then you cut out the neckline area. It looks like no adult head could ever fit through the hole that is created, but it does!! And I have a big head!

You sew the shoulder and side seam in one swoop and then attach the front and back yoke. Boom. Done.

It has very deep hems for the sleeves and top - 1 7/8". I really like the look of it.

Now, the neckband is weird. They instruct you to interface (didn't do that) the neck and then attach the facing strips. I hate facings on knits. It's weird. This has you attach the front and back to each piece and then tack it by hand. I did no such thing. There was no tacking. None. I sewed the dang thing on my machine. 

I think the top is a bit long without modifications (so if you're long waisted, you might not need to add extra length). On the snake print, I shortened the top and the yoke a bit so it wouldn't blouse over as much.

The size 14 took just about 1 1/2 yards of fabric err, more if you need to match prints ;-)

Now, I'm all tuckered out!