Chocolate Ice Cream Bonbons Summer Dress M 6559

This is my 3rd version of McCall's 6559 dress. This time, in shorter length.

The last maxi version I made, the neckline stretched and got lower and lower as I wore it. On this one, I raised the neckline by 1.5" and widened each shoulder by 3/8". I just wanted to feel a little more secure wearing this version as I planned to wear for work.

As always, 2" petite adjustment at the waist, added the 2" I took there to the hem.  As with the last maxi version, I cut size 8 but graded it to size 10 from the waist to hip and down. It is just a bit more comfortable from lower ab and hip area. I think this gives cleaner silhouette, too.

I wore it for work, indeed, with this vintage butter cream colored silk jacket.

I took it to Japan this sumner. 

And wore it with a short black cotton eyelet jacket. (RTW)

Made with a light weight knit from Marcy Tilton's. I got this fabric at this year's Sewing & Stitchery Expo in Puyallup. This fabric is so smooth, soft, and I love the color combination of the chocolate brown and the cream polka dots. Perhaps a little lighter than you'd want the dress to be, but in the middle of unusually hot summer, I actually appreciated the light weight dress.

I think that the 3/8" wider shoulder worked out very well for me.

Style Arc Susan Top V. 2

Whatever happened to me?! 　

Life!

It has been an eventful year so far. Well, that's another post. For now, I'm going to play a catch-up. Shall we?

First, a project from February. 

My favorite Style Arc Susan Top. Here's the version 2. My first one, exactly a year ago, is here. 

I wanted to make it with just a tiny bit more ease added on the armhole and upper part of sleeves this time. That was successful.  However;  

I have yet to learn much about fabric selection. This was a very light weight jersey knit. Beige in color.  So light weight that I didn't want to bother with hems of any sort.  So, just serged and left as is. 

It looks fine on my grey dress form. But when I put it on me, the beige color next to my skin made it look like it's a long underwear! Nothing I can really wear as an outerwear.

Thought about embellishment with these fabrics. Maybe an applique? 

Maybe make it a bit more cheerful. But, noooo. The shirt will forever be my inner wear, waiting for winter! 

I think this fabric would have made a beautiful cardigan, perfect for summer evenings in Seattle.  Well, live and learn. 

Please share with me your fails and learnings in the department of fabric selections.

What To Do With Knit Scraps or That Old Stained Tunic - Swiffer It!

I had to start with something cheerful and totally random. That's the birthday cake I made for a girlfriend for her 50th birthday party with an epic birthday cake candle!

I can't believe February is almost over, and today is the opening day of the sewing expo in Puyallup. My first sewing project for 2015 flopped.  (Aww. I have documented it, it's not too bad, but I didn't want my first post for the year to be a negative one, so I'm saving it for another day.)  

My sewing energy has been slow mostly due to the fact that there has been a few house projects that kept me busy. (i. e. stuff kept on breaking) As a result I'm rather cranky, not having enough time or inspiration to start a new sewing project. And then, there was the Super Bowl. (I live in Seattle....)

Well, but I don't want to stay in a funk forever. So, here's something easy and fun.

Some of you might have already guessed that I'm from Japan.  One of Japan's best inventions, I think, is this cleaning tool. Swiffer, as we know it here in US. Its original Japanese name is "Kuikkuru" (play on word, "quick"). Anyway it's great on non carpeted floors. But the refill paper cloth thingie you have to purchase is rather wasteful and can get expensive.

So my ah ha! moment came when I had my beloved but badly stained Banana Republic light weight knit long-sleeve top in beyond Goodwill-able condition. (I forgot to take the "before" photo!) 

Anyway I just cut it up.  Any light weight thin knit fabric will work.

The Swiffer base is about 10" wide so I cut it about 10 to 11 inches wide.

And it's about 4.1/2" across, so I make it about 7" because it needs to wrap

around the base.

Here, it's just the right size. It stretches anyway so it's very forgiving. It doesn't need to be the exact size.

Just be sure the fabric is stretched straight on the surface that touches the floor.

Okay, I tested it on a seemingly clean floor. Ran it once, for less than one minute.

Eek. Really? Was the floor that dirty?  You can lightly brush the dust off into the trash and use it some more, and toss it when it's 'dirty'. That's what I do.  If you are a real hard-core recycler, I guess you can wash them for reuse.

One tunic yielded 10 Swiffer "sheets" and a leftover piece which I can use for dusting or for any cleaning purposes.

Obviously you can do the same with some leftover light weight knit fabric you may have.

I recently heard that fashion/sewing industry is one of the most wasteful industries. (Yeah, all that scraps that we can't really make anything with, and all that RTW consumerism.)  So I'd like to do what I can. I love finding ways to minimize waste, making useful things from useless things.

