Vogue Skinny Leg Pants 8859 - The Third is a Charm/TNT

I made my first pair in 2017 (pictured above) and never posted a review.  I basically wear this pair around the house.  They are the best for working out-doors  especially in the fall and winter.  Why I never posted, I can't say.  But since I made my third pair at sew camp, it was about time to talk about how great these pants are.

Vogue 8859 

This is a Marcy Tilton Vogue pattern (OOP).  Vogue describes it as close fitting pants that has elastic waist, three construction methods for pleats in knew area, back yokes/pockets, and stitched hems.  The suggested fabrics are two-way stretch knits and stretch wovens.  Sizes 8-22.  I used a 16 with a few minor modifications.

These are super easy to make taking only about 1.5 hours to finish. The instructions very easy to follow.  Nothing confusing in them. 

What I like most about them is that they are not your typical pull-on legging pants.  They are sturdy and have some attractive details:  tucks, back pockets and yoke.  Love them and because I've made them three times, the pattern is now stored in the TNT basket atop of the other patterns that I own.

Below are pictures of all three pants side by side.  The Fabrics I used for each:

• Heather Purple double knit from Vogue Fabrics
• Marcy Tilton ponte knit from her online store
• Teal scuba knit from FabricMart purchased during sewcamp 

I enjoyed making each of them for different reasons:

• As I said, the purple ones are for working out-doors in fall/winter season. 
• The Black ponte knit ones were part of my beefing up the wardrobe.  The medium weight fabric allows me to wear them in spring, fall and part of the winter seasons.  
• The most recent pair, were made in between two dress projects started at sew camp.  They helped me through the challenges of the McCall's 7890 dress.  The other dress I haven't completed.  

I made only a few minor changes:  I extended the hook on the back pant leg about 3/4" and I lengthen them about four inches.  Because the back has three pieces:  yoke, upper back and lower back, I added  length to both upper and lower back pant legs so that the joining seam at the knee will fall where it should.  For each I did different top-stitching.  For the black I drafted a lower leg for the front and back repeating the same top-stitching.

I really like the comfort and style of these close fitting "legging" like pants.  I can see myself making them in several colors.  Try them if you have the pattern.  So, that's all for now.

Happy Sewing!
C

About Last Week - SewCamp

Gaylen and Jay Owners' of the B&B

Some of the lovely ladies at Breakfast

SewCamp was so much fun!  I had an opportunity to see some old friends and make some new ones.  I headed for Philadelphia early Thursday morning.  Andrea picked me up at the airport.  We went to get Philly Steak and fries.  Then off to JoMar for our first fabric shopping experience of the weekend.  After that, we picked up Laquana (of course, we had to bring her a cheese steak too. Lol)

Andrea

Laquana with her sewing projects

Group after the shopping

Next stop Carriage Corner for our four day Sew Camp!  Within an hour of our arrival, we were all gathered in the sew studio selecting sewing stations and pulling out projects to sew.  On Friday after breakfast, we quickly got into the van and headed to Fabric Mart fabric.  Look at the group fabric haul.

Just a few pieces from my fabric haul.

Over the next few days, we did some serious power sewing.  Everyone enjoying the process and the company of fellow sewists.  There was all kinds of buzzing in the sew studio. We were helping fit each other, doing tutorials, snacking, and talking about the news of the day.  Gaylen and Jay are the best.  Hosting a Sew Camp is a big deal.  The preparing of the accommodations, meals, and sharing a lovely studio is a lot of work.  But Gaylen and Jay never failed to make this the most enjoyable experience.

Me with my sewing projects

On Saturday afternoon a few of us decided to take a walk to the local Quilt shop were they sold high end quilter's cotton and notions.  On the way, we stopped a fudge shop to pick up some treats.  After shopping back to Carriage Corner to continue with our sewing marathon.

Lady in the fudge shop

Fudge Shop

Carolyn kindly did photo shoots for each of us on Sunday and Monday.  Each of us have a series of photos to select from for Instagram and blog posts.  I think she took over 100 pictures of three outfits for me.  Great start for blogging my pattern and sewing project reviews.

Monday afternoon, my kind friend, Andrea, drove me and Laquana back to the airport for our flights home. I love everything about Sew Camp:  the location, the hopping, and the sewing with friends.  I'm looking forward to my next Sew Camp in 2020.

