A quick blue top

I wanted to make a really quick top to see if I could sew this over one weekend (TLDR: I didn't. It took me almost three weeks which is fast for me so I'm still happy).

I thought a sleeveless top would be faster.  But I hadn't counted on the various design elements taking longer. Also, why did I think a transparent fabric with polycotton underlining was a good idea if I wanted to go for speed?  That did not help, but it was the colour that most spoke to me of all my stash fabrics.

 

 

At first I was inclined to treat fashion fabric and underlining fabric as two layers (basically line it with the polycotton), but I quickly realised that you would be able to see the darts and pleats through the top fabric and going the underlining route was just better all round.

If you haven't come across the term: underlining is when you deal with two fabrics as if they were one layer.  You pin, pleat and dart them both together. It does make for a better appearance when the top layer is translucent or see-through, like mine.

It was all going quite swimmingly when I discovered that I had for some unknown reason sewn the longer outer curve of my back neckline band as if it was the outer curve of a collar. Except it isn't and this longer curve needs to be sewn into the back bodice piece. Outch.

The first picture shows the problem:

I'm a bit of a lazy sort, I did most certainly not want to re-cut the whole neckband thing (after I already did for a different reason: I cut one part wrong, oops. So I wasn't going to cut this out a third time), so I stitched the correct side shut, picked the longer side open and basted the fabrics on just one side, like so:

I made sure to pin the two layers of the back bodice so they wouldn't slip out of alignment and stuck the basted part of the neckband over the raw edge, basting it down. I felt it would take longer to press the band fold (from when I'd sewn the wrong side) back open, pin to the raw edge, stitch and press back flat.

Instead I top-stitched the band to the bodice (I know that's not how you're meant to do this), when I should have sewn this together at right side of tabric together first and top-stitched after that. Well, sue me, not doing it.

I think that emergency manoeuvre worked quite well:

The central part of the bodice is a touch puckered, but not too badly. I think I can get away with that. I have a very small pucker on the inside, who cares.

Because the top-stitching from the right side did not catch the second band layer, I then hand-sewed that layer down.  I used to loathe hand sewing but I've come to quite enjoy it. You can sit and think about pleasant things (or listen to a podcast or what have you) and enjoy the time to yourself.  I recommend a nice quiet hand sewing session, it's peaceful.

Then I pulled the basting stitches back out and called it done. Marvellous!

 

I also hand stiched the armhole facings down on the inside, into just the underlining layer, that was a touch tricky:

I sewed the front neckline shut a bit and now feel that it pulls a little. Next time I'll raise the neckline even more than I already did. This is pattern 2104 from Lekala that didn't look like the V-neck would end lower than the bust point - the image on the website definitely shows it even with the bust darts, but nope: the pattern that I taped together has a decolleté that plunges to about your navel. 

Not to worry, easy enough to raise that. Which I did. Twice. Still not high enough. I'll know for next time.

I had sewn this pattern twice before: once as a wearable toile, then in a patterned green fabric I really like. I do wear both. I thought I had made all the changes I wanted to make but found that I want to adjust this pattern some more if I made it again:

As I mentioned I'll raise the bottom of the V-neck another inch or inch and a half.  I also want to change the angle of the bust dart - I feel that the horizontal line looks okay as far as it goes, but I think an angle would make this more flattering. That will take more fabric, so I'll need to keep that in mind.  I haven't quite made up my mind if I want an angle from lower down in the side seam, or even one down from the armhole. It will also depend on the fabric I'll want to use.

Now this top is almost done, the only thing I forgot was that I wanted to stitch two double-pointed darts into the back to take it in a bit at the waist. I can easily add this later. When I get my sewjo back.

Long story short: I made life a bit more difficult with my choice of fabric (but I so love the colour so it was worth it), the hem didn't quite work out because I overlocked it too early - I should have waited until I stitched everything else. The top fashion fabric layer turned out to be a little bigger than the underlining fabric but better that than the other way around. When I folded up the hem I let the top fabric sit a touch longer to even things out. It worked out, that's the important thing.

Another project

 I'm quite pleased with how this blouse turned out.

I had wanted to use one of my sleeve drafts and I also had this lovely Rose and Hubble fabric (this is the black and white colourway, I also bought some in the blue and white).

I should have paid more attention to which blouse pattern I picked - I had to adjust the shoulders too much on this one because this started out as a sleeveless top with those silly cap sleeves.  They look horrible on me, just make me look like a prize boxer: huge shoulders, it's totally the wrong proportion on me.

I finally managed to fit my sleeve template into the newly adjusted armhole, phew.

The sleeve is meant to have a peaked cuff.  The cuff is only attached at the bottom and was supposed to stand away from the sleeve at the peak.  I did adapt the pattern to give the cuff more room at the peak by slashing it and pulling the two pieces apart at the top (hinge at the hem/bottom) - leaving a gap of 3-4 mm. I didn't realise that this wouldn't be enough.  Because the cuff sits on top of the lower sleeve layer, it just doesn't leave any gap. Ah right, I'll know for next time.

