Hot Patterns Classix Nouveau Peasant

We all know that sometimes fabric just has to age, like a fine wine.  Other times the fabric is owned by a lazy person, like moi, who couldn’t decide what to do with it.

After a year of it sitting on the cutting table, and having a certain relative enter the sewing room, give it a pat, and exclaim what a lovely print it was, the light bulb finally went off, and I had a “Eureka!” moment.  There was a little over 5 yards of this print, and it’s 60 inches wide, more than enough to stitch up something as a holiday gift, and still have something left over.

The Classix Nouveau Peasant Blouse had already been somewhat fitted to the recipient, so it would be a matter of simple sewing!

Based on the first top (not blogged about) I took out some of the width of the patterns, and also enlarged the neck band by 1/4 inch in width.  This helped the neckline lay closer to the body.  I also block fused interfacing to the neckband fabric before cutting it out.

That’s one of the things about challis – it has a mind of it’s own once it’s cut, and I wanted that neckband to hold it’s shape.  The bulk of the seams were serged, and a baby hem added to the bottom.

The blouse was well received; an unexpected wardrobe addition.

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McCalls: 7472

Not quite fabric scraps, the grape printed challis was barely a yard, acquired from the ASG Garage Sale back in May.  I walked past the bundles of fabric, trailing my hand along then stopped when I touched this one.  Ohhh!  Score!

It’s an old-style challis.  One of the softer more fluid ones.  The accent fabric on the sleeves and collar are also from the garage sale.  It’s a sueded challis in a bluish grey color.  The photo above doesn’t do the colors justice.  They are much more saturated in real life.

The pattern is a new one for me.  I liked the raglan sleeves so I wouldn’t have to worry about lining up a shoulder seam to my non-aligned shoulders.  I added a pleat to the back for a bit more fullness.

Otherwise there were no pattern alterations.  The sewing was very direct.  Sew seam.  Overlock seam.  Next!  I used Louise Cutting’s method for attaching the collar band.  She has a great tutorial on doing this which cuts down on bulk and insures the curves match.

Once the weather cools down, I plan on wearing this with grey leggings.

Vogue 1412: Borders

Started at sewing camp.  Completed at home.

Vogue 1412 in a lovely border-print silk crepe.  Even better, the fabric was from last year’s ASG garage sale!  Woohoo!  Like Goldilocks, there was just enough for this blouse.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve made a formal woven blouse.  Not that this blouse is for formal occasions, far from it, but that it involved more formal sewing skills.  A cuff.  A cuff placket.  Shawl collar.  Gathers.

And of course being silk, the need to finish all the interior edges  appropriately.  As nice on the inside as is is on the outside.

Expecting to wear the top over leggings, I lengthened it about 2 inches.  I also cut it on the cross grain, to make full use of the lovely floral border.

Floaty Flowery Fabulosity!

McCalls: 6076

Sooo, what’s different about this?

That’s right, it HAS SLEEVES!  But, just barely.  Don’t look inside, those armscye seams are hanging on by a serged thread.  But, it has SLEEVES.

I transmogrified my fitting adjustments to this pattern.  It’s a princess seam top, with a non-banded collar.

The fabric is a cotton dobby from the local fabric outlet.  Garment fabric pickings are slim here in Sierraville, so this was a rare find.  I like the dottiness of the fabric, even though it made my eyes cross while sewing it.

The grid also made it very easy to align the pattern on grain, and match the seams.  The back seams match almost perfectly!  Now, why is it when I try ever so hard to have that happen, measuring thrice and cutting once, it rarely does?  Must be one of Einsteins lesser known laws.  The Law of Pattern Alignment.

I did my usual funky facing using some scraps of quilting cotton.  Black with little red roses for the front facing, under collar and sleeve hem.

I had thought to add buttons.  Since the fabric is a bit thick, I may just wear it as a topper over colored tanks.  That will be nice when out after dark, and the temps cool down.

Butterick 6026: Second Verse

Not quite the same as the first.

Another rendition of the multi-tucked, FBA’d woven blouse.  My very own frankenpattern, if you will.

I thought I had all the fitting kinks worked out when I cut this and took it to Sewing Camp.  As you can see it is sleeveless, just like the first one.

Confession:  I didn’t have all the fitting issues worked out as well as I thought I had.  Hence, no sleeves.

BUT (and that is a large hopeful but) I think I have now.  Will blouse #3 have sleeves?  If it does, will I be able to move my arms?  We shall have to wait and see.

I did my usual styling, making the under collar and collar band in a different fabric. I like doing this – the underside peeks out, and provides a little extra something-or-other.  Hey, it’s my blouse, it makes me smile.  That’s enough for me.

The armholes are hemmed using a baby hem.  Instead of buttons I applied snaps.

The fabric is…ancient.  I have no idea where I got it.  It’s been in the stash for decades.  Literally decades.  I think it may even have moved to Cactusville with me, way back when.  It is that old.  A very soft cotton with a sheeting feel to it.

Butterick 6026

The end result of the FBA Frankenpattern saga.

And…It Fits!

This was my test garment, to see how all those changes would work out.

I cut out the sleeves, intending to have this be a 3/4 sleeve blouse.  As you can see, that didn’t happen.  Tweak as I might I couldn’t get enough room across the back.

Rather than toss the whole thing and start over, I decided to make the blouse sleeveless.  Given the fabric is a lovely cotton voile, this was probably a good decision.  It will be cool and comfy during summer.  No one but me (and you!) needs to know the sleevelessness (is that a word?) is the result of a Miss Fitting opportunity.

I may take the collar stand down a bit in the next version too.  I haven’t worn a button-up shirt in so long that it felt odd against the back of my neck.

Another thought noodle – I may highlight the tucks radiating from the neckline with some yellow beads.  I think that would make them stand out  more.

McCalls: 6076

This shirt has been cut out since Sewing Camp, back in April.

I think that makes it one of the longest running garment UFOs I’ve had in quite a while.

It is finally finished! And I am ever so glad.

It’s been a very long time since I’ve made a woven top/blouse for myself, which no doubt goes a ways to explaining why this took so long.  It had to be fitted, as in make-a-muslin, and I was just not in the mood for fitting.  I was in the mood for sewing!

The Pattern: is one of the Palmer Pletsch designs.  These are pretty good patterns – they have all sorts of fitting tips and directions on how to change the pattern to achieve the fit or your dreams.  With this shirt, either my comprehension was missing, or my dreams were of the hallucinatory variety, because the fit was way off!

The Fit: Following the sizing instructions, I cut a 14, forgetting that McCall patterns tend to run large.  Then I had to scale it back to a 12 with sewing, taking in the seams.  If I didn’t like the lines of the pattern so much, it would have been a wadder at this point!

Next up was messing around with the sleeve cap.  There was 2.5 inches of sleeve ease I was supposed to fit into the armscye.  That seemed like too much, so I lopped a bit off the sleeve cap, and took in the center seam as well.  Not perfect, but better.

Sewing: Of course, since I was doing all this fit-as-you-sew business, I wasn’t reading the instructions, so had to re-do the collar.  Twice!  Operator error, indeed.  Lastly, the button holes became a disaster.  Enterprise, my trusty sewing machine, decided she absolutely, positively did not want to sew the right-side leg of the button hole.  Skipped stitches.  Thread nests.  There was no change in fabric or interfacing between one side of the button hole and the other; Enterprise was on strike!

I finally pulled out my old mechanical machine to finish the top.  Surprisingly, I had forgotten what nice button holes it makes.

Enterprise is in the shop for a check-up.  I have a new blouse pattern.  Ta Da!