A Great Basic Knit Dress

So many people have made McCall's 6886, including me.  You can see my version HERE and there is a lot of love on the internet for this pattern which you can find with a quick Google search.  There's good reason why so many love 6886... it has just a few pattern pieces, the fit is forgiving, and it can be made up in a variety of knits.  All good reasons to sew it up.

But I think I have found a new favorite knit dress and I will tell you why!  But first here is the dress in action...

McCall's 6355 is such an unassuming little pattern.  Looking at the cover may potentially be off-putting since it is slightly dated from all the other pattern covers.  Another reason you might pick it up and then discard it is the back line art.
Side note: I always examine the line art of a pattern because it gives you a clean slate (no busy fabric patterns to distract you) to study.

The back line art on this pattern really short changes the pattern because it doesn't include the optional bodice darts built into the pattern for additional fitting adjustments (you can see the bust darts but not the other four darts included).



If you read the pattern description on the back it does mention the darts but if you are like me, very visual, you might look at the drawing and completely miss this important detail.  Another awesome feature of this pattern is that it is made for wovens and knits.
Disclaimer: I have not made it up in wovens so I can't speak to exactly how it behaves with wovens but is a great idea and very intriguing to me.

Another feature of this pattern are the neckline and armscye finishing.  There are specific pattern pieces for those finishes and I always appreciate their inclusion in a pattern since it means I don't have to fiddle with figuring it out myself.  BTW I always shorten those pieces for a closer fit around the neck an arm on all big four patterns.

But wait!! There's more!  One more thing about this pattern that I love is that it is a Palmer/Pletsch pattern.  Palmer/Pletsch patterns always include extra fitting lines/adjustments already drawn on the pattern.  I love this detail since I almost always have to make a small sway back adjustment and its already on the pattern, I just fold it out!

For those of you who are curious about the comparison between 6886 and the above 6355, here is the line art for the 6886 (below) and you can see there are no darts on this pattern, that's part of the reason why it is great for beginner knit sewists.  Also the lack of darts on 6886 makes it great for knits with patterns that you don't want broken up with darts (the dress I made here is a perfect example since bodice dart would interrupt the cute aztec print).



So if you are pattern shopping soon maybe you will give 6355 a second glance, its a great alternative to 6886 and IMHO there's just more bang for your buck, or your buck plus .99, depending on the sale.

The fabric I used for mine is a Fabric Mart jacquard double knit and worked perfectly.  The consistency of the fabric masks any lumps or bumps and is very comfortable to wear.  The scattered print also works great since it masks the darts.  I love the fit of this dress, it is figure flattering in that it doesn't cling but still is shaped closely enough to look good.

Ok that's my infomercial for this pattern, hope it was helpful or gave you some ideas for your own projects!  If you are interested I wrote up an entire post on the Fabric Mart Fabricista's blog with a variety of Spring separates. You can read that HERE.

Happy Stitching!

Elizabeth

J. Crew Knock Off Easter Dress

Pattern Review has a great contest running right now called Barganista Fashionista.  Its a knock off contest where you are required to make your own bargain based version of a pricier garment.  Now I realize that there are far more expensive dresses I could have attempted to knock off and that you could probably buy something cheaper than my version at a big mall sale but for me, sewing is that opportunity to craft something with your own two hands using higher quality fabric than can be bought at the mall and most importantly it is the embodiment of creative expression that comes as a result of planning, cutting, stitching, imagining.

The inspiration for this dress came when I saw this J. Crew dress in a magazine last summer I loved the design, it had several elements I love in a dress.  The mock wrap front, pleated skirt, pockets, and waist tie.  I have learned that although I could probably have bought this dress at some point online and on sale, I could guarantee that the store bought version would never fit me like my me-made version.  Sooo when Butterick released pattern 6446 I knew it would be a great Easter dress!!  Yippee!