Ok, I'm off to the Sewing and Stitchery Expo in Puyallup in the morning! (Unfortunately, the only day I can go this year. So, I'll make the best of it!) 

Happy sewing and creating! 

Style Arc Laura Dress in Dark Chocolate and Velvety Chocolate Lace, Topped with Caramel

I've had my eye on this pattern for quite sometime. I bought a "Laura Set", and had already made the cardigan the other day. 

I just love Style Arc patterns. The designs, the fit, the clean and simple directions. They assume you know how to sew, so there's no micro-managed step-by-step directions. Therefore, might not be recommended as your very first sewing project, but once you know the basics, you'd appreciate their simple directions that do not crowd multiple large sheets of instructions that are folded up million  times.

I made my usual  2" petite adjustment for the waist line.  I could have added 1" or even the entire 2" back at the hem, if I wanted it to be a little longer. This was juuuust long enough for me.

I bought size 8 this time. I bought size 6 for my previous top patterns from Style Arc. It was a snug fit, very fitted and I liked it for the most part. However, I realized I prefer it with just a little bit more ease, especially around the armscye.  So, I went for size 8 this time, and I am satisfied. (I usually wear RTW size 4 or 6 for tops)

The sleeves are see-through with this velvety chocolate lace. It's a poly stretchy lace knit with velvet-like feel. (I'm sure there is a name for it. What is that?!) I needed to cut off about 4.1/2" on the sleeve length.

For the yokes, it's the same fabric as the sleeves but I decided to line with a light weight beige jersey knit I had in my stash so that it is not sooooo see-through. It's interesting to see how different the same fabric looks with a backing. Without the backing, it shows more of the color gradation of brown to black.

The difficult decision was the neck binding. Whether to use the main fabric?

Or the contrast lace fabric that I also used for the sleeves and the yokes?

After consulting with my RTW Fasting sisters, and sleeping on it, I decided to use the main. I think either would have worked out fine. I will, however, make the neckline opening a little wider next time.  I don't have a particularly long neck, and it looks more flattering on me if the neckline opening is a bit wider.

By the way, the main fabric is a dark chocolate brown Anna Sui knit I bought from Billie's Designer Fabrics at the Sewing Expo earlier this year. The poly lace knit is a thrift store find. I still have close to 2 yards or so of it.

After taking all the above shots, I decided that I didn't like the way I finished the hems. Both the sleeves and the dress itself.  For the sleeves, the folded up hem ruined the sheerness of the fabric. So, I decided to just leave the cut raw edge as is.

I was going to leave the raw edge as is for the dress hem.  But it was already curling up. So, I decided to use the overlock stitch on my machine. (By the way, I'm in love with the #2 presser foot on my machine when I saw so close to the edge of the fabric.) 

Then, I turned it over once and gave it a stitch with this color of thread. Caramel color!

 

Comfortable to wear - that's one of my top priorities in the garments I wear. It is comfy and I'm quite happy with my Thanksgiving weekend sewing project.

Now, I'm looking for a dress pants pattern (woven or stretch woven), preferably with pockets. Which Style Arc pants pattern is your favorite? Other than Style Arc, any recommendations?  

Two Tops; M6571 & M6641

Where does the time go?! I wrote this post over a month ago, and totally forgot to post. So here it is. Better late than never. 

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Not sewing for 3+ weeks, I missed sewing.  Upon returning home from the trip, I got busy sewing immediately!

The fabric is a very stretchy cotton/Lycra  blend I got a while ago.

I took my usual 2-inch petite adjustment on the length. 

I followed the directions and fused interfacing on the neck facing, which was quite wide. However I ended up cutting most of it because it felt just so bulky.

It dawned on me that many, if not all, of my RTW T-shirts and tops don't have any neck facings. So, next time I will not even bother with it.  I will simply fold the edge inside and stitch. I like a wider neckline opening better anyway.

That was McCall's 6571. A simple boatneck T-shirt.

 I have been in need of simple tops and wardrobe builders. Of course, I could find some suitable patterns for that in my pattern stash!

Next up is a casual sweatshirt type top.

This one was easy, quick, and fun to make.

Lightweight T-shirt knit. 

With a light weight corduroy!

I've had these two fabrics for a long while, waiting for just the perfect design to show up. 

I have omitted the neckband. This gave me a scoopneck design which I like.

Again, I took the usual 2 inch length adjustment, however, it turned out it wasn't long enough, so I ended up leaving the serged hem as is. 

The pattern being unisex in size, I was expecting the extra small to be still rather on the larger side. But not so much.  It's comfy and I love it. My son wants me to make him a hoodie from this pattern so that's on my list of "To Sew".

Topstitching provided by my trusty 'topstitch machine', my vintage Snger 15–91.

A couple of easy, satisfying projects.

Happy sewing, everyone!