This is a not very good photo of the sleeve:

I found some great buttons that go well with this:

I sewed the V-neck down from the right side by edge-stitching at about an inch, to make sure that the facings would stay down.

Drafting sleeve patterns

I've been messing around with drafting sleeve patterns. I even drew up quite a number of different designs, around 12 at last count, back in January. 

I made up a few of them as isolated samples, and that's how far I got. I only did a set of two cowl sleeves in a blue fabric I had from a fabric swap (love the colour of the fabric, thank you so much to whoever donated it!), but I have not decided yet what bodice pattern I want for this top. I'll Frankenpattern the needed armhole onto whatever bodice pattern I go for.

The other blouse I started at the beginning of the year was a Lekala pattern using the black and white colour way of a lovely Rose and Hubble fabric I got from Pound Fabrics. Unfortunately I did not do a muslin to check if the armhole goes with my sleeve template - it does not. So I will need to adjust the sleeve slightly. That might not be too much of a problem, but again, I have not decided on what sleeve design I want. I am waiting for inspiration to strike.

Now that we have November (where did the time disappear to?) I though I'd post at least some of my sleeve drafts. Perhaps this will inspire me to continue with either the cowl top or the Rose and Hubble sleeves.

I like this design - a tab gathers the horizontally folded fabric and pulls it into a bow. You could even have a press stud at one end so you can iron the sleeve flat and only gather the bow after pressing. It would be very practical.

The arrow I drew onto the lozenge* shaped bit indicates that you need to fold up the lower edge of the lozenge and align it with its top edge. The top end of the tab gets sewn into the fold, perhaps a little higher than my dotted line in the above photo.  You can stay-stitch the relevant sleevehead edge inside the seam allowance to keep the fold in place before sewing into the armhole. 

The self facing at the bottom is folded up inside for a neat hem finish.

And this is what a sample of this sleeve design looks like:

I am really enjoying this shape though I don't know just yet what it will look like when worn. Will the gathering tab look too prominent, too centered, too high?  It will be interesting to try out.

I suppose that there is no dire need to center it exactly, it could move a little towards the front or even the back. Once made up as a blouse I would like some photos to be taken so I can see what this looks like from an objective distance. Just checking the mirror does not give all the useful information you want to evaluate a style.

Please wish me luck that I will sew up a blouse with this sleeve design soon, or one of the other two I mentioned above. It would be so nice for my sewing motivation to come unstuck. Well, if not this year, then 2023 is 12 months long, surely I'll make some progress eventually.

*: Strictly speaking the shape I'm talking about could be called an elongated hexagon. I like lozenge, but this shape is obviously a stretched-out one. I hope you know what I mean.

Trying Out a Free Pattern- Earn Your Stripes Breton Tee (dress hack)

This is a free downloadable pdf pattern, designed by Claire-Louise Hardie, available from Love Sewing magazine website.  The pattern is for a fairly loose fit tee shirt with an option of ¾ or full length sleeves.  It has dropped shoulders and a neckband.  I chose to use the pattern as a basis for a dress. The fabric required is a jersey fabric with at least 20% stretch.   The link to download  this pattern  here.

There are no making up instructions with this pattern  but it follows the usual method of sewing together for this type of tee shirt. I have given very brief instructions in the Making Up section below.

Printing and assembling the pattern. The only option for printing out is using A4 format and it takes 18 sheets for the pattern itself (see below).  The sheet illustrated shows the order of assembly of the pdf.  It is necessary to trim the sheets where indicated to fit the pattern together.

The test square is on sheet 1, the finished back lengths of the tee shirt on sheet 7 and the finished bust measurements on sheet 9.  Seam allowances are included in the pattern.

Sizes and Alterations.  This pattern comes in 8 sizes from  32" to 46" bust (pattern size 8 to 22), the pattern ease is 3 inches on all sizes.  Hip size is not given as this pattern is for a top.  My bust size falls between 8 and 10 and I opted for size 10 as I wanted a loose fit. There is a lengthen and shorten line on the front and back pieces and to turn this into a dress I just extended the line of the pattern straight down from here until it reached my desired length.

Making Up.  This can be sewn up on an overlocker or a sewing machine with a zigzag stitch or stretch stitch capacity.  I used a sewing machine.  The order of construction is (briefly) -  1. Sew the shoulder seams, I added stay tape to the shoulder seams as I usually do with a stretch fabric. 2. Join the ends of the neckband and fold it in half and attach to the neck with a 1 cm seam allowance.  The neckband seam sits at the centre back. and you use the quartering method to fit the neckband to the neck. If you don't know the quartering method here is a short video about it plus a tip on reducing bulk at the back seam of the neckband. 3. Attach the sleeves by the flat method and sew up the side seams.  Helen's Closet has a tutorial on her blog for this method here.  4. Hem the sleeves and bottom of the garment  using a twin needle or zigzag stitch.

