Embrace Your Outer Diagonals

I've not posted for a while, and I have a lot of great excuses, but instead I'll regale you with horrible photographs taken last night about three minutes before we had to leave for a friend's birthday party.

I got the Sewaholic Refrew pattern from my brother this Christmas and had this blue and white striped cotton jersey in my stash waiting for it. 

You may notice that the stripes are not particularly horizontal. That is because my fabric is cheap crap. I mostly buy cheap crap so I don't have to worry about messing up or being frozen with fear to cut into precious cuts of fabric from far off places (I've got a great piece from my trip to italy over a year ago that is slated for a jacket that falls in this category). 

When I laid the fabric out, I was not so pleasantly surprised to find that the stripes were ridiculously off-grain. I decided to just go ahead and make it a possibly not/possibly so wearable muslin. Turns out, when you sew with wild abandon, magical Christmas surprises happen: 

Those smug smiles on my face are because of the stellar stripe matching that occurred no thanks to any clever cutting I did. I just cut full-steam-ahead and this pleasant surprise happened. The stripes ended up matching on the bottoms of the sleeves and even somewhat on the bottom and sleeve bands as well. 

And the fit... this is my new tnt top. It's seriously fantastic, fast and easy to sew. And it fits my lifestyle of t-shirts and jeans. 

My official pattern review: 

Pattern Description:

The perfect basic tee! The Renfrew Top is a fitted knit top with sleeve and neckline variations. View A has long sleeves and a scoop neckline. View B has short sleeves and a deep V neckline. View C has a dramatic cowl neckline and three-quarter length sleeves.

I made view B with A sleeves.

Pattern Sizing:

0-16. I made a 6 in the bust and waist grading to a 2 in the hip

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?

Yes.

Were the instructions easy to follow?

Very easy, plus I had read through the tutorials/tips on sewing for knits that Tasia posted on her blog before I got the pattern, so I was very prepared.

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?

I like everything. I put off getting this because its "a basic t-shirt pattern", but it is so worth it. 

Fabric Used:

Cotton jersey. The stripes were printed WAY off grain, so I just went with it and had some pleasant surprise stripe matching in the outcome.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:

There is some gathering under the arms in the front that I've noticed in other versions, and I'm not sure if a tuck above the bust would eliminate this or cause more problems. Right now, it fits the same or better than a rtw top, so I'm inclined to leave it alone. The sizing was right on (just the Minoru jacket I made a few months ago). Also, I normally make a broad back adjustment in most tops, but after measuring the pattern piece I decided to leave it. Usually, the width of the back at the armpit needs to be 18 inches and this was just shy, but with the negative ease of the knit it worked out perfectly.

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?

I will most definitely sew this again. I've got a sweater with an awkward neckline that desperately needs a custom white crew neck. Now if I could only find a decent white knit...

And also, yes, for the love of Pete. Those of you on the fence about this one:  take the plunge for goodness sake.

Conclusion:

I'm totally sold. I'm so happy with this top and it took all of a couple of hours to make!

I have more Lekala goodness in the works and a couple of tragic peplum fails so more on that soon.  Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!

Another jewel of wisdom for beginners...

When you prick your finger on a pin and bleed all over the shirt you are making, it's time to go to bed.

Lekala 4042. I'm a fan.

This was the second of my aforementioned sewing projects that I was able to burn through, and my first ever Lekala pattern.

Review of Lekala 4042:

Pattern Description: 
Blouse with decorative neckline from knit fabric.

Pattern Sizing:
You give them a set of 5 or 6 measurements and they give you a size-accurate pattern.

Did it look like the photo/drawing on the pattern envelope once you were done sewing with it?
Yes, but I lengthened the sleeves.

Were the instructions easy to follow?
There are a couple of places to find the instructions. One translation is better than the other. Look on this website:
http://www.lekala.co/women-sewing-patterns/blouses/blouse-with-decorative-neckline-from-knit-fabric.html
The instructions were pretty good for this one. It's a bit tricky, but if you've sewn for a while it should be not problem.


What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I loved that it was exactly my size and had seam allowances already added. This doesn't take a lot of fabric either and it's a quick make.

Fabric Used:
A very fluid jersey knit in a vibrant raspberry.

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made:
My muslin, made out of a much sturdier knit was much too small in the shoulder width. I added 3/4" to the shoulder width and it ended up being a bit too wide in this drapey fabric (see arrows and circle in pictures). I'm not very familiar with negative ease, so I'll chalk this mistake up to ignorance. It's easy enough to fix if I ever get around to it.
I also made the sleeves long. All I did was measure myself from my shoulder to my wrist, then I added the hem and an additional 4" for rouching:

Would you sew it again? Would you recommend it to others?
Yes, and absolutely. I was very happy with my first experience with Lekala and I recommend them to everyone (well, maybe not beginners since the instructions are not the greatest). I may make this again in another colour in a slightly heavier knit. I just saw someone else made this with a striped knit which gives a neat effect: http://www.burdastyle.com/projects/eye-twisting-top?image=226610

Conclusion: 
I'm so impressed with Lekala patterns. I've made the other knit top and will review it soon. So far the fit is really great. I've yet to try anything more complicated so my opinion may change.

Advice for Beginners

There is so much I need to post about. I've tackled 3 of the 6 patterns I posted about recently and I need to ask for your help and opinion on one of them, but in the same time frame, the memory card on my camera crapped-out, I've started the candida diet (anyone who has done this knows how traumatic it can be), been given a diagnosis of thyroiditis and had to deal with some stress at work (put your hands in the air if you've ever wished for pregnancy so you could get a year off of work). None of these things alone is really that dramatic, but together, they've really sent me off track.

