McCalls 7351 shortened to a Shirt in Liberty of London Lawn Bamboo Garden

It didn't take me long to break into the new stash of Liberty fabrics.  I think I said I was planning a dress or skirt with this cotton lawn in the print Bamboo Garden Eggshell.  When I started draping it around me, though, I knew it had to be a classic collared shirt.  

I used the recently-released McCalls 7351, which is actually a shirtdress pattern, but I had it on hand so I used the pattern exactly out of the envelope to just below the bust darts, and then I used my waist and hip measurements plus a few inches ease to cut the rest of the shirt.  I made sure to cut it on the big side and fine-tuned the side seam fit at the end.  It worked out great!

I am wearing the blouse with my black Simplicity 1696 pants.  I had previously taking in the outseams on these pants when the textured fabric stretched.  I am considering removing the waistband and making it smaller and lower due to the same fabric issues.  I have to say, though, that since adjusting the outseam, these fit much better and don't bag out through the day.  I just have to make sure to wear a belt to keep them up.

 

For the back yoke facing, I used a plain white cotton to avoid any potential show-through of the pattern on the lightweight lawn.  The back pleat makes this very comfortable to wear.

 To interface the collar, collar stand, and buttonbands, I used white silk organza, a trick I really like for lightweight collared shirts (used before here).  The organza makes the collar behave.

 Do you know the trick for buttonholes on collared shirts?  Make all the buttonholes vertical except the top and the bottom.  Those are horizontal and keep the fronts from shifting up and down .

I have some pretty big scraps of this fabric.  Maybe enough for a little girl garment.  I am seeing niece sewing in my future with all my favorite scraps.

McCalls 7162 Laura Ashley Peplum Top

Well, this is not the success of my last cotton top, and I think it's my fault.

The pattern is McCalls 7162, a Laura Ashley design.  This peplum-style top was very "in" a couple of years ago, which explains why I am just jumping on board now.  The fabric is a beautiful cotton shirting from Pennie Fabrics in Sarasota, which I snapped up with no pattern in mind.  I think I should have just went with a button-down shirt!  (or another Vogue 1440.  That would have been beautiful!)

I was afraid this pattern would be really unflattering on my fairly rectangular body, but it's not as bad as I feared.  I think the reason I am not loving it is all the wrinkling due to the lightweight fabric, and maybe it is a little too long-waisted for me.  It looks like if the peplum started a half inch higher, that might take care of the wrinkling below the bust, but I think that would be an even less-flattering proportion.

 And the back is a sea of wrinkles.  I think I should have interfaced the back at the zipper with something very lightweight.  That would have taken care of most of it.  Again, though, I think this fabric is just too lightweight for this fairly structured top.  Ugh, again with the sunburned arms.

 And here is where we see that yes, this style is not my best.  It just doesn't feel very flattering to wear.  I tried it with slim-leg pants and wide-leg pants, and I think I like it with this skirt the best (I took photos of the other options, but I realized later that I didn't have a memory card in my camera - ugh! and I wasn't retaking all of them at that point).

So what say you?  Is it as bad as I fear?  Am I over-reacting to a couple wrinkles?  I think I'll wear this outfit to church tomorrow and see.  Wearing the cardigan covers all the back wrinkles, so that's something.  :-)

Kwik Sew 4159 in Moda Regent Street cotton lawn

This top is an unexpected gem.  I had sort of low expectations for both the fabric and the pattern, which I will explain, but I am quite pleased with the end result!

I purchased the fabric at a little local quilting shop during a visit to my parents this past January.  The ladies were just unpacking bolts of the Moda Regent Street lawn fabrics and all the pretty florals caught my eye.  There was much hemming and hawing on my part before I settled on a bit of this for some type of summer top or blouse.  After purchasing it, though, I still couldn't visualize the top in my head.  I really didn't want it to be too juvenile looking, and I only had one and a half yards of this narrow fabric.

The pattern is Kwik Sew 4159, which doesn't look like much based on the pattern photo, in my opinion, but I was on the lookout for something to make with my fabric, and I thought the flowy back might be a nice compliment to the soft lawn.  The sleeveless version with notched neckline looked nice, and I decided to give it a go, despite fears of it turning into a shapeless blob.

Here is the result.

 As a simple, cool summer top, I think this fits the bill.  The fabric is opaque enough to wear over a nude-colored bra with no problems, and it is oh so lightweight and cool to wear.

 It is fun and casual with my lavender shorts, but with some white cropped pants or jeans, it will look a bit more sophisticated.

 The swingy back is surprisingly flattering. I did take in the side seams about 1" each, tapering to the regular seam line at the bust dart.  This is basically a muumuu in top-form, so you do want to be sure the shoulders fit well and it isn't tooooo voluminous in the front.

  The notch at the neckline was easy to sew, and it stays put just fine.  I did not interface at all, but I used a slightly heavier-weight cotton for the neckline facing.  I machine-tacked the facing to the top in a few places and don't have any trouble with it flipping out.

 She armholes are finished nicely with purchased bias tape.  Don't mind the sunburned arms.  Too much gardening!

Again, I think this is surprisingly flattering.  It is not too voluminous in the waist area, and the soft lawn fabric is perfect.  So all in all, a serendipitous creation!

Zamora Blouse by Itch to Stitch

Kennis at Itch to Stitch* just released 4 new patterns today!  I am excited to say that I tested two of them.  This is my first time testing a sewing pattern, and I have to say that it was really fun!  It is not as much of a time commitment as testing a knitting pattern, and in addition to getting some cute new patterns, I am also just happy to help out Kennis, who seems like a really great person and a hard worker.  Ok, so on to the garments!