The printed fabric is from Fabric Mart last spring.  It was deeply discounted if I remember correctly.  Its a cotton/linen gauze and is super sheer.  Its also so well behaved, it pressed beautifully and was not slippery or unruly when handling like a silk or chiffon, so it was a pleasure to work with as far as sheer fabrics go. I underlined the entire garment with cotton poplin from Hobby Lobby.  I don't often, if hardly ever, buy apparel fabrics from Hobby Lobby but this poplin worked beautifully.  It gives the skirt an element of fullness that it needs and the structure necessary to support the gauze.

A few notes on the pattern.  I had to fiddle with the armscye a bit and used the tissue fitting method to get a good idea of the changes necessary for a good fit.  Now normally I don't have to fiddle with the armscye drafting in big four patterns but I don't know, this one needed to be lowered a bit and shaved off a bit more than my normal for narrow shoulders.  Looking at the back picture I think that back arm area could use some more shaving off and shaping too, just looks too wide back there for my taste.  

Other minor pattern changes included a small dart at the back neckline, sway back dart, grading that I always have to do for my sizing, 8 shoulders (smaller in this case), 10 bust, 12 waist, 14 hips.   

I am soooo glad I finished this in time to coordinate with the girlies this Easter!  I finished their dresses earlier and was really hoping to finish mine so we can be all matchy matchy :)  Can't wait to take pictures with them in their dresses too especially since the 4 year old LOVES her dress soooo much and asks to wear it every day :) makes my Momma heart smile.

Ok well that sums it all up for me time to go enjoy some sunshine!

Happy sewing!

And thanks for reading!

Elizabeth 

Flint, Lark and Lisette

For the past couple of years I have tried to sew garments that I can get a lot of versatile wear from.  I love making unique, one of a kind pieces but at the end of the day I must have a basic wardrobe back drop to pair those unique pieces with! 

Here enters patterns like the following three...

Megan Nielsen Flint pant:

I was a pattern tester for Megan this fall and sewed her pants up in a drapey poly/lycra suiting from my stash.  I was unsure about the volume of these pants but after putting them on and taking pictures I loved them.  They are so comfortable and my very favorite feature is the waistband closure.  There's no zipper, the closure in incorporated into the pocket and is so clever.  

I am 5'5" and was a little skeptical about the length of these, they turned out not quite long enough or not quite short enough based on your perspective but in the final draft Megan ended up shortening this length by a couple of inches based on tester feed back.

The pattern includes a shorts version and a version with a cute tie at the waist, I am hopeful that I can complete a pair in rayon for this summer. I think they will be super comfortable and with the high waistband I can wear shorter tops without the dreaded belly flash potential!!

Grainline Lark:

This is a simple tee, and the pictures pretty much do the talking.  Its longer in length, a touch too long for my taste so I will probably shorten in the future but that is such a simple fix it hardly warrants mentioning. 

The fabric is from FabricMart and was one of the wonderful pre-cut rayon/lycra lengths.  If you haven't discovered their pre-cuts, you might want to check them out.  They are so affordable and I am always in need of inexpensive knits for my girls.

Lisette Butterick 6183:

I am a fan of Liesl Gibson's Lisette Butterick patterns and this is another great one.  I made this top up in a left over length of ponte that did not have a lot of stretch.  It is a great fitting top.  I made my usual grading between sizes changes and thats it.  The pieces go together beautifully and the instructions so good.  

Butterick 6260:

One more thing to mention.  I am pretty proud of how my March project for Fabric Mart turned out and wanted to include some of those pictures here.

I did a big write-up over on their blog which included stripe matching tips and you can find that HERE.

This was a project that took a lot of hours but was worth it in the end.  I learned a lot about the guts of a semi tailored jacket in the process and made up some of my own rules as I went.  I highly recommend Palmer Pletsch's "Jackets for Real People" if you are new to tailoring.  They have a super practical, logical approach to the process which I so appreciate.

The pattern is Liesl Gibson's Butterick 6260 and its worth noting that this is a VERY fitted jacket so you may want to muslin it first.  I usually have to do a narrow shoulder adjustment for all major pattern company patterns but for this one it was unnecessary with the very fitted cut.  There are lots of fitting lines in the bodice of the pattern so that helps in fitting your waist.

Well that's a quick round up from me on a few pieces I've made!