For more Sew Camp stories, check out these posts:

Carolyn, Diary of a Sewing Fantatic
Gaylen, gMarie Sews 
Andrea, Knit-Knac
Laquana, Made by Laquana 


Happy Sewing!
C

V1570 In Black and White

This is another outfit that I started while at Sew Camp Spring 2018.  All fabrics purchased at Fabric Mart.  I actually didn't bring any fabric with me on purpose.  The goal was to purchase fabrics to sew while at camp and to purchase fabrics to be shipped home.  

Between the two coordinates, I was most interested in making the pants.  I am always on the hunt for bottoms that give me a little volume to help balance out my silhouette.  The drape was interesting and added just a little imaginary hip.  Looking at the model on the envelope, she reminds me of a former me.  Way back when I was a rail.  Time has past and I'm a much bigger lady.  The good news is I can sew whatever I want.

Anyway, this outfit is part of a pseudo wardrobe capsule that I kind of decided to do as I shopped the floors at FabricMart Fabric.  I like both coordinates, but I think I like them better with other pieces.  More on that as I continue to work on the capsule.  

I used Vogue 1570 for my outfit.  It is described as A: fitted top has front and back princess seams, back invisible zipper and asymmetrical hem.  Fitted pants have back invisible zipper and front overlay. It comes in two size groupings 6-14 and 14-22.  I used 14 and 16 with modifications.

My finished garments do look like the drawing on the pattern envelope.  There was nothing in the instruction or construction of the outfit that was confusing.  I did, however, have to do a little tweaking with the neckline and one of the armholes appeared to be slightly larger than the other.  More on that later.

I had a lot of likes for this pattern:

Top:

• Shoulder seam.  It's not straight on, from ear to center shoulder tip.  It curves around to the front.  That's a cute detail.
• Asymmetrical hem.
• Peak a boo front yoke
• Topstitching

Pants:

• Overlay as stated above
• Slim pant leg - easily worn with a variety of tops.  Sews up quickly.

The top is a lightweight striped cotton blend pique, which I thought would be perfect to play up the design lines of the top. It is softer than most piques that I've own/touched.

The pants is a lovely medium wool crepe.  Love, love this fabric.  I wish they had more in other colors.  I bought all they had.  Same for the pique.

There were a few challenges with the top.  I almost gave up on it.  After I made my usual adjustments, I had to do quite a bit of tweaking along the side seams, below the bust and in the armhole areas.  I think I ripped out the sleeves at least three times before getting it to a good, not perfect, state.  Once that was done, The front neckline gapped a bit more on one side.  Odd.  So I ended up undoing quite a bit of topstitching to adjust the length of the front neckline.  Truth be told after all that tweaking, I can't remember how much for each tweak. Lol  

The pants were easy.  I extended the back curve about an inch tapering into about four inches into the inseam.  At the center back, I raised it about an inch or so and tapered to zero near the dart.  The front pant does not have darts.  Knock it off!!  No way!! I added some.  Lastly, I lengthen the pants by three/four inches.

I plan to make both coordinates again.  At least one more top, for my sister. And one pants without the overlay.  It's a nice fit. After all those adjustments, I need to make them at least one more time.

I'm glad I was able to workout the kinks.  These are two pieces for my black and white capsule.  More in months to come.  I do recommend it, because of the likes I mentioned above.

Happy Sewing!
C

McCall 6886 Easy T-Shirt Dress Hacked at Sew Camp Spring 2018

It's always a good day to talk about my sewing adventures.  Especially when the sun is shining and I have at least three pictures to share while I talk about it.  This dress was finished almost two months ago. 

Finally, I was able to take a few pictures of me wearing it.  I started and almost finished it at Sew Camp Spring 2018.  On our shopping day, I decided to purchase another copy of McCall 6886 from Fabric Mart.  It was only 25 cents.  I thought it would be a perfect project at the retreat.

This is a very basic t-shirt dress pattern that has three different necklines and three different lengths.  Actually, you can make the length whatever you want.  It comes in sizes 6-22, which is great.  I think this is the type of pattern all of us sewists should have in their collection.  There are so many possibilities.  And it can be used as a sloper to create and adjust other patterns for knit tops and dresses.

