WTH is wrong with Vogue Patterns?

Seriously.

I bought this pattern, Vogue 8646, during their latest $3.99 sale. 

Isn't it a cute dress?  Perfect for summer, in white dotted swiss underlined with white cotton batiste.  (That's the fabrics I'm using, anyway).

Based on the size chart, I'm a 14, so that's what I cut.  Lo-and-behold, it fits like a potato sack!  I ended up taking in 1.25" on both sides, front and back.  That's a 5-inch take-in, folks.  Good thing I made a muslin.

During the pattern adjustment, though, I may have made a mistake of leaving the front pleats on the same location (instead of centering them at the shoulder seams), so the boobage is out of whack.  No turning back now as I'm more than halfway through on it.

Mind you, this is not my first BVM pattern.  Last year I made this Butterick 5277:

Same issue, about 2-sizes to big.  It had to be rescued by a pro-seamstress because I didn't want to bother taking it in myself and didn't want to learn how to, either.

Burda sizes seem to be spot on, although I can't say the same for Simplicity as I've yet to sew any of their patterns.  So, is it me choosing the wrong size or is it a common problem with BVM patterns?

Hawaiian Fabric galore

Confession:  I, too, am a selfish seamstress (just like another seamstress who has famously self-professed so).  With the number of hours involved in choosing, tracing, cutting, pressing, fitting, sewing, finishing a garment, I put myself above all others.  However, this year I resolve to make a thing or two for others.  Family members are a good start.  (Although I don't think I will ever sew for anybody not related to me, unless it's a super-easy craft project).

That said....

For the past few months, hubby has been pestering me to make some Hawaiian shirts for him, since the purchased ones he has are falling apart (he moves very animatedly, so clothes take a lot of beating just from washing and wearing).  So far I've managed to get out of it by making up the excuse that there are no good Hawaiian fabrics around here. 

Then today, via Tasia, I found this store, Hawaii's Fabricmarts.

Real Hawaiian prints!

 

 

And those are just six prints that I really like.  They also have silks and rayons, although not quite extensive as the cottons.

As you can tell, I'm quite partial to blues (the last one with the khaki background I just threw in for giggles), big floral prints (preferably hibiscus, Hawaii's state flower; the second-to-last with the bikes I think is funny; no small prints, they can look dowdy), with at least two contrast foreground colors.  Those, my dear reader(s), are my requirements for Hawaiian prints.  In my non-Hawaiian life I prefer non-blues and solids.

Anyway, if I read it correctly, the store requires a minimum of 5-yards each pattern and 20-yards total for online purchases.  Wow - that would make a lot of cute little cotton summer dresses!  Oh.  Wait.  I would have to make shirts for hubby first.  Damn.  Hmm...  What new excuse to use?  *Scans through excuse book.*  A-ha!  Either "I don't know how to sew collars and buttonholes" or "I've used up my fabric allowance for the next couple of months" should work for a while.  Both are true.

Pattern for Burda top?

Hi all - thanks for your nice comments on my Burda chartreuse top; they definitely boosted my motivation to sew my next project.

A few of you asked for pattern or tutorial.  I don't think my unorganized self is capable of putting up a tutorial.  Alternatively, I wouldn't mind tracing & posting the multi-size pattern pieces on this blog.  My concern is Burda copyright cop come a-knocking at my door with design / copyright infringement issue, if I do so.

Does anybody know, if posting the patterns on the blog would constitute an infringement?

I'm not dead and here's a new one

Haven't put up anything new lately, because there hasn't been anything new made.  Last week though, I decided to do something with the growing stack of fabrics, so I resorted to this quick & easy project to see if it would get my motivation going again.  

Burda 08-2009-117, the Parisian Chic flouncy top:

Parisian chic indeed.  At least the model is.  Mine?  Well, take a lookie here:

Wrinkles are not Parisian Chic.  I'm really bad at pressing.  So, pardon me.

The pattern is a loose fitting one, so I went down a size (40 to 38) because my figure doesn't take loose fitting very well.

I used chartreuse - my new favorite color - Radiance silk-cotton blend that I splurged on a while back (You're welcome, Britex).   This fabric is really amazing.  It's lightweight (perfect for the warm weather), soft, silky, with a little bit of drape, and it's washable.  The right side of the fabric is shiny and the color richer, however I used the wrong side because I'm opposed to shiny things.

If you notice, the outer edges of the flounce are raw, because I didn't cut the seam allowance I did it on purpose.  If J.Crew can get away making (and selling at $80!) tops with unfinished edges, I can too!  No, really, I got confused by Burda's direction and thought, the hell with it, let's just cut the outer edge without the seam allowance and see what happens.  Luckily I think it turned out okay.

Here's me modeling it:

And again with a ribbon belt:

For some reason, the flounce follows the shape of elephant ear/trunk.  Not very Parisian chic.

Anyway, I wore this with white jeans to showcase the color.  I rarely wear green and do not own many green clothes, so as a result I always get punched on St. Paddy's day.  (Is it pinching or punching?  I always get punched).  Well, no more!  Now I have something visibly green!  Or chartreuse!  But it's green to some people!

This is a very easy project and I'm quite happy with the result.  In the process I actually started thinking about the next project (a summer dress), so this quick top turned out to be just what I needed to get back in the sewing mode.

So... what do you think?

(PR review here)

Burda skirt 11-2008-110

This is Burda 11-2008-110 skirt, an 8-gored flared-hem trumpet-y number.  

 

I used the wool suiting fabric from the stash and this nightmare of a lining, worked on it for three weekends, finished it last week, and wore it to work.  It's a very feminine skirt, a lot more than I'm used to.  All of a sudden all these curves just show up!  Wearing the skirt made me feel odd, giddy, and girly that my voice went up an octave or two.  My coworkers thought I was sick.  So I went home early and took some pictures.

 

 

 

The last picture I'm just showing off my shoes. 

Please don't be offended by the bad pressing job.  It's not my forte.  I don't  forte in everything I do no matter what people say.

(Edited:  Here's my review of the pattern on PR)

Drunk-sew much?

No, actually, I do not.  Despite evidence to the contrary.

The following pictures are of the rayon Bemberg / Ambiance lining for my current project.  Not a friendly fabric, I tell you what. Made quite a few mistakes and learned some lessons that I'm sharing here:

1) Do not scrunch, wring, or stomp on the fabric to get the water out, and leave it to air dry.  NO.  It results in what seems to be PERMANENT wrinkles.  Wash-and-dry in delicate cycle, or just dry-clean it.

2) Rayon Bemberg is slippery as hell!  It is difficult to sew straight!  Look at this hella crooked topstitching job!  Try "taut sewing" where you pull the fabric from the front and back of the feet.  Of course, cut the pieces on-grain in the first place!

 

3) Getting a nice pinking is even harder with slippery fabric!  Look at this one!  It looks like it's been gnawed by a mouse!  I don't have a "lesson learned" on this issue, other than "don't pink it!"

4) Use a sharp, small needle!  Otherwise you get stripe-y pulls across the grain like the above.

5) Nobody other than you needs to see the lining.  So if you have a bad lining, do not show it to the world like what I just did! 

Bitching aside, I'm looking for ideas for alternate lining fabrics that are more user-friendly.  Some folks prefer poly, others mention silk.  What's your preference, and why?

Somebody out there likes me

My blog is featured as a favorite blog on We All Sew!  How cool is that?  Very, I think.

We All Sew is central go-to for all things sewing, my favorite being growing list of links to freebies!  Go check it out!