Thanks for reading! 

Elizabeth

A Clean Slate

I bet I am not the only one who starts a project, is excited about the potential, cuts out the pattern, cuts out the fabric and then for some reason can't find the umph to complete it?  Yeah, you do it too?  Good now I know I'm not the only one! 

The three projects in this post were all UFO's (UnFinished Objects).  They've been lurking in my sewing closet taking up precious space in said closet as well as in the back of my mind.  So it really was time to either part ways with them or complete them!

There is nothing that gives me a good push like a sewing competition.  I guess the thought that there is a deadline and others are also working toward a similar goal inspires me to complete a project- and it can be so.hard.to.restart.a.project!  Pattern Review held a UFO contest this past month and that was enough to get my sewjo back.

UFO #1:

This dress is out-of-print Butterick 5947.  I used this pattern last winter to make this dress and then frankenpatterned the bodice from this pattern to the skirt of another resulting in this dress.  Its a solid little pattern for a sheath dress.  The princess seaming is so helpful with fitting.  

Fabric and construction where similar to the dress made last winter.  The black wool is from a FabricMart make and the herringbone tweed was a purchase from Hancock fabrics back when.  The lining is a mixture of bemberg and poly in the sleeves because when you cut something out a year ago and forget about it you also forget that you did not cut out all the lining pieces...argh! 

In the picture below I am showing the hong kong seams used to finish the armscye, this is done because I don't like the feeling of wool against my skin, so itchy.  I used an invisible zipper which I had a devil of a time installing for some reason.  I just couldn't get everything to line up so after three attempts I called it good. 

UFO #2:

My second UFO is a pair of Grainline Maritime shorts.  I made them some time back and you can see them here.  The reason this pair stalled is kind of petty, but it turned out I needed a bigger size this summer than my previous pair and that just deeply annoyed me. 

I can fit into the old pair, but just barely, sigh.  So I cut out the pattern again as well as the fabric (all last summer) and just lost steam, probably because I just went out and bought a few new pairs. 

The Grainline Maritime shorts are really cute and functional.  I love the styling on this pattern, the zip fly, the curved pockets, back pockets, curved waistband.  All great features.  For this pair I believe I lengthened them by an inch.  Its a really short, short otherwise.  

The fabric is from Hancock and the last of this fabric in my stash.  I previously made a Grainline mini skirt with this fabric.  Btw, that was very short too!

UFO #3:

Get ready for the cuteness! This outfit was originally intended for my youngest and is a size two, so I have had it for two years waiting to be made up.  I believe the fact that my children were 5 and 2 when I cut it out is probably why it never was completed.  But it is so.cute.

Its Burda style pattern 9645.  If you are unfamiliar with Burda patterns, they always have such cute designs but the instructions are always sub par.  I don't go to Burda for sewing instructions but for cuteness.  

Since this will no longer fit my daughter I will be sending it on to Hanni for her little bit to wear next fall.  This peasant top, squeeeee- I can't wait to see her in it (btw where is my size in this top)!  And the cargo pants will be fun and functional since they are corduroy.

So now I am free of most of my UFO's, I say most because I know there are two little girl dresses that I haven't finished and may not!  But it feels good to have the slate mostly wiped clean for the new year of sewing.  I am glad I pushed through with these projects since each one turned out so pretty.

How about you?  Any UFO's you'd like to move past or donate?  

Any that you will shove into the far reaches of your sewing space?

Thanks for reading and happy creating!

Elizabeth

A New Year Turtle and Back Seam Dream

Happy New Year!!

Have you been perusing all the sewing blog "best of 2016 makes" or "new year sewing plan" posts like I have?  Its been fun scrolling through them and there is just so.much.inspiration to be gleaned from them.  Also there is a "make nine sewing items this year" or something like that on instagram that keeps popping up in my Pinterest board- that's pretty fun too!  All the sewey plans, so exciting!

So raise your glass, here's to a New Year Turtleneck and Knit Dress!  These two projects may not be the most exciting things I make in the new year but they are extremely functional!  And for me lately functional has been a good thing.  

