Craig's Blouse finished!

I finally finished the blouse.  I had some trouble with the vents.  After following the directions, my vents did not look right.  I have made vents before, but it has been years.  I wasn't sure what I needed to do to fix these, but after help from fellow sewists at Artisan's square, I knew what to do.  I ended up ripping out the top stitching, taking some of the sleeve out of the cuff, and then redoing the vent facing.  I'm much happier now!   Gotta love the internet sewing community!!   The picture on the right is how they looked before I fixed the.

 I've been working all week at school, so I've only been getting to my blouse a few minutes here and there.

Things I love about this blouse

• The fabric!  I used a rayon challis, and it feels great.  I love the way it drapes too.
• The fit.  It's hard to tell in the pictures, but it fits really well through the shoulders and back.  Also, there is no gaping at the neck in the back or front.  I cut a 2 in the shoulders and sleeves, and did a pivot and slide to the size 3 at the underarm.  I love that Silhouette patterns has different cup sizes.  I can make the 2/3 D and not have to do any FBA
• The French cuffs - sort of.  I love the way they look, but they are cumbersome to open and close. 
• I love the way Peggy does the facings (and cuffs.)  You create the facing and then slide the bodice into it and top stitch. (see picture on the left)

Things I don't love and will change next time:

• The cuffs.  Although I like the look, I will make regular cuffs next time
• The gathers in the front.  They hit right below the bust, which is not flattering.  I tried to be careful and make sure they were even, but it is just not flattering.  Next time I will either place the gathers at the bust or at the waist.
• The vent.  Next time I will fold the vent facing/binding in half lengthwise before I sew it on.

I really do like this blouse and will definitely make it again!

Craig's Blouse progress

I didn't have a lot of time to sew yesterday, but I did get "Session One"  finished.

I ended up trimming all of my pieces against the pattern because of the challis fabric.  On some patterns it wouldn't really matter that much, but since this is more fitted, it will need to be closer to the mark.  Hoping to make good progress today.

Next up - Leopard!

I went into JoAnns earlier this week to look for some linen and I ran across this leopard print rayon challis.  I just recently received the "Craig's Blouse" from Silhouette patterns and think this will be a perfect pairing.

However, Rayon challis is NOT my favorite fabric to work with.  It doesn't hold its shape when you're working with it and it moves all over the place.

I prewashed the fabric and ironed it.  I noticed that the selvedge had shrunk or pulled up a little, so I clipped it every couple of inches.  If you don't do this, the fabric does not lay flat and your pattern pieces will be distorted.  I have successfully used starch in the past, but I just wanted to get going on this.

Yesterday I traced out all the pattern pieces on Swedish tracing paper.  I really like this because it is like medium weight non-woven interfacing.  I wish I had space to hang my patterns, but I usually end up folding them back into the envelope, or a bigger envelope.












For this blouse, I cut a 2 in the neck, shoulders and sleeve.  I cut a 3 from the bust down.  I did a pivot adjustment to keep the armhole the same size.  As I was tracing the sleeve, I noticed that it has a weird curve in it.  I don't need the extra fullness here, so I drew a straight line and cut it.  Uh oh - I hope I didn't accidentally trace the 2W!  I better go check that!!

Well, it's all cut out.  The last Silhouettes pattern that I made was a rayon crepe, and I did not use interfacing.  This fabric, however is very unstable.  The picture on the right shows something that typically happens with challis.  When you lay out your cut pieces individually, they are often bigger than the pattern pieces.  This is exactly why I chose to interface the collar, cuffs and front facing of this blouse.  I really love Peggy Sagers's knit interfacing, and it will give just enough stability to these areas.  Whenever I work with a fabric like this, I like to put the pattern pieces back on the fabric pieces and check for accuracy.   

OK, I just checked that pattern piece and it's the right one.  I think it's because of the short and long sleeved versions printed on one.  I have to go to work tomorrow, so I hope I can sew tomorrow night.

New Pants - Sally

These are the Sally Pants by Silhouette patterns. I would have NEVER chosen these pants by the envelope. Just look:

After viewing Peggy Sagers webcast on pants fitting, I knew I wanted to try these since they are her basic sloper for all of the pants patterns. I still have some tweaking to do in the back, but overall, these fit well and are comfortable. They are made of a wool blend I got some time ago, so I'm not sure of the fabric content. I did prewash the fabric in the washing machine and throw it in the dryer and it came out fine. I will probably hang them to dry from now on though just incase.

I started off with too big a size, so I've made so many alterations to these I'm not sure what size they really are. I suppose I should put my traced pattern back on the original pattern and compare and adjust. Just for kicks. But not today.

The fly application on this pattern was easy to do and has a nice finish. I like a two piece fly. Even though it takes a little more time, I like the way it turns out. There are no pockets in these pants, but I didn't want any. I don't need to add any fullness to the hip area!

After making these, I'd have to say that the Sally Pant is really a great pants pattern. The fit is good and all of the pattern pieces line up nicely. Peggy Sager is great about helping you with fit questions. I know there are some pattern designers like Nancy Erickson who are now charging quite a bit for this service.

I have several other Silhouette Patterns that I would like to try and am hoping that I can get more sewing done now.

I also like the way the waistband is just assembled, turned under at the seam allowance and top-stitched on to the top of the pants. This works well, looks nice, and saves time.

Scarf blouse update: I am always drawn to Hot Patterns because they have such cute styles. Hwever, I don't think I've made a single one of their patterns that I did not have issues with! The fabric I'm using is a bear, so just to be sure the problems weren't from the fabric, I pulled out the pattern to check. I was having a terrible time trying to get the front dart to line up correctly. Well, after folding the paper pattern, I can see why. It's not laid out right.

So, I had two choices since I'd already cut the fabric. Either 1) lower the bust dart point considerably to make it work (not such a great idea) or 2) make a smaller dart. Since this is a loose fitting pattern, and other's have said it comes out big, I figured making a smaller dart wouldn't be to much of a problem. I re-folded the dart from the point to the bottom line and redrew the top line. This worked much better.

Now the problem is that I have somehow lost one of my front pieces and cannot finish the blouse until I find it!!!

CJ A line Skirt

I finally sewed the first true piece for my 6PAK. It is the A-Line Skirt in the Bell Sleeve Wrap pattern by Christine Johnson. The pattern is designed for a knit, but I used a woven. There is a sheet inside of all of her patterns that lets you know what size to make based on the stretch of the knit. I just calculated it with a zero percent stretch to figure what size to make. I'm very happy with the fit, but because I lined it, I have to either put it on over my head or lose 5 pounds!! The fabric is something that I've had in my stash for ever, so I'm not sure where I got it. I'm thinking maybe a fabric mart bundle from a few years ago! I'm pretty sure it's a poly woven, but it has a very nice drape and is lightweight. Because of this, I decided to line it. I had some brown poly lining in my stash, so used that. I serged the elastic to the top and turned it under. It would have been nice if I had black elastic, but I didn't.









The last blouse I made was a little full above the bust. I contacted Peggy Sagers and she replied right away. She said to try cutting a size one in the shoulders, 2 in the bust, and 3 at the hips. I am going to do this probably next because I would like to use this pattern for my 6 pack. I have another basic blouse that I made several years ago and have worn that thing to death. I really like the Silhouettes blouse, so I think I will be making several.



I really wanted to get more sewing and cutting done this weekend, but ended up working all day Saturday in my classroom. After I got home, DH and I ran some errands and went out to eat. After that, I fell asleep at about 6pm!! We were at church all morning today, but I did get to at least make this skirt this afternoon. It was really quick and easy. I'll definitely be making this one again.