I purchased this really great knit with good color and recovery.  I didn't decide to use it for the dress until we returned from our shopping day.  My project started with, of course, cutting out the pattern; then making my usual fit adjustments.  Starting with size 14, I made a FBA, swayback, and prominent shoulder blade adjustments.

Before my adjustments, I decided on the length of the dress minus the flounce that I created.

FBA - I slashed and spread the front about 2" creating a bust dart slightly rotated for a more flattering look.  Because the spread was more than an inch, I used the Palmer-Pletsche "Y" FBA.  After all the slashing and spreading, I removed some of the excess width below the  bust area.  See picture below.

Swayback - To start, I made a tuck in the back pattern where my back curves to eliminate the pooling of fabric.  Next, I created an even more pronounced curved line along the lower back area where I made the tuck.  At the hem, I added the same amount that was tucked at the lower back.

Prominent Shoulder Blade -  Here again, I slashed and spread the desired amount and added a dart at the shoulder seam.  This adjustment gives me enough room across my upper back.

The flounce was so easy to create.  First, I determine the length.  Then added seam allowance to that number.  Next, I measured the width of the front and back of the dress.  Then, I cut one rectangle for the front and one for the back.  If the width of the front and back are the same, you only need one.  Next, I made slashes about every inch and spread the tissue for the desired  amount.

The flounces were sewn together.  Then attached to the bottom of the dress.  No hemming required.

More Changes:

I used a black lycra knit for the sleeve and neckband.  To finish the sleeve, I added a band in the dress fabric.  This I thought was a nice finishing touch.  Plus it breaks up the pattern of the dress.  The pattern neckband is always too long.  I generally shorten it by about 2" to eliminate gapping.

The style lines dress were the same as the drawing with the exception of the flounce.  For me, everything about the process was pretty easy.  Even the drafting of the flounce.  This is something a beginner can do with no problems.


What I like about it?

Everything: the pattern adjustment, drafting, sewing and wearing it. I really like the movement of the flounce around the bend of my legs.   So, I'm cutting another one cut this week.

Stay tuned!

Cennetta

Carriage Corner Sew Camp - March 2018

I’m way behind on posting to my blog.  There is so much going on right now.  Today, I wanted to tell you a little bit about my Carriage Corner Sew Camp in Pennsylvania.  I met Gaylen for the first time January, 2017 in New York.  There we talked about having a quarterly Sew Camp at her Bed and Breakfast.  Great idea, right?  The first Sew Camp was two months later, but I couldn't make that one.   So, I decided to wait until after my trip to Greece before deciding when to come.

Then in January, Ms. Carolyn posted on her blog that she would go in March.  So Andrea and I immediately decided to come as well.  For me, it’s an opportunity for me to sew and hang out with some of my sewing friends. 

I came with no fabric.  My intentions were to buy from FabricMart Fabrics and use some of it to start new projects.  So our first full day of camp was shopping at FabricMart Fabrics and then lunch at a local café.  Needless to say, I bought a huge amount of fabric.  In many instances, I just purchased whatever was left on the bolt.  Besides, Julie gave us such a fantastic discount.  I mean it was GREAT!

A lot of what I bought is black and white.  Several striped pieces fell in my arms too.  But I couldn’t leave without something floral and bright colored knit.  See..,

I started on four projects while I was there:  two tops, one dress and a pair of pants.  I’ll post a full review on each later.  

Shirtings

Coatings

More Knits

While waiting for my flight to return home, I thought about how much fun I had during the sewing camp weekend.  I saw some old friends and made some new ones.  It was a very good time all the way around.  I also reflected on my many friendships born out social media.  I’ve been blogging for almost eleven years.  I first met all of the ladies through blogging or Instagram (directly or indirectly).  It’s amazing when you think of it.  How small the world has become and how social media has changed the way we make new friends.  On the last days, everyone shared their delight in all the activities that occurred in what seemed like only a few hours.  We all agreed to come back for another Sew Camp.  Some of the ladies are registered for the September, 2018 session.  I’m coming back in June, 2018 for the extended session. 

Sew Camp is a winner!  Gaylen and her husband were the best.  The bed and breakfast, two snaps up!  Sew Camp is a great way to meet sewing buddies and spend some time with friends doing what we love to do, SEW!

More on the Sew Camp on Carolyn's Blog.

Happy Sewing!
C