Pretty Toppers - Inspiration

I just wanted to share some more toppers that I like. There are a few design elements that I hope to incorporate into some of my future sewing projects.

Enjoy!
Cennetta

Draped in Vogue 1442 - A New Summer Dress Classic

Vogue 1442

I love this dress.  Sandra Betzina is so right!  This is a terrific summer dress.  It's rated as easy, but I had to do some tweaking before I was satisfied with the shape of the side and the drape.  There is only four pieces with the main body large enough to wrap around my entire body.  It's essentially a rectangle with curves.  The other three pieces are the shoulder strap, the neck and armhole facings.


I'm continuing my little stripe challenge.  This fabric came from Fabric Mart.  It is an ITY jersey with four way stretch and a smooth hand.  Love it.

The pattern description is misses' tunic and dress pullover tunic or dress has shoulder strap and underarm stitching forming drape, mock bands, front and back cut in one, no right side seam, and stitched hem.  It comes in "Sandra Betzina" sizing A through J.  I used size E through the bust, size C at the waist, and size D at the hip to the hem.  My selection of "sizes" created a curve along the side giving the dress some shape.

The instructions were easy to follow.  It is important that you follow the construction and final sewing of the strap as you may need to make some adjustments.  I needed to.  I did find the draping of the front right side interesting as you attach the extended strap to the inside of the dress to create the front drape.


My dress does look like the picture on the envelope, with the exception of the stripes going in a different directions.  I thought this was a more flattering look for me.


I like the drape and the ease of wear.  This is a simple, carefree look.  Perfect for summer and vacation.  The dress has a sort of Grecian style look to it, which I also like. 

I did make a few other minor changes:

• 2" to hem
• Adjusted the strap at the back by 1"
• Added clear elastic to the neckline.  I was afraid the neckline would loose it's shape over time and wear.  After I sew the facing to the top of the dress, I then sewed the elastic from the side seam (front) to the beginning of the drape section.   I used a zig-zag stitch placing the elastic right next to the stitched seam on the seam allowance side.  And repeated the same for the back.  This helps the dress remain snug along the neckline, side and back.

I think I may make view A, tunic.  And I do recommend it.  Not too many people made this one.  It is worth a try.

Other thought:

I did notice that there is some blouseness at the back. And I thought of putting a couple of vertical darts in the back.  Then I just decided to leave it as is.  I can always decide to do that later. ;-)

Happy Sewing!

C

One Piece Collar Tutorial Part II with McCall 7575

Today's tutorial will illustrate how to actually make the one piece collar. I used McCall 7575 collar, which was originally designed to cut two collar pieces (upper and lower) to form the shirt collar. I folded the original collar in half, copied the half minus the 5/8" seam allowance at the edge. Read the previous post to draft the pattern.

Making the collar 

Step 1 - Place the tissue pattern on the fold to cut one fabric and one interfacing.  Below is a picture of all three (fabric and interfacing still folded in half.

Step 2 - Fuse the interfacing to the wrong side of the fabric collar.

Step 3 - With both ends together, sew 5/8" seam allowance.  This seam will be at the center back of the collar.

Step 4 - Press the seam allowance open and fold the collar so that the seam is at the center of the collar.

Step 5 - Stitch along the outer edge of the collar (5/8" seam allowance), press and trim the seam allowance (1/4").  Photo before trimming of the seam allowance.

Step 6 - Turn the collar to the right side, press, and edge stitch.  Below shows the collar with the center back seam as the under collar.  The second picture shows the collar with the center back seam as the upper collar.  You can install it either way.  It's up to you.  But for this shirt the center back seam side will be the under collar. (Note: sorry the photo is not as bright as the others.)

This is the finished collar.  From cut to finish, it took less than 10 minutes to complete.  That's it!  I hope this tutorial is helpful.

Happy Sewing!
C

Tutorial - Drafting One Piece Collar - Crisp and Sharp Corners Part I

There is always something new to try in sewing.  I have a library full of sewing books, full of ideas and techniques to try and possibly incorporating into my sewing practices. But, these days I rarely do.

This year I'd decided to try a few new things to improve and refine current my practices.  There is always room for improvement.    So today I'm sharing a technique published in Sandra Betzina's book, "Sewing Tool Box".  This technique produces perfect crisp, sharp corners on a shirt collar.  The following tutorial gives you step-by-step instructions on how to re-draft the collar pattern so that it is one continuous piece.  Part II will illustrate how the actual collar is made.