First up, the Turtleneck...

The Pattern:

The turtleneck pattern is McCalls 6796 which is out of print. 

 Last year I made Kwik Sew 4069 and you can see that on this link.  It turned out much looser than I hoped it would (I still wear it all the time) but with the McCalls pattern I came so much closer to what I was hoping for in a turtle neck.  The one thing I will say about McCalls 6796 is that I feel the turtleneck part is a little short or falls somewhere in between where I wish it would.  I actually added about an inch to the neckline above but I can't decide if it was enough.  

The Fabric: 

This is a very stretchy Rayon Lycra rib knit from Fabric Mart.  Its really, really soft and fluid.  Will go great under sweaters and jackets and dresses etc.  The fabric drapes so well that the turtleneck won't stand up at all, something I didn't consider before making it, anywhoo I will still wear it all the time.    

I think at this point my 8 year old was singing "baby you're a super star!"

A New Year a New Dress!!

The Pattern:

This is McCalls 7122 a pretty popular pattern as evidenced by all the good reviews on Pattern Review.  I have several simple knit dress patterns and its always fun to try out another one with small design differences.  

This pattern has raglan sleeves (which are SO EASY to sew) and my very favorite knit dress feature of all time, a center.back.seam.  

Center back seam, you are a person with a sway back alteration's best friend!  I was able to pinch out some of the excess in that seam for a simple fix but by looking at the back view I can see that a small wedge should be removed horizontally next time.  

I meant to take a picture of the alterations for my sway back but forgot.  But looking at the changes when I transferred them to the pattern I was quite surprised by how pronounced my sway back appeared.  Just an interesting observation!

The Fabric:

This fabric was a Hancock's purchase and I loovvveee this print. 

I have had it in my stash for a while and it started to move into that crazy fabric hoarding category where you pull it out look at it and think "fabric, you are so pretty that I am just too scared to cut you so I will just let you take up precious space in my sewing closet."  

Recently I realized how ridiculous I was being about it and just how much enjoyment I would get out of wearing it so I got to work and of course I do indeed love wearing it. 

I probably should've spent some time pattern matching back there but, meh, I don't look at my back, so there, problem solved!!

This year I am telling myself that I will stop the fabric petting/hoarding of beautiful cuts because "what if I mess it up and hate the result" and just go ahead and make it up into something fun and get it done!

One piece in my fabric stash in particular reminds me the most to carpe diem the fabric.  It is a gorgeous cut of narrow silk charmeuse with a very vintage design.  I thrifted it for a few dollars a few years ago and it is an awesome reminder to me that some lady, somewhere held on to that charmeuse and never made it up and then by some turn of events it ended up in a thrift store.

That lady never made the gorgeous silk blouse she was going to wear to a special anniversary dinner, or she never realized the bias cut dress of her dreams and now it speaks to me telling me in a whispering voice, "CARPEEE..... CARPEEEE DIEEEMMM the fabric Elizabeth, make your outfit extraordinary!!!" The fabric sounds eerily similar to Robin Williams.  

So that's my sewing plan and goal this year- use.the.fabric!!  What about you, have any sewing goals for this next year?

Happy Needles in the New Year!

Elizabeth

Fall Sewing Continues!

Fall means plaids for me, at least that's one of my very favorite fabrics for fall so it is a must to make at least one plaid item this fall so here it is!  I completed another Deer and Doe Arum dress and I am loving this pattern.  The first one I completed was for my November Fabric Mart make and you can see that post here.  It was made from a rayon/tencel twill suiting and I love it so much, so easy to make, so easy to wear.  

This version is made from a flannel shirting from Joanns bought several years ago on a trip to Kansas City.  Part of the reason I chose this particular fabric was because I'd only bought 3 yards and the fabric was only 40 inches wide!  If you've ever sewn with a crazy plaid like this you know that you need a lot more yardage than that to pattern match.  The great thing about this pattern is that there are so few pieces that pattern matching is very manageable even possible with a small length of plaid! 

I love all things plaid in the fall and I love coral so this fabric and pattern were a match made in heaven.  I might even have to wear this for Thanksgiving as it is sooooo comfy.  

