Chiffon Maxi Skirt

I made a maxi skirt! Here it is ~

I used a poly chiffon from lowpricefabric.com  - they have a lot of pretty fabrics in poly and silk that can be used for maxis, scarves, etc.  I think I'm going to order more of these fabrics.  I may just rock maxi's all summer!! 

This skirt was super easy to make and quick.  I used Mimi G's free tutorial located here on her  YouTube channel: link  Please let me know if that isn't working for any reason.  I'll link you to the post instead on her blog instead.

I did something a little different than she did.  Since this chiffon is very sheer - doubled my skirt and I think I may have to line it or wear some kind of spandex shorts underneath - even with double layers it's kind of sheer.  You can see the sheerness of one layer in the photo below. 

I used my Narrow Hemmer Foot on my regular machine.  I confess I haven't tried doing that on my serger yet.  I used that narrow hem for all edges - the seams, waist and hem.  The reason why is because chiffon frays.  After I finished all the edges, I made the casing for the elastic.  I just treated both layers as one - this fabric is thin enough so there were no complications there.

I popped in my elastic - closed up the waistband, gathered my fabric evenly and done!!

Mind you, this is the first time I sew with chiffon.  I didn't worry about cutting my fabric perfectly since I knew that it was going to be gathered at the waist with elastic.  It may have slipped a few times and been uneven, but can you tell?
I found some other maxi skirt tutorials that use knit as an underskirt.  I'd like to try that too.
 
Conclusion: I'll work with chiffon again and I really want to make some more maxi skirts.

Now off to find suitable tops for this :)

Happy Friday!

Happy Friday, everyone!!

I'm so excited it's Friday - my weeks have been super busy and I don't have a lot of time for sewing anymore :(   (super sad face)

So my plan for tonight is to sew something!

I've got some options:

New Look 6180 ~ a faux shirt dress since it doesn't button all the way down.

 If I had not seen Mimi G's version of this dress - I would not have looked at this pattern cover twice.  But her dress is gorgeous and I want one.  What can I say?  I try to emulate what I like - it won't be an exact copy so that's okay right?

Here's my fabric choice - it looks grey but it's really black eyelet.  I will line it with white batiste so that I can accessorize with various colors - yellow belt, yellow shoes/ green belt, green shoes/ red belt, red shoes- I mean wow!  so many options of color!

Here are my next two fabrics:

Colorful and bright ~ perfect for warm sunny weather!

This is a heavier knit and so pretty.  It has a nice texture.  Should this be a wrap dress or should it be B5211?  I haven't decided yet.  Opinions are welcome!!

My TNT pattern

The pattern I am planning on using for both is B5211 - I've used it before and it's a very simple dress to make.  I like using bright colorful fabrics with simple patterns.  I'm going to cut the back on the fold this time for both. I always use the version in blue - with a fabric belt. 

Now take a look at this:

This is a lovely soft printed chiffon.  This should be a long maxi skirt!

Ok - just wanted to show what I'm working with ~ I'm getting to work now! 

Happy Sewing! 

Butterick 5211

This lovely striped fabric was lingering in my stash.  I decided to use Butterick 5211 and make myself a fun dress.  Unfortunately, the camera doesn't capture how pretty this fabric really is.  The white stripes are really crisp and the navy and greens really complement each other.

Butterick 5211 is a simple 1 hour pattern.  Version A has a yoke front, Version B is just two pattern pieces and Version C has gathered, puffy sleeves.  I chose Version B.  It's my second time making Version B but I changed the sizing on my second version.  I went down a size and the fit is SO much better than the first (which hasn't been blogged).

I was trying to beat the rain in these photos - as soon as I stepped inside, it started to rain.  So here's my dress and how I wore it to work today.  I love this dress.

This is a poly jersey - it's soft and comfortable. 

 

I think I did a pretty good job at matching the stripes!

closer shot of the stripes

I tried to cut it so that the wider stripe hit my hip but I didn't quite measure right.  oh well, I'm still happy with it. 

This photo is dark because I was on the back porch - I left the length below my knees.  A friend of mine suggested my skirts and dresses would look better at this length.  I wasn't sure at first but now I see she was right!  

I'm really happy with this dress - it's comfortable and easy - what's not to love? 

Doing something (that should be) easy

Before I begin cutting out the muslin for the Cordova jacket - I'm in the mood to do something easy.

Here's my fabric and my pattern:

I will be making View B - the dress in blue.  I've done it once before but I didn't blog or review it.  I'll blog this one once I'm done. 

Happy Sewing!

Simplicity 1699 Jacket - All Done!

My little jacket is all done!!

I used Simplicity 1699 which is a pattern of coordinates.  It includes a jacket, a peplum top, a dress and a pair of pants.  I've only done the jacket so far.  I am so pleased with this jacket.  It was nice to get compliments at work today and that was before they knew I made it. 

