Fabric Mart Fabricista Fashion Challenge

 

Fabric Mart is having their yearly Fabricista Fashion challenge and I am so excited to be a contestant!! Our first challenge was to take a handmade garment that was a failed project and remake it into a newer better garment.  I decided to remake the peasant blouse above that I dubbed the Jerry Seinfeld "I don't wanna be a pirate!" blouse.

Below are the details of my submission but most importantly I need you to vote for my make-please!!- (that is if its your favorite!) over at the Fabric Mart Blog.  I would really appreciate it since there is some tough competition and I'd love to go further in the challenge!! 

 

This pirate shirt was a definite fail for me and has remained balled up in my closet for about one year.  The combination of terrible proportions, blah color, lack of embellishments really repulsed me and I never wore it.  When considering this project I thought this top would be a perfect blank canvas for an embellished peasant top.  Three things really elevated this garment from drab to fab- a dye bath, changes in proportions and embellishments.  

Dye Bath:

The first thing that had to change was the color.  I used a navy liquid RIT dye bath with one cup of salt added to it and dyed the top, lace and length of cotton swiss dot that would become the sleeve tabs.  I find the liquid RIT dyes cloth much more evenly than the powder.  The laces, swiss dot, and shirt all came out of the bath in varying shades of navy and I love the bit of contrast between all of them.  This color is so much easier to wear than the original off-white that just ended up washing my face out- not to mention making me look like someone from The Little House on the Prairie. 

 

Proportions:      

I picked apart the garment's unflattering proportions, shortening the front and back hem and creating a split hi-low hem.  I also thought that the length of the original sleeves hit an awkward place on my arms so I picked out all the elastic threads and rolled them up holding them with a functional sleeve tabs.  The sleeve tabs were interfaced with tricot and the buttons are shell buttons from my stash.  The new sleeve length now hits the narrowest part of my torso.  These two changes really helped bring the garment up- instantly evening out the proportions.

 

Embellishments:

I altered the neckline to add interest, I found the original neckline completely boring, so I notched out the center front finishing it with bias tape.  I added the lace and tassels after the dye bath, stitching the lace down with two rows of stitching to make sure everything stayed securely in place.  The tassels were made from embroidery floss found in my stash.  I glanced over a tutorial on tassels found on Pinterest but mostly winged it since I've made tassels in the past.  I also applied lace to the hemline to add interest in that area as well.    

Before remaking the top the design completely overwhelmed my frame.  I love the new proportions, color and embellishments on this top, I have already worn it out and received compliments.  Hooray!  I don't have to be a pirate any more!!

 

Simple Shift (Simplicity 4927) and Simple Wrap (Style Arc Kate)

Little sister is busy catching rolly pollies.  That tidbit loves bugs.

 Little girl really loves this fabric found at Joann's a while back.  It has pink poodles on it and I think is a twill- its a little stiff but I'm hoping with a few washes it will soften.  Its Simplcity 4927, an "Its so Easy" pattern.  The pockets are from a vintage pattern and look adorable when made with stripes but I knew she'd prefer the pink with polka dots.   

 I love the A-Line shape of this little dress, its just sweet.  The fit is really good, I used a size 6 (for reference she is almost 7 years old and I can't be bothered to go in the other room and check her chest circumference) with size 7 length.  Turned out a little long but that's better than too short.  The button at the back neckline is a pink cat.  The construction was simple and I think that this is the kind of dress I wish I could get her to wear more often- just so darn sweet. 

Now for the Style Arc Kate dress.  I have needed a basic, simple, knit wrap dress pattern in my pattern stash for a long time but I have completely avoided most of the knit patterns out there because the necklines all look crazy low cut. 
So enter the Style Arc Kate wrap dress.  It comes in three sizes when you order the PDF on Etsy and that sounded good to my ears but the only draw back is the sizes aren't nested so if you have to make size grading changes then you have to tape together a few sizes and lay them on top of each other, arggg.  So needless to say I made a straight up size 8 when technically I should've used a size 10 in the hips.  But it worked fine and I love the result!  The neckline does not plunge and everything stayed in place with the skirt today when I wore it to work.    

 As far as construction, I made the ties longer so I could tie them in the front.  I used a zig zag stitch (just in case I had to pick out stitches) for the entire construction and stabilized the neckline with 3/8 inch clear elastic.  I stabilized the hemline on the skirt and front hems with fusible tricot cut into strips.  The neckline stays in place really nicely and I don't have to pin it together with a safety pin like I do with my store bought wrap dress.   I read a lot of reviews of this pattern on Pattern Review and they all said the pattern was really long so I took about 3 inches off the bottom before I cut out the dress.  I am 5'5" and the length was just right, in fact I probably could've taken only 2 1/2 inches off and that would've been a little better.

 The fabric is from Hancock's fabrics and I think I bought it at 90% off so it was perfect to do a trial run on this pattern.  I don't think this fabric has any spandex or lycra content.  I can see one or two more of these in my future, especially a black one- oh yes that has to happen!  So, if you are looking for a simple to construct, higher neckline wrap dress, this might be the one for you! 

My husband really loves this style on me and I love it too, but I find it intriguing the style dresses that he loves me in versus the ones that I love.  Always a little of a conundrum to me!  But this is the same man who called my palazzo pants, "Hammer time" pants so I take it with a grain of salt!  That man, he keeps me smiling.  

Vogue 9109 Anniversary Dress

This is Vogue pattern 9109 lengthened to a dress.  I've been following this pattern on Pattern Review for a while wondering about finally using this red fabric I thrifted some time ago.  I decided to go for it and I think the result is pretty good for a summer project.  My motivation to sew in the summer really waxes and wanes- I love the excuse/idea of sewing a dress for my summer wedding anniversary but when it gets down to it a lot of times I'd rather be outside!  So as far and a semi-dressy/not overly involved sewing/anniversary dress goes this was a good choice.


