Thursday, October 11, 2007

Sweat Suit Alternative Completed!



A big THANKS again to Cidell for sharing her BWOF 8/2002 with me. I have completed the three piece "suit"














The pants were super easy. Just an elastic waist and four seams. I used my serger for everything except the hems and casing. I did take two inches off the top to lower the waistband, and I took in the sides a bit at the waist so as not to have so many gathers. These are super comfy and the knit is called "ponte de roma" which is a poly rayon blend. It is super soft but has enough body to hold it's shape.












The tunic was also very easy. I found the best way to do the fold under on the slit was to press a 5/8" seam and then fold the edges under to meet the fold. I pressed this and put the clapper on top to make it hold it's shape. A little secret - there were a couple of places where it looked like it wouldn't stay turned under and I didn't want to pin it, so I used a couple of pieces of "steam a seam lite" to tack them down. I cut a 38 on the top on this and tapered out to a 42 at the hips. I probably should have gone with a 36 and FBA because it is still a little big in the shoulders. That's OK though,because after all, this IS comfort wear.








The wrap was a pain to cut out because the pieces were so big. I didn't have enough fabric the first time, so I thought I would just cut it with short sleeves since the tunic has long sleeves. Then I ended up cutting one of the pieces on the wrong side, so I had to buy more fabric anyway. As it is, I didn't cut the ties long enough (the pattern calls for 25", but you really need about 35") so I ended up having to use a button instead of tying it. I don't really like this option, because it is still a little snug around the waist. Also, I should have cut a smaller size in the wrap as well. I may take off the ties (good thing I sewed them on by hand) and just put a button on each side of the wrap. And speaking of buttons, my machine is really picky with button holes. I think I tore out the button hole about 5 times until I was ripping out fabric threads instead of buttonhole threads! I decided to use the "stretch" button hole on my machine, and that seemed to work much better.

I have to say that I will be getting a lot of use out of these pieces. I will have to make a couple more pairs of these pants for lounging around and maybe make some long sleeve t type tops to go with.

NEXT UP?????????

DVM Cindy emailed me and asked me if I wanted to do a sew along on this jacket from BWOF 10/07. How could I resist? I have so much stash, I thought surely I could find something perfect in there. But no, everything was not quite right. Well, I DID have a 50%off coupon from JoAnns, so I found this great embroidered suedecloth that I plan to use for the jacket


The fabric says "do not dry clean" and "do not press" OK, That means I will need to use a poly lining since I can not be ironed or dry cleaned. Fortunately, I have about a yard of black lining in my stash and it's just about what I need for the jacket. It looks like a few others on BurdaEnglish and Pattern Review are going to join in to the sew along. Anybody interested???

10 comments:

Christina said...

What a great ensemble. I have the feeling you and Cidell have just started a "sweatsuit alternative" trend!

Chicago Sarah said...

Nice work! :)

Adrienne said...

Very cute!!! I want to do that jacket, but I am going to trace out my first bwof this weekend! Hmmm, when will the sew along start? lol

Sigrid said...

Comfortable set Nancy, should make something like it for myself. I love to see how the different jackets will be from the sew along. I love the design, but have a few other things higher on my to do list.

Elaray said...

The brown knit looks sooooo comfortable! And also very cute.

cidell said...

I know I'm biased, but I love this on you. And I like the jacket. Hopefully I can find some fabric for it soon to make it up.

Tany said...

Fabulous, Nancy! You look very elegant!
Out of curiosity, "Ponte de Roma" in Portuguese means "Bridge in Rome"! I think it's the same in Italian too. I wonder if that knit came from Portugal or Italy...

Maureen said...

LOVE this one Nancy, looks great on you!

...and on a side note, I had to look twice at the first picture cause I thought you were at Fugazzis, the wall looks great (still).

Carolyn (Diary of a Sewing Fanatic) said...

Wow! I wonder if Tim Gunn realizes how many sweatsuit alternatives he has spawned! :) This looks nice on you and I am glad that you were able to find enough fabric "to make it work!"

LauraLo said...

This is lovely! And you look great in that chocolate brown