Wednesday, June 28, 2017

Polka dots denim wrap shirt - Lekala 4651

Lekala 4651
I am always looking out to see what new patterns Lekala released and I have been quite uninterested in most of the latest ones but this one shirt caught my eye. It is a wrap style with a bow tie and asymmetrical front. Lekala 4651:
I had it printed for a while but it took me quite some time deciding in what fabric to make it. In the end decided to not use any "muslin" fabric but shoot for a good version right from the start. So I used one of my dear thin denim polka dots fabrics. Maybe it was a good thing - I don't think I would have wore it at all if I didn't loved the fabric.... or maybe it was a bad thing - the result is not very high on my favorites list and I don't plan on using the pattern a second time....
    I had some real troubles putting together the previous Lekala pattern I had done and I still had not reviewed so I though I should take some step by step pictures this time just in case someone wanders how I put this together:
   I 1st marked the back and bust darts and sewed that up, I cut in my paper to make it easier to transfer those marks:
Lekala 4651 tutorial
Lekala 4651 tutorial
After that I interfaced the facings, the cuffs and the front edge :
Lekala 4651 tutorial
I sewed the front and back facings together on on to their corresponding pieces:
After that I sewed the last front piece, turned the facings inside and finished it white/red stripe - I thought it would look cleaner and more playful like that:
I top stitched the facings in place:
After that I sewed the sleeves in flat:
And only after sewed and serge finished the side seams:
When I tried on the sleeves almost hit my elbows before adding the cuffs.... so I trimmed those just a little bit - I was afraid my cuffs would not fit if shortened to much and I had no fabric left to cut new ones and decided I want the cuffs turned so I sewed them right sides together to get a clener look when turned:
 I was happy at this point and almost done when I tried it on and realized it was gaping badly..
Lekala 4651 tutorial
The only fix I could find to this was to overlap the 2 fronts slightly differently :
And now one of my sides was significantly longer then the other ... Bah!!!! I could have probably made a better finishing than this but I was really annoyed but this so I just cut the extra and attached the waistband - that hits nowhere near my waist...
I think the shirt is not really flattering but at least is done and wearable. I love the fabric so i will probably wear it a few times but ... not really what I have hoped for:
Lekala 4651
Lekala 4651
Lekala 4651
Lekala 4651

Friday, June 23, 2017

Happy flowers print - one more McCall's 7542 with rich sleeves

McCall's 7542
I loved wearing my pink flowery dramatic sleeve last week. And even if I first thought of my initial fabric as a muslin fabric since I got it cheap I realized batiste is so great and lovely to wear so I bought 2 more similar fabric in flower prints. One of them I realized later that is not really to my liking but this one I cut and sew right away. Here is another McCall's 7542 - view B - size 6 for all except the upper body and sleeve.
View D is a bit more comfortable to wear but I liked the extra flounces on view B so I did one more on that with 2 small changes :
 - skipped the back seam - I don't really feel I need it!
 - doubled the sleeve flounce so there is no hem showing. The fabric is very light and I didn't feel the draping losing much but the look is so much neater. Love it like this. I had 2m of fabric for this and I hardly had a scrap left in the end.
McCall's 7542
McCall's 7542McCall's 7542
McCall's 7542
McCall's 7542McCall's 7542
McCall's 7542
I am also trying to clean up my sewing room sashes and this are so patterns I will probably never use so if anyone is interested in any let me know.

Tuesday, June 20, 2017

Lots of cats and 2 more jumpsuits for Eva - Ottobre 3/2015 #14

Eva started to have strong opinions about fabric prints and she likes cats so earlier this year I purchased 2 small pieces of fabric with cats on them thinking more that I will make some pillowcases for her or maybe a sundress but lately I've been working on many  jumpsuits for her from Ottobre  3/2015 #14 :
 And I started to think that this fabric would make for a cute jumpsuit as well and had to try it while pattern was still fresh on my mind.

  I did not had enough fabric to make the longer pants version but I could cut a 3/4 legs and used different batiste fabric to line the body.

On the black one I skipped the back tie - I was planning on adding one later but after wearing it I realized the shoulders doesn't drift so I will probably leave it like that. On the cream one I used contrast yellow stripes - it seemed a good idea at the time but I didn't like the coordination in the end...
The black one is my favorite. It is slightly larger then the creamy one where I overlapped the back panel a bit more.
 I bought 2 new fabric yesterday and I have sewn 2 new items in the weekend so my debt is still growing - 87 now. I think I should look back and change the rule to be 1 item for 1 fabric this way maybe I have a change to not be horrified by how much fabric I buy ...