Fall Projects Are Looming

First I would like to thank everyone for continuing to visit my blog. Lately I've been a little slow with posting and reading blogs. But will be making my rounds to the blogs of my favorite designers/sewists soon. Last night I finished the second (fifth) robe for Min. Ross. This will probably be the last commission of the year as I plan to make most of my Christmas gifts. I also want some time to sew for myself and DD.

On the table are two mini wardrobe garments both need to be hemmed and pressed. I'm hoping to finish at least one wardrobe before Thanksgiving and maybe two dresses for myself.

More on my pending projects later.

Happy Sewing!
C

Costume Pattern Transformed Into Clergy Robe S5386

Over the past several years, I have made several garments for Minister Ross. The commissions range from formal wear to clergy robes. In August her husband asked me to make two robes for her: one using the standard pattern Butterick 6844. He allowed me to express my creativity for the second one. ;-) For it I went on a hunt to find something a little different. As I searched the pattern books at JoAnn, I stumbled upon this costume pattern S5386.

Pattern Description: Men's and Teens' Duster. I transformed this pattern into a clergy robe.

Pattern Sizing: Sizes from XS to XL

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Yes and No. The style lines of the duster are the same. I did make some changes using contrasting fabric and some in the construction of the garment.

Were the instructions easy to follow? Yes. But again I didn't follow them exactly. All changes construction and design are below.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? Everything. It was perfect for the project. The design resembled a basic priest robe.

Fabric Used: polyester crepe and jacquard royal blue on royal blued with cross motif.

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made:
- Underlined from the neckline to the waist.
- Used contrasting fabric for the sleeves, outer collar, gun flaps, back yoke, front and back facings.



- Sew on snaps instead of Velcro for front closure.
- Reverse the closure (right front side over the left front).
- lined the gun flaps instead of forming a narrow hem around the outer edges.




- Under stitched the upper edge of the collar and front facing instead of top stitching them.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes. Minister Ross would like another robe made from the pattern.

Conclusion: This costume pattern was easy to sew even with the many changes made to transform it into a clergy robe. This is a very well drafted pattern. The pieces went together easily. An advanced beginner should be able to sew it without any problems.


My Flickr set on this project.

Kreativ Blogger Award 2009

Thanks to three lovely ladies, I have been nominated three times for the Kreativ Blogger Award. Josie, Trudy, and Ivalyn all thought me worthy. Of course, I need to tell seven things about myself. Hmmm.., I think I've shared quite a bit already. Maybe some of the new bloggers will say, "Oh I didn't know that." lol Also, I have to nominate seven other bloggers. Now that will be hard. Most of the crafty ladies have already been nominated. So hear goes:


Spottedroo
Stitch and Snitch
JTS Closet
Allisonc C Sewing Gallery
Faye's Sewing Adventure
Krustallos
Kbenco


These are just a few of the creative blogs that I follow. There are so many, many that have been nominated already. So consider this my short list.

Seven things about me..., What can I say that I haven't say before; I guess I could talk about current things:

-Going on a cruise pretty soon. Didn't make anything new to take with. Decided to finish client projects to free up my time and make a little cash. I've travelled a bit, but this is my first cruise and I'm so excited.

-Started sewing DD's wardrobe.

-Making three coats for me this fall/winter.

-Seriously thinking about going back to school. Also want to take a course or two at the neighborhood tailoring school. Can't until next year. I enjoy structured learning.

-Planning to create a line of accessories to sell.

-Planning to make most of my Christmas gift this year.

-This week I will complete my certification for non-linearing editing (CanTV). I'm one of the co-producer for the media services auxiliary at my church.

That's it for now. Happy sewing!
C

Update! It's Been A While

It's been a while since I've blogged. I'm not short on material, just short of time. Lots of things happening: church, work, and sewing(life in general). Last week was our Annual Men and Women's Unity Conference. And to sum it all up in one word: "Excellent". So I took a few days off. The media crew was expected to be at church for the duration. To top that I'm taking a non-linear editing course at CAN TV every Monday from 5:35 to 9:30 pm. It's fun, but exhausting. Work: playing catch up and major testing of two new upgrades to one of our servers. Argh!! Now the good stuff: sewing..., lots of projects under way (DD and me). But I'm currently working on two clergy robes for a regular client. This will be the forth and fifth robe that I have made for her. Here are a few shots of one of them.

Inside front. I used the "cross" fabric for the front facing. It's underlined to the waistline.

Back view. I like the look of the print from the collar to the yoke.

Back Vent. I only have the set the shoulder pads, sew on the snaps, hem and press. Then finish the second robe.


Also, sharing and teaching the gift of sewing with my DD and niece. Saturday before last we had a four hours sewing lesson. The young ladies were thrilled and did learn how to sew thread the sewing machine, sew a straight stitch, sew the zig zag stitch, and make button holes. At the end of the session, each had made traveler shoe bags.






Last week Trudy Callan and Ivalyn Actie nominated me for the Kreativ blogger award. Thanks ladies. I'll post my nominees soon. I'm playing catch up with blog reading and posting.

Happy Sewing!
Cennetta

Fitting V8555 and V8594

Not much sewing going on this week. We are in the middle of our Unity Conference at church. So at most, I thinking about the fall wardrobe for myself and DD.

Last week, I was able to fit the bodice of two dresses for myself. One was supoosed to be my birthday dress (to wear Sunday). I don't think it's going to happen. But at least I was able to got most of the fitting done. Both are sheaths. A sheath that is very appealing to me and seems to be a good match for my body type.