In the next week, I'm going to attempt to put myself back on track—get a new memory card and take some pics so I can get caught up. As a final thought for the day, I leave you with this:

As someone who keeps fairly close tabs on what the online sewing community is up to, I've come across this question a number of times and never had the perfect answer:

"What advice would you give to a sewing novice?"

Tonight, after sewing my sleeve into my bodice inside-out and backwards, my answer is this:

"Know when to quit and go to bed."

Good night y'all.

Sewjo shirt

I finished my attempt at a grossly modified peplum top. I became tired of it in the end, and realized that if I'm going to be spending a lot of time on one project, I had better love the fabric. The final fit isn't 100% in the chestal area so I'm giving it a rest in my closet for a while... at least until the sweater I want to wear it with comes out of the wash. I'll review in the near future.

On to the new love of my life... Burda 10/12 #117. SO EASY TO SEW!!!. Come on... three pieces, cotton shirting, interesting but easy construction. What's not to love? I thought that I had a white zipper in my stash, and I do, but not quite long enough or invisible. I guess I don't have to squish my hips through it (your welcome for that visual), so probably a slightly shorter zip would be okay.... What am I doing sitting here? I have a shirt to finish! (Actually, I have to do the dishes, and work-out, and then probably go shopping with my sister, but believe me when I tell you that I'll be thinking about sewing the entire time.)

Happy Sunday!

Nuts for Downloadables

There was a sale on Lekala patterns on sewingpatterns.com. I've always wanted to try them. I also paid for my first Burda downloadable pattern off of Burdastyle.com. I have a tonne of patterns in my stash already, but you know how it is. My only regret is the printing and taping.

Lekala takes about half of the headache out of downloadable patterns. Unlike Burda, they give you your exact size from a set of 6 measurements (height, bust, underbust, waist, hip/belly, and hip). Also unlike Burda, they give you a seam allowance (either 1/2" or 1/4" depending on the style). Taping was made easier, because I could just match up and tape where the pattern pieces intersected, not necessarily the entire sheet of paper. Unfortunately, the instructions for these are shite. If you are an inexperienced sewer or have trouble thinking in three dimensions, you probably don't want to attempt these. As it is, I'll be faking it the whole way through. We'll see how it goes.

Here's what I got:


1. Lek4097: The bunnyhug (a.k.a. "hoodie". I'm trying to see if I can get this term to catch on outside of Saskatchewan). 
I pretty much live in these. I'm not a fancy dresser and most days I want to be comfortable and WARM. I'll probably use this pattern numerous times (whenever I can score fleece on sale). I love the shape of the hood. Construction seems pretty straightforward.

2. Lek4105: Asymetrical knit top. 
I like that it's different. I may change the sleeves, or make one with straight sleeves (without cuffs) and one as drafted. I can see this in a bamboo knit? Any other suggestions? I'm not sure about how the neck is finished, but if it uses a facing I may try to finish it with a bias strip.

3. Lek5870: Casual swing jacket. 
I have a jacket almost exactly like this in my closet already but it's shorter and red. I probably bought this one because I was wearing the red on a the time. I think it will come in very handy if I made it up in a neutral like khaki or grey, or even denim as shown.

4. Lek5913: Tunic. 
If I only saw the line drawing I wouldn't give this a second look. This is pretty shapeless, which I usually try to avoid, but I've been looking for an excuse to wear leggings and I have a couple of patterns for skinny jeans/leggings that I could pair with this as well. Any thoughts on what fabric I should use for this? Would Ponte knit be too heavy? A lighter weight sweater knit?

5. Lek4042: Cross-neck top. 
If I can get this to work out, I'll probably make a bunch of these. I think it will probably be a very easy make, and I can most likely serge together the entire thing.

6. Burda Gathered Shirt Blouse 10/2012 #117:
I've been inspired by Kristy . I have two very different plaids in my stash already that would work with this. One of them was purchased at Mood almost four ago. Originally it was to be a shirt, but on reading the reviews for that pattern I chickened out and it has been left as "too good to cut" for a long time. On our last trip to NYC, I found it again in Mood and realized that it is silk. I like that it is made from a woven fabric and it has an interesting design. This pattern comes as the full dress with cutoff lines for the top.

Right now? I'm finishing up a peplum top. I used a vintage 60s/70s pattern (I'll check the year when I post the finished product) that I graded down two sizes, gave an sba, changed the darts into shoulder princess seams, cut off at the waist and drafted a peplum. I really like the Vogue peplum top everyone is making now, but I prefer a v-neck and like to make things hard for myself. sigh.

I'm not sure how this trend will fit into my life so I didn't want to invest a lot of cash. I used a cotton chintz I got at a second hand store a year ago for probably $2 and everything else I had in my stash. The only investment was a crap-load of time. So far it looks like it's going to turn out. Fingers crossed.

If any of you have sewn Lekala patterns, please comment and let me know how it went. If you have any suggestions for fabrics for any of these, please let me know. I've been reading Tasia's posts about knits, but I'll take all the info I can get.

Megan Nielsen Sewing Gallery Anniversary (and Birthday)

This is just a quick note to let people know that Megan Nielsen Sewing Gallery is one year old (and it's her birthday too!). To celebrate, she's got a huge giveaway. Check it out: http://blog.megannielsen.com