Rainy Days are Great Sewing Days

It seems like today is the first day I've had this year where I didn't have a laundry list of things I had to do.  In fact, I marked it off as a "Sewing Day" in my bullet journal.  I have a couple of patterns I've been wanting to make for a while, so I worked on them today.

First of all, the Sewing Workshop Flatiron Coat pattern.  I got this pattern as part of the Sew Confident for 2018.  I really do like TSW patterns, but I don't think I'll rejoin the Sew Confident this year.  I figure I can spend that money for a subscription to Burda and have extra left over for fabric!  Actually, my pattern stash is overflowing, so I'm going to try to make up some of what I have first.  The Flatiron coat will be perfect for some wool I have to make the actual coat, but I wanted to check out the fit and how I like the style, so I decided to make the jacket first.









 I happened across this fleece at JoAnns not too long ago and fell in love with it.  I bought what I needed to make the jacket.  I have enough left over to make a scarf.









The second thing I cut out was the Esme top from the Lotta Jansdotter book Everyday Style.  I really like this book.  Last year I made a pair of shorts from the book, but was really unhappy with the crotch curve (or lack of curve I should say)  I traced the pattern and made adjustments to it last year, so I guess its time I actually sew it up!




























I was fortunate enough to run across this Lotta Jansdotter print at Joanns last year, so I grabbed it up while I could.  I'm glad I did because I haven't seen it there since.


There are a lot of things I like about this book.  First of all, it has a basic set of patterns (included) and the book shows multiple variations of each pattern.  For example, the esme top is shown as a cap sleeve top, 3/4 sleeve top, tunic, and Kaftan.  Also, the book is divided into seasons, so it will show the same patterns in different fabrics or combinations to fit each season.  I love the relaxed style and simplicity of the patterns.  The photography in the book is inspiring as well.

TSW Alex Top

This weekend I decided to make the Alex tip from the Sewing workshop.  I bought the pattern months ago for the Olive top, but after seeing the Atlanta Fashion show clip on Facebook, I decided to make the Alex first!













This is a rayon ribbed knit that I luckily picked up at our local JoAnns.  I checked the color against my color fan, and it fit right in, so I bought it!  I think it took me longer to trace and cut the pattern than it did to make it!














 I cut a small in the shoulders and tapered out to the medium at the underarms.  Even though I stablized the shoulders with fusible stay tape, I think the shoulders either stretched out, or they were just too wide for me.  Next time I will narrow them by about 1/2 inch.










Other than some gathering stitches and stay stitching, I made this whole thing on the serger.  I could have just serged the hem, but I like the look of turning it under and top stitching, so I did it that way.  I used a slight zigzag to topstitch the hem and sleeve hems.








My serger is quite old, but it works perfectly and I love it.  It doesn't do anything fancy, but it does what it is intended to, and it does it well.  I have a newer Brother 1034D, but I still prefer my funlock.




















This is a great pattern and super easy to make.  The only problem I had was with the back.  The back is supposed to be gathered at the top, but my collar lined up perfectly without gathering anything, so I'm not sure what went wrong.  Either my collar stretched out because of the ribbing (most likely) or I didn't cut something correctly.  I plan to make this one again, so I'm sure I'll find out next time.











Oh, also, I ended up cutting 3/4" off the sleeves and hemming them 1".  I could still remove 1/2"  Normally I have to take an inch off of all sleeves, but I had to take a little more off of these.  (The pattern only requires a 5/8" hem, but I used 1"  In knits, I like to wait until the garment is made to hem the sleeves because you never know how much they will "grow" after making it.


All in all, I'm really happy with this.  Now to look in my stash for another knit before I put that pattern away!