Verdict.  This was very quick and easy to make.  With hindsight if I make this again (and I may well do so) I will make the size 8 as I needed to take in the side seams of the bodice and upper arms but I am rather flat chested and have no biceps to speak of.  I also have no curves to my hips and extending the top straight down to create a dress worked well for me but those with more curves to the hips may want to flare the shape out a bit more.  I used some jersey fabric that I got in Brighton at the Fabricland closing down sale last year and it was perfect for this, soft, light and cosy.  I could certainly wear this during three of the four seasons with additions of thick tights and a cardigan when the cold demands it.  I added an extra 2 inches to the long sleeve length of the pattern so I could pull the sleeves down and keep my hands a bit warmer but can push the sleeves up if I don't need this.  I might make a tie belt and blouse the dress over the belt for a shorter length in the Spring but, at the moment, I want to wear it long.

And so to finish with another picture of myself being blown by the wind and trying to keep my hair out off my face - -

Trying out a Free Pattern - Low Rise Knickers in Woven Fabric

 

This is a free downloadable pattern from a rather strange website sew-ing.com/make

 It appears to be Japanese in origin and the translation into English is not very good but is adequate.  There are instructions for making some unusual items, including a Strawberry Cream Cake in Felt  and cat lovers should check out the Cat Pouch.  If you explore the website you will find different varieties of patterns for knickers, mostly for women but some for men and children, in both woven and stretch fabrics.  The link to the pattern for the type of knickers (or panties if you prefer) that I made is here 

The reason behind my trying out this pattern was that I wanted to find a pattern for items that I actually needed that could be made with small (i.e. under a metre) left over scraps from dressmaking projects .  This pattern was designed to be made using a man's size handkerchief 43 centimetre square  but can be made with any light weight cotton.  There are a number of free knicker patterns available for use with suitable stretch fabric, such as light weight cotton t-shirting, but I didn't have any such left overs that were not already earmarked for clothing for toddlers.  I did have lightweight woven cotton scraps so I was looking for knicker patterns using woven fabrics .  I have tried to make a pair of knickers in cotton from an independent commercial pattern but my sewing of the elastic directly on to the fabric, by stretching the elastic to fit the fabric as I sewed, left a lot to be desired and was uneven.  I was therefore delighted to find this pattern, designed for woven fabric,  where the elastic was threaded through a channel at the waist and legs but, if you wished, there was no need to put elastic on the legs.  This latter was the option that I went for.  

 

Printing and Assembling the Pattern.  There are only two pages to print out on A4 paper.  However you should be aware that the pattern is scaled at 96% and so comes up very slightly smaller than actual size.  I couldn't work out any way of printing it out at 100% with the equipment I had available. You have to add seam allowances yourself, 1 to 1.5 centimetres is recommended for the waist and 0.7 to 1 cm for the other seams and edges.  If you want to add elastic to the legs then I would suggest allowing at least 1 cm here. 

Sizes, Alterations and Style Options. The pattern only comes in size 90 cm hips because they are designed to be cut from a large men's size handkerchief and you cannot cut a size larger than that from the handkerchief  However you can use any suitable weight fabric and I went for my first pair to some cotton left over from making a child's sundress.  

 The photograph above shows the amount of fabric that I had compared to a man's handkerchief. The knickers can be made smaller, as I did, by shaving the necessary amount off the side seams.  To make them larger you could add to the side seams or follow the suggestions on the website to insert some lace or add side ties.  It is suggested that you cut the pattern pieces on the bias, which will allow some give to the fabric.  If you are using a handkerchief then you have to cut on the bias but, if you wish, you can cut on the straight grain.  I opted to cut on the bias. 

You have two basic style options.  You can cut the front all in one piece in which case your pattern pieces will look like this when you have cut them out, a front and back piece and a gusset and gusset lining.

 The second option is to cut a central panel for the front on the straight grain so that you can insert a   trim, use a contrast fabric or play with cutting the pieces in different pattern directions.  For this option you need to create a centre panel by cutting on the lines marked on the front pattern piece and remember to add seam allowances to the resulting panel and the side pieces.  Your pattern pieces will then look like this.

 Making Up.  I had some cotton lace insertion left from trimming a blouse so I used this to trim this pair.  Here's how the front looks after sewing the front pieces together sandwiching the insertion between the seams.

Sewing together is very easy.  Just sew up the side seams, I used french seams.  How to sew the two gusset pieces to the front and back is shown clearly on the sew-ing website.  The raw top and leg edges are then finished by overlocking or zigzag stitching, and the edges turned over to form a channel and stitched down leaving a gap where necessary to thread the elastic through.  As you can see from the first picture on this post I chose to embellish the legs of two pairs with lace.  With the blue spotted pair I had a small amount of narrow pale blue lace, it fitted the bill so exactly that I had just 2 centimetres left after sewing it on.

Verdict.  I am, once more, pleased with the result from a free download.  These knickers are exactly the same shape as some RTW ones that I have.  They are very comfortable to wear and I think they look attractive.  Only a small amount of fabric is required, you could even cut each piece in a differently   patterned fabric of the same weight if you wanted to use up your smallest scraps.  I shall certainly be making some more of these, in fact I already am!