I raved about this pattern over on the FabricMart blog and I will rave again, I made so little adjustments to this pattern, just grading out for sizing and it fits like a glove in the back.  My usual adjustments for patterns include a small sway back adjustment and you can see I didn't need one for this pattern, miraculous! 

As far as construction, I serged all the insides and I topstitched the facings to the dress since I cannot stand facings flipping around.  The other option would've been to finish the neck with bias tape and I wasn't feeling that, so there you go, facings topstitched- I call that a design element. 

I wore this to church and put this cascade cardigan over it but also had to wear another layer since I find our sanctuary very chilly.  I hope to get some thicker tights for this outfit soon, maybe some of those fleece lined tights!

One thing I know for sure, this probably won't be my last Arum dress, its just a completely enjoyable make and so fun to wear.

Now on to the two cuties.  I made McCalls 7273 for the 4 year old out of sweater scraps from my previous projects.  I used size 3 for her since she is slim, and reviews on Pattern review noted that this pattern runs big.  It fits great, I did not hem it and the length is just right, if hemmed it might be a bit on the short side.  This girl is tall and slim.

For my eldest I made McCalls 7425 in size 8 for an 8 year old.  I did alter the back waistband.  The instructions were for a traditional waistband and a zipper on the side and truly, truly, my 8 year old will not be bothered with a zipper and traditional waistband.  So I redrafted that back waistband to accommodate elastic and it worked great.  Redrafting sounds complicate but it wasn't.  I really just retraced the back waistband and sliced it into thirds adding little wedges in three spots, spreading the pattern out like a fan that in the end is regathered by the elastic.  The back waistband is made in a contrasting quilting cotton with polka dots and you can see it in the bottom picture.

The skirt itself is a stretch denim from my stash, I am guessing from Hancocks.  The skirt is so cute and you can't tell from these pictures but I used gold topstiching and used this technique to finish the insides.  

I hope to make her at least one more of these in another "neutral" fabric since they are so great to layer over leggings.  

So there's whats been keeping me busy and happy lately and I hope your fall sewing is doing the same for you!  Until next time, thanks for reading!

Elizabeth

Split Hem Grainline Linden

Winning the Fabricista Challenge last fall was so much fun and so thrilling for me and one of the best things about that win was being able to pick out fabrics with my winning credits that I might not have otherwise chosen due, mostly, to a tight sewing budget.

I don't know how others of you budget for sewing (and I'd be curious to know- do you budget for your sewing?) but I *think* I try to be frugal, which might  or might not work out each month.  Since I was able to use my FabricMart credits through out this past year to off set my fabric budget I found myself splurging a little more on my pattern purchases.  So instead of spending completely out of pocket for fabric like the sweater knit I used here, I was able to use a FabricMart credit.  I can't remember how much this sweater knit was but I know that it is a nicer one, I think the content is rayon/spandex.  It is extremely soft and stretchier than I thought it would be. 

It is so snuggly that my four year old grabbed the remnant and declared it hers.  She has requested a sweater out of that remnant and I think I will have to oblige.  After all its kind of hard to say no to her cuteness and the idea of matching sweaters!

The ribbing for the hem, neckline and cuffs is from Joanns fabrics bought last winter. Its a nice, thick cotton ribbing with spandex.

I've made the Linden before and wanted it to look a little better than just a sweater so I used the split hem tutorial on Grainline's site and I think it upgrades it a bit.      

 

The pattern comes together very smoothly and I have a few observations about the fit and fabric.  My last Linden was made from a poly sweatshirt fabric that did not have a lot of stretch and I remember the arms were a little long but they weren't nearly as long as this one turned out to be.  So if your fabric is stretchy with not a lot of recovery consider that the arms may be a little long.  

Also I graded this sweater out from a 4 at the shoulders, 6 at the bust and waist and and 8 at the hips.  I think I could've just used a 4 and 6.  Not much more to say about this except it will be fun to layer with button up shirts and I know I will get great use out of it this winter. 

Thanks for reading!

Elizabeth