Here are both back views of the muslin for both dresses. I cut V8555 at size 14 with a small adjust to the front bodice hoping to compensate for the bust area. It's still a little snug. There is a slight gap about three inches from the center back of the neckline. So further adjustment is needed. V8594 was cut at size 16 with no changes. As you can see there is a lot of move across the back. At the neckline I could increase the seam allowance for a better fit. Across the lower back I need a sway back adjustment. May be increase the side seam allowance a little bit.


































Now for the front. V8555 (too much information) omitted. But I can say it's a little too snug. (lol). V8594 gaps at the neckline and is too large through the bodice. However, the upper bodice need to be length to make the horizontal seam hit in the right place where the lower front bodice in joined.

Here are the adjustment made so far.

V8555 - Removed the gap by folding out the excess and rotating the difference to the dart. Increasing the shoulder, armhole and side.

V8555- Increasing the shoulder, armhole, and side. Previously cut to include a FBA. Will also add about 5/8" to the neckline for modesty.
V8555 - Increase width of the midriff.

V8594 - Here I added the length needed to the upper bodice. I didn't address the slight gap in the neckline. I think if I reduce the shoulder seam to a size 14 that will solve that problem. Also there needed to be a slight reduction along the armhole and side.
V8594 - Sway back adjustment. The neckline through the shoulder blade area needs to be adjustment as well.
There is still a little work needed on fitting the muslin. May be this weekend I'll have time to work on it. We will see.

Happy Sewing!
C

DD's Career Wardrobe - Fall 2009

I'm almost finished cutting all of the pieces for the planned wardrobes for DD. The goal is to sew pieces of the wardrobe between the client projects currently underway. DD is pleased with the plan. Here they are.



This is the first of two Career Wardrobe. All items were cut out Monday, September 7, 2009. For the dress, I purchased a really nice cranberry wool suiting at Hancock's for $12.95 per yard. Brown/Beige Hounds Tooth purchased at Vogue Fabric's Remnant room (two pieces at $6.95 and $4.95) for the jacket and pants. And the Dark Brown Corduroy (skirt) also purchased at Vogue (stash).




Second Career Wardrobe for DD. The Violet Silk Cotton Blend is from Vogue Fabric which will be used for the dress. I think I'm going to underline it to give the dress a little more body. The jacket will be made from a wool blend that I purchased at the Textile Discount Warehouse (stash). I'm using a purple suiting (polyester) purchased at Hancock's on Labor day. Finally, the skirt will be made from a nice grey suiting gifted to me (Pauline).

I think this is a suitable wardrobe plan for a young college graduate to have. The jacket (second wardrobe) is a little trendy, but I think it will definitely work for the office. This is something that I want to do for my DD. She a good girl (lady). ;-)

So there you have it; two wardrobes planned for her among other things that I dare not talk about now.

Fall is here!!!

Happy Sewing!
C

Trying To Finish Up Summer Sewing - S2594

Pictured here with McCall's 5818 Pants




I rushed home from work Friday afternoon with great expectation to get some sewing done. I still have fifteen garments on my list for Summer 2009 projects. ...,don't think I'll finish them before the summer ends. So Friday I decided to at least make an easy knit top. Simplicity 2594 was already cut and ready to sew. So I sat down around 7:30 pm to make it completing everything except the hemming of the sleeves, neckline, and bottom. And of course, a nice hard press to complete the project.

I did finish it and was very happy with the results. Here's my review.

Pattern Description: Misses' top in two lengths with neckline variations and tie belt. Suggested fabrics were woven. I used a lightweight knit.

Pattern Sizing: 8 to 24. I purchased a size (16-24) and scaled down the 16 to what would be size 14; view A.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it? Pretty much. I was surprised at the amount of style ease in the top. I was able to make it without doing a FBA. My version does not have as much style/wearing ease across the bust area, but that's alright with me. I really like how my first version turned out.

Were the instructions easy to follow? The instructions were really easy to follow. I didn't find anything difficult or confusion about them.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern? There are so many likes about this pattern. The overall style is what attracted me to it. Specifically, the back yoke and the shoulder pleating. I also like the draped neckline. On the pattern envelope it reads, " easy to sew." That's always a like for me. Especially, when I need something quick to sew after multiple labor intensive projects.

Fabric Used: I used a lightweight knit purchased from Vogue fabrics (4 years in the stash).

Pattern Alterations or any design changes you made: I used a knit fabric instead of the suggested woven fabric. No alterations needed. Quick and easy. The instructions say to cut two pieces of the belt pattern (sizes 16-24). Instead of sewing a 3/8" seam allowance, I sewed a 5/8 seam allowance. The belt looks fine with that minor change/accident (lol). One thing to note: the belt is very long. I doubled it before tying. Instead of machine hemming the sleeves, I hand stitched them. The knit fabric was a bit of a challenge to sew in certain angles of the fabric grain. Finally, while pressing the bottom hem I burned it. The moment I knew what happened I screamed. Good thing is it was close to the bottom and I had added about 1" to length (for comfort). So I made the hem wider to conceal my misfortune.



No dislikes. It's a winner.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others? Yes and yes. I plan to make a few more next summer. This is a nice top to help build a comfortable wardrobe.

Conclusion: This top is easy to make and I recommend it to others sewists of all levels.