This post is just about the Zamora Blouse.  I also tested the Hepburn Turtleneck, which is coming up very shortly on the blog..

This is a classic bow-blouse with a V-neckline that I prefer to the high tied necklines you often see.  It required some patience because there are 8 pin tucks and 8 darts.  However, this version only took me 4 hours to make, including cutting, since I did make a muslin and knew how things work.  The only changes I made from the muslin were to lengthen the whole thing 1 inch and leave off two of the front fish-eye darts for a looser fit.

I am happy with how this turned out.  I wasn't sure how I'd feel about the style, but I like it!  It would also look great with a skirt.

Here it is tucked in.  The fabric is from JoAnn Fabrics, but I can't find it on the site.  It's one of their "silky" fabrics.  I like how it is semi-sheer, and the drape is great for the bow.  It didn't press very well, though.   

Definitely a successful blouse.  I can also see this with the bow left off, with a narrow band around the neckline.  You can't see with the bow, but this is actually a button-front blouse.

And just for fun, here is my multi-print muslin:  :-)

* FYI, all of the links to Itch to Stitch pages are affiliate links that kick back a little money to me only if you purchase something.

Simplicity 3789 for Pattern Review Sewing Bee Contest

I made this blouse for the Pattern Review Sewing Bee Contest.  I think this is the second year the contest has run, but I didn't know about it last year until after it had started.  I thought I'd give it a go this year since I find the Great British Sewing Bee so fun!

Round 1 of the Pattern Review Sewing Bee is complete and is now in the judging phase until next week.  There are 4 mystery rounds in total, with some entrants being cut after each round until there is an overall winner.  I have no idea how the judges are going to select winners.  Every blouse entered is amazing, and I would honestly feel no annoyance if I don't make it on to the second round.

Anyway, here is my blouse made from out-of-print Simplicity 3789, a Khaliah Ali pattern I've had in my pattern stash for ages.  I used view B, which has the little cap sleeves.  A long, cuffed sleeves might have been more impressive for the contest, but what's the point if I won't wear it?  The cap sleeve is more useful to me.

The fabric is dotted Swiss cotton, similar to a cotton lawn but with raised stitched dots. I bought this at JoAnn fabrics but don't see it on their website.

I rounded the points of the collar included in the pattern to give a Peter Pan collar effect.  I also changed the straight bottom hem to a shirt-tail hem.

Since my fabric is a bit sheer, I used French seams. I also made sure the circle pattern continued across the fronts.

I've been having problems with my automatic buttonhole attachment.  It seems to get confused halfway through the buttonhole and just keeps stitching in one place.  My machine is due for a tune-up anyway, so I'll get it checked out then.  For now, I just made them the old fashioned way - which really isn't that old fashioned.  I still have special stitches for the buttonholes.  I just need to control the length of each stitch section manually, if that makes sense.

Even if I don't make it on to the next round, I have a cute new blouse!  :-)

Simplicity 1462

Well, it's a bit rumpled after a day of wearing tucked in (as is my hair), but here is my new blouse glimpsed on May 4th here.  The pattern is Simplicity 1462.

 Here you can see the interesting seams on the side.  I chose this pattern to show off the tiny orange stripes woven into the fabric.  I love the little tucks in the short sleeves.  They give a little puff and are comfortable to wear, but they look more sophisticated than a gathered hem.  The raglan sleeves are a bit unusual for a woven top and worked out well.  You can also see the side zipper pull at the waistline here.

The front opening does collapse a bit.  I don't think I interfaced the opening at all - just the collar.  If I make this again, I'll add a lightweight fusible to the opening areas to combat this. It doesn't bother me much, though.

 The fabric is linen from Pennie Fabrics in Sarasota.  Pre-washing softened the hand and decreases wrinkling.

 You're still going to get wrinkles with linen, though.  No way around it.

I like the look of a woven blouse, but I always worry about the comfort factor.  I love to be comfy, and I'm more used to wearing stretchy knit tops.  As far as fitted woven tops go, though, I felt fine in this one all day.  Overall, a nice, cool, comfy blouse for summer that will work with skirts, shorts, or pants.

Vogue 1440

 This top is from Vogue 1440, a Donna Karan design that I gushed about here.  I really think this little blouse is the highlight of that pattern, not the jacket thing.   (I promise my hems match up!! - drives me nuts when that happens in photos)

The only change I made was to make the darts about twice as wide at the bottom, tapering to the bust point.  It was just a smidge too tent-like as drafted.  I think it still has a nice fluid shape while helping me avoid pregnancy questions.

 I adore the back detail.  I'm not usually a fan of racer-back styles on me, but I think this looks fine, and the seams are just really different.

Everything is finished beautifully, too, both inside and outside (thanks to the pattern instructions).  There is a fair amount of top-stitching, which you can't see well on mine since it is white on white.  My fabric is a cotton/linen from JoAnn's.  It was nice and cool to wear yesterday (it's 90 degrees this week already!)

Oops, you can see my cami a bit on the right up there. I wore this with a nude X-back adjustable bra and a cami that I retrofitted for this top by tying the straps together with some heavy duty thread. ;-)  I think I would have been fine without a cami, but the shirt was see-through enough that there was a distracting line where my black pants started.  I'll have to experiment with an outfit that wouldn't require a layer underneath, to maximize the cool cotton/linen factor.

I also like the detail of the covered button placket.  The only interfacing is in the collar and collar stand.  I used silk organza, and it lays very nicely, definitely the best result I've had with a collared shirt behaving.  I'm glad I didn't use fusible.

This pattern is definitely a "win."  I think I'll try it tucked into a skirt, also, and see if the volume isn't too much.  That would be a great, cool summer look.  It's all about staying cool on the bike rides for school pickup now. :-)