Vogue 1436 caught my eye when it was released. I love a good shirt and the details on this one were especially nice.
I would love to have used something sort of drapey but am not friends with those types of fabrics currently ;-) I chose a cotton lawn from Fabric Mart in "spring green".
When I pulled the pattern out I was surprised that I'd chosen the larger size range. I must have done that because of the pants...So I was stuck with a size 16 which, I normally cut a 14 and FBA. However, I have noticed that I do in fact need a 16 in Vogue patterns! Perhaps just a smaller FBA. Hmm. We will see on version 2 because there WILL be another one!
Next time I'll do an FBA and rotate the dart into the pleats (I know how to do that now!). Something went wonky with my casing for the strings. It's not noticeable but next time I'll baste it in place. It must have shifted while sewing the collar on.
See? Need an FBA for extra length over the bust. And, I totally needed a full bicep adjustment. Sheesh. And the sleeve is just a bit too long. But not much, 1/2" max.
I removed 1" from the length as a 27.5" finished back length made me all crazy. I like where it hits now.
I love the front pleats and the mandarin collar! And I did my first rouleau! yay!!! I was so petrified about that and was going to leave it out. But once again, Fashion Sewing Blog TVs YouTube channel to the rescue! It was pretty danged easy.
The sleeve closure! LOVE!!!!!! This is totally what drew me in to this pattern. Swoon. I had used a nice purple washaway marker to make all my marks and had the top ready for closures so I decided to wash it. Aaaaand of course washed away all my markings! LOL! So I just eyeballed the snap placement on the sleeves and this one is a little snug against the D-ring. The pattern called for 1/2" rings but I could find no such thing locally. I used 3/4" rings.
Burrito method baby! The pattern of course has you folding the sa and topstiching and al that...nope. I'll just burrito it thankyouverymuch!
The saga:
I decided I had to do snaps vs buttons and went to look for my snap tool. Couldn't find it anywhere. I knew I had it because I used it in February for the Burda crop top. Looked high and low. Nothing. So I bought another one. (Of course I found the first one, this morning).
Anyway, I set the 'male' side just fine and did the smaller ones on the sleeves. And then went to set the others. First one - great! Second one? All h3ll broke loose! I reset that thing 5 times. I thought I was going to ruin it! I moved on...Came back to the second one and set it. Great!
Uh oh.
I had done one of them backwards. COCONUTS!! (A replacement word my then 3 year old nephew used when I told him "aw crap" was unacceptable)
I found a sturdy pair of tweezers and popped it off. Well I popped one off. The wrong one. SERIOUSLY! Then the last snap well...I realized I had run out of 7/16" snaps what with all the ones I RUINED. Hmmph. The last snap is a 3/8". Shhhhhh. It's only 1/16th smaller, no one will notice! haha!
In the end, all is well with the green top :) It's a great addition to my spring/summer wardrobe!
*****
Next up was Burda 6911. I had 3 yards of this striped fabric so I figured it if it went horribly wrong, I could cut another one. I was feeling confident though after reading all of the reviews on it.
The front is so convoluted that there was no finished bust measurement, but there was a finished hip measurement (I also measured the waistline too for that finished width). This top had tons of negative ease but I was afraid to cut an 18 because I didn't want the neckline to be big...yet I had no clue how to add to this crazy shaped front pattern piece!
I sewed the center front seam at 3/8", the shoulder seam at 5/8" and the sleeve/side seams at 1/4" (with the exception of the sleeve hem and under arm - those were at 5/8").
I did the majority of the construction on the sewing machine. Just easier to manage all those odd seams vs using the serger. I did finish the side/sleeve in one pass on the serger...but the bulk of the work was on the front pattern piece.
I wasn't sure about it when I finished it and then my friend said that it was hypnotizing her into staring at my boobs. HA! And then my husband was holding my phone hostage, staring at the picture, and then told me to "send him the pic" and that if I "wear that out in public I am "traveling down a slippery slope". (he jests, of course). :)
I like it and I like it A LOT with a cardigan/jacket. And I will be making it in grey for the wardrobe contest.
Also, this top is LONG. Is there draft for someone 5'8" or something!? I chopped 1.5" off the bottom and did a 1.5" double turned hem.
I did an excellent job matching those seams on the front and side - yay me!!!
Do you see that line on the side view? I think now that I know that's the underbust seam, that I can do some sort of cheater FBA to get more bust room. I will also remove some of the curvature through the waist -- I'm not nearly as hourglass-y as Burda thinks ;-)
SOMEONE didn't read the directions thoroughly and stitched a gorgeous back neck band. When I went to attach the front to back I realized I was supposed to fold the back band to the inside. I didn't want that unfinished intersection so I handled it like one would a cowl. Wrapped the front facing piece around the back and stitched. It worked really well on one side; not so much on the other. I then topstitched the back with a twin needle.
The two lower pictures show 1) the front facing. So nice not to have to finish that front V! It gets caught in the sleeve seam! and 2) the twist is done by leaving a small hole in the end of this fold. Instead, I stitched the seam and stopped short of the dot; and then stitched up part of the other side so it would be reinforced on both sides of the hole.
*****
The last palooza top was one I made previously, New Look 6104. I've made it 3 times before; the first one was too big, the second was a lovely purple chambray that I had to sew with smaller seam allowances. But I didn't yet have my serger and it unraveled right through the seam. The last one suffered from bad fabric. Sigh.
This chambray is so nice. I originally got it for a shirtdress but I think it has too much body.
I like it more with my cardigans/jackets. The length is so perfect.
I cut a size 14 and did a 3/4" FBA (which I didn't know how to do yet the other times I made it!). I seem to still need more length over the bust.
I harvested a bunch of buttons and zippers during my closet clean out. I got these from an Express shirt and flipped them over so the text wouldn't show.
I used white thread cause uhmm...lazy?
I had JUST been complaining about how crap my buttonholes are lately on my machine and then it performed pretty well today. I think it's fine when it's real super sturdy fabric. Buttonholes on knits? Nope. My machine says NO.
So now I've got 5 of my list of 10 sewn, and one is being held off on til the start of the contest. I don't think I can sew the other 4 before March is out, I have to start my daughter's semi formal dress.
I'm tired. LOL!