Here goes:

Step 1 - First you want to copy the collar onto tissue paper.  Include the notches.  For this example, I used Vogue 9029.  This collar is placed on the fold.  So it is only half of the collar.  If you are using a full collar, fold it in half, then trace it.

Step 2 - Cut it out and draw a line to mark the 5/8" stitching line.  Count off the seam allowance.

Step 3 - This picture show the half collar without the seam allowance.

Step 4 -  Now you want to take another sheet of tissue paper.  It should be at least 18 inches wide and 18 inches long.  Note: I double the paper to show you how the collar will look when it is cut out of fabric.  Place the center of the collar on the left lower edge of the tissue paper and trace the other three sides.

Step 5 -  Next, flip the pattern over to extend from the right end where the collar ends. Trace the three remaining sides.

Step 6 - This picture shows the two collar traced on the tissue paper.

Step 7 - Now on the right end, add 5/8" seam allowance to the new pattern.

Step 8 - Cut the new pattern out.  It should look like the pattern above.

Step 9 - Note - to show how the "fabric" collar will look, I cut the pattern on the fold.

Step 10 - This step shows how you would fold and sew the fabric collar, which has only one center back seam to create the upper and lower collar.  The second seam is along the long edge shown on the lower section of the following picture.

Happy Drafting!

C

PS - Next post actual collar being constructed.
Thanks!

Gold Stripes and Ivory Creme - Vogue 8747 and McCall 5818

I'm so happy to final post about this shirt that I made with Mood's beautiful Italian Amber Striped Cotton-Rayon Shirting.  This is one gorgeous textile.  And I'm not just saying that because I'm a Mood blogger.  This is a definite must have fabric; you should get it!

The title color is "amber", but I call it gold.  The online photo does not show the richness of the colors nor does it show the luster.  The sheen is not gaudy like some ultra shiny satin fabrics.  It's luminous with gives an air of sophistication.  The striped pattern is uneven.  At first, I thought to match up the stripes then decided to focus more on collecting the larger stripes across the sections of the shirt.

This shirt was a pleasure to make.  My review on the sewing process is here.  I decided to make a wearable muslin first to eliminate any fit or construction issues before I cut into my fabric.  To sum it up, the making of the shirt was not difficult at all.

One of the key things I noted of importance was to maintain the same seam allowance throughout the stitching process for good symmetry. I tried to play up the stripe pattern as much as possible.  The front band, side front and back were all cut of the bias.

I love this shirt and the pattern.  The third shirt is cut and ready to sew.

The pants are made of wool crepe (#300942) that I purchased about two year ago from Mood.  I'm sorry to say, it's sold out.  Mood has many other textiles available here. I know you are probably wondering, "why on earth would she make wool crepe pants with summer just around the corner."  And the answer is:  "I made them to complete another outfit worn in the Haute Couture Fashion show last month."  Plus I have my first pair of wool pants ready to wear for next fall.  ;-)

Anyway, these pants are easy to make.  I've made them at least 20 times before.  This pair I lined to eliminate transparency.  No pockets, just darts at the waist, a curved waist band, and simple fly.  Great straight leg slacks.

So, this completes my post for today.  I hope to post again before the month is out.

Happy Sewing!
C

McCall 6752 and Vogue 1355 - Two Favorites

So often I've stated that I will make something again. Sometimes it's soon after the first time I use the pattern.  And then other times it's months or even years later before I pull that "liked" pattern out again.  It's a breeze to layout the pattern onto fabric, cut it and sew without making fit adjustments.

Two weeks ago was one of those times.  I've used McCall 6752 twice before to make the same top view.  Each version paired with different bottoms gives the same top a different look, all of which I like to wear.  Obviously..,

The same can be said of the Sandra Betzina yoga pants that are paired with this third version of McCall 6752.  I love the look of these two garments together.  This is an outfit I will wear again and again.

The sewing was very, very quick.  I was able to make the outfit in less than three hours.
 

My initial reviews of M6752 can be found here and V1355 is here.

The fabric used for this outfit is from JoAnn's.  It is a crepe polyester medium weight knit.  I also purchased it in a blue.  I also, made V1355 pants to wear with another style top.  I will show them in a later post.

Parting Shot - My photographer taking a break between outfit changes.  These days, it's hard to schedule photo shoots because of "our" busy schedules.  ;-)

So that's all for now.  Next two posts will be on my mood project and a tutorial on a one piece collar.

Happy Sewing!

C