Pattern: I did manage to make the pattern a little fussier than it was originally drafted to be by making facings to finish the neck and armscye (thanks to this review on Pattern Review) I didn't want the dress to have a bias finish look.  I also ended up shaving away width from about the bust-line down as I went and did a little shaping in the back with the center back seam line.  I used a size 10 in the shoulder/bustline and 12 in hips. 

Fabric: Thrifted red polyester fabric with really good drape worked perfectly for this pattern.  I have had this in my stash for a while and really wanted to make a dress from it but something with simple lines so this pattern was a great choice to pair with the fabric.  The neck ties at the back are repurposed from an old pair of silk pajama pants I've had for a while and have been cutting away at for a while. 

Please overlook my ant bitten ankles.  Those critter bites are so unforgiving for my sensitive skin!   

City Gym Shorts for Kids

 

Pattern:

This is the City Gym Short pattern for my 3 year old made in Sesame Street and yellow calico quilting cotton.  I love this little pattern it fits my 3 year old perfectly.  She is a tall slim toddler and there is room for a pull up diaper when she needs it but they also fit great with undies.  The has a separate waistband piece which is different from the Made with Moxie shorts I reviewed earlier.  I like the separate waistband better it just feels cleaner and smoother than simply folding the shorts over at the top.  The other difference between the two patterns is that this one does not have pockets and uses woven fabric for the bias finish.  The only construction issue I ran into was that the bias tape maker was to be 18mm and I didn't have one this size so I had to press the tape the best I could.  

 Will she wear them?
Yes, she wears them as compliantly as any three year old wears any clothing item.  I personally think they are the cutest shorts in her dresser.  I made her a dress out of this fabric over a year ago and really wanted to use it up before she decides she no longer likes Sesame Street.  I love Sesame Street and think its is adorable so Momma got her way on this one!

Prefontaine short for kids

 Pattern: Prefontaine Shorts for kids in size 5/6 years.  This is a pdf pattern and this is the second pair I've made for my 6 year old daughter.  The first pair is the floral black pair below made at the end of last summer.  Amazingly they still fit this year so I made a second pair (green) for her this summer. The pattern is pretty good, the only small critique is that there is no separate waistband piece which means that you have to fold over the top including the contrast knit bias tape finishing which can be pretty thick to fold over.  I made no changes to the pattern and the sizing is pretty forgiving considering the 5/6 fit her last summer and this summer.  I like that you use an old t shirt to make the finishing contrast tape. 

Fabric: The fabric for both pair are quilting cottons.  I am still stashbusting quilting cottons and haven't bought any new quilting cottons in what feels like ages.  I think its secretly multiplying underneath my fashion fabrics.
The pink bias tape finishing is actually an old knit shirt cut into strips as per the pattern instructions.  Its a new finish for me but it works great in using up an old t shirt.   One t shirt can yield a lot of tape. 

Will she wear it? She has worn the black pair quite a lot this summer and some last summer (takes her a while to warm up to new clothing items).  Her green pair hasn't been quite as popular but I think with some time she'll love them too.  That about sums up these shorts.  I have also recently completed the Purl Soho City Gym shorts for my 3 year old and will write that up soon since its very similar to this pattern.  The Purl Soho Pattern is a free download and I really recommend it!   

Vogue 1392 and Butterick 5982 Frankenpattern

 I completed this dress some time back but at the end of the project just felt pretty "meh" about it.  So it hung in my closet for a couple months while it waited to be hemmed and then I finally thought I'd wear it and see how I liked it.  Turns out some projects just don't always pan out like you think they will in your mind's eye but with a little distance from them you can come to appreciate them for what they did turn out to be...does that make sense to any other sewers out there?

I had envisioned this dress shape looking like this Kate Spade dress.  I tried this dress on for fun last fall while visiting Hanni in Kansas City and loved it.  So I came home and tried to make something similar. 

Fabric:  The fabric is from Hancock fabrics and is a cotton sateen.  I love cotton sateen and this one has a nice feel.  The lining is some blue poly lining given to me.  Its not very breathable but gets the job done.
Patterns: Skirt from Vogue 1392 and Top from Butterick 5982.  The top part has some puckering/stands out around neck and I've noticed this has happened to others online that have made this pattern.  I stay stitched the neck so I know that it didn't stretch out.  If there were to be a next time for this dress I'd go down a size in the shoulders, this version is a size 10.  I love the darting/princess seams here- it adds some interest and I've never sewn a dress with this darting/seaming.  Its been a while since I made this dress so I think that I graded the waist out to a 12 and that the skirt is a size 12.  The skirt is cute but I'm betting the skirt originally drafted for this dress would be more appropriate for this style.   I also shortened the length of the top thinking that I could get the waist line to look similar to the Kate Spade dress. 

Styling:  I added the belt to this dress and it made all the difference for me.  I included the picture below so that you can see the comparison.  The belt really helped define the waist in my opinion plus I wanted to wear my red shoes and two lobster pins (thanks Mom I borrowed those from the granddaughter you gave them to!).   I love any good excuse to wear my red shoes!  This dress makes a great church dress, turned out a bit too short (my fault for shortening the top part too much) for work and I only hemmed it the smallest amount possible by attaching hem lace to the edge and only just barely turning it up and hand stitching.  

Well there you go!  This Frankenpattern is finally seeing the light of day and I got some really sweet compliments when I wore it which is always nice!  I promise to be nicer to this dress in the future and instead of pushing it to the back of the closet, it will get in the regular Sunday rotation.

Linking up to Sew it Chic in a Week at Gray All Day.