I took these photos outside before the sun went away.  I hope they provide a good look at the jacket.  It's a very simple one - the bodice is lined and there are no closures.  You can add trim but I figured with the fabric I chose, it didn't really need it.  I can always add a button and a loop if I want to close it.

This is cotton eyelet fabric from Yellow Bird Fabrics in Utah.  

It's lined with cotton batiste.

(Why do I always look so serious?)  I love how comfortable this jacket is.  I wore this all day at work.

I cut a size 12. I didn't need to do an FBA or anything other than size up for the sleeves.  The 12 sleeves were too tight for my comfort. 

Maybe I should cut on the fold.  Next time I will. 

 If there was one thing I could change - it would be to cut the back piece on the fold.  There was really no reason not to, I was just following instructions.  But overall, I really like it and I think it came out cute.  I will get  a lot of use from this jacket.  I want to make more in a variety of colors.  It's a great summer jacket for the freezing cold office.  I think this one will look great with a red dress or a green dress. 

Once I was done with the muslin and the fit right, sewing the jacket went pretty quickly.

Conclusion:  I love it!  Another item to place in my clothing rotation. 

Map Yourself

I would love to do a sewing meetup sometime.  But I no longer live in NYC nor in London nor in Wellington, nor any of those other cool places were people are meeting up to shop and have fun with fabric, swaps and patterns and stuff.  I'm a bit jealous of you all! 

So I mapped myself in Vicki's (Another Sewing Scientist) creative idea to map sewers.   I'm one of the blue dots over Central Florida. 

It's really a cool idea - here's the link Map.

Simplicity 1699 Jacket Muslin - Sleeve Head Adjustment

Wow - thank you guys SO much for your comments on my last post.  I am so grateful for your comments and suggestions. I really enjoy the sewing community - everyone I've "met" is so helpful and encouraging. 

I thought this jacket was going to be easy. Ha!  I've been working on getting rid of the pouf in the shoulder all morning.
So here's what I've done to fix my problem area:

• I went up a size in the sleeve which worked great.  I have the ease I needed for my upper arms.  I'm going to line the muslin sleeve to make sure the ease is there once the lining is in.  If not, I'll adjust but at least I know what to look for now.
• I removed over an inch of the sleeve head.  I'll show you in photos what I did.  There are quite a few photos ahead.  

 I used The Complete Photo Guide to Perfect Fitting, which can be found here

Author: Sarah Veblen 

This is a step by step illustration of how to adjust the sleeve head to fit.  Basically, you fold away the "extra" and pin to fit.  I pinned and basted and tried on a few times to get the right fit.

 Here's a photo of the "extra":

See that piece that I'm holding? That was the extra amount of fabric that caused the "pouf" I didn't like.

I measured the amount I wanted to remove (less the seam allowance).

After this, I went back to my pattern. Knowing that the way the pattern is designed will not work for me in the future, I decided to trace, copy and adjust the pattern.  I learned this tracing method from Sunni at A Fashionable Stitch - link here. 
 
To trace my pattern I start with tissue paper.  I use the type that goes into gift bags - I paid 99 cents for a pack of tissue paper.

I then placed a sheet of wax tracing paper on the tissue.  The wax part goes face down.  I purchased this large sheet from Sunni at A Fashionable Stitch.  

Next comes the pattern piece - just lay down on top of the face-down wax paper (creates a sandwich)

Then I used my tracer - Easy!!

The line is faint in the photo above but you can see the pattern traced here.  I put the book right in the middle - the perfect pattern weight!

After tracing, I pinned the pleats in the tissue as seen in the photo above.  It created the sleeve head and curved just like the fabric did.  This made it easy to measure and cut.

That's the extra piece of my fabric cut out (minus the seam allowance).  I pinned it to the tissue and marked the tissue where I needed to cut.

Here's the extra portion cut off.

Here it is sewn onto my jacket. The tiniest pleat is still visible.  It still made the sleeve head jut out a bit but the fit was much better than before.

 I'm not sure if you can tell the difference between the photo above or this one.  Here I removed the pleat and just gathered the sleeve head.  I also shortened the shoulder about a 1/4" and the shoulder now sits perfectly.  I think this is a vast improvement.  

The photo on the left illustrates the sleeve head that was adjusted.  The photo on the right is before the adjustment.

Did I make a difference by cutting off the extra fabric?  Yes, I did.  The bunch of fabric is no longer there and the fit is better.   

(Sorry for the dark photos).

What do you think of the adjustment I made?  Does it make sense the way I made the adjustment?   I think I'm ready to use my eyelet fabric for the jacket now. 

Also, thanks to Chris Lucas - here's a link to more help http://www.threadsmagazine.com/item/5052/on-fitting-sleeves/page/all