Pieces and Parts

Slow progress. Everything is cut and staystitched. I just need to assemble ;-) My hope for this muslin is that I finally got the shoulder seams in the right place and neckline in order. Then, I can move on to bust this weekend.

I did put a good tip into practice -- sewing with paper to keep the fabric from shifting. Worked like a dream. I know folks cut bias project out on paper, I wonder if that would help with knits too. My only concern is cutting through paper with my good scissors.

Not Waisting Away

Thanks to all who had input on my last post about finding my waist. The verdict? I had the measurement right the first time. I was delusional last weekend. Bend to the side; the part that folds is your waist!

Here are some great videos Patricia @Perfect Sew & Fit sent me to help determine where the waist is.

• http://youtu.be/TynnNZHuPjE
• http://youtu.be/Hur_ompEzNA
• http://youtu.be/w7njhM0jMF8

Other good news -- I was able to to get my hands on M6353 last night. I was so geeked that I misread the sales paper and thought the sale started Friday instead of today. The cashier saw how crestfallen I was and let me have it at today's sale price. Thank God for small miracles. I will have this dress for the July 4th holiday. I'm on the lookout for a killer rayon-Lycra blend in a super-saturated fun color. With five yds of fabric, I'm guessing color is important.While Jo-Ann's is the leading with Deep Lake, Blue Jewel and Calla Green, I was hoping for something more citrus-y. High End Fabrics has a nice selection of modal-spandex knits, but the colors aren't as intense. I've reached out to Ann at Gorgeous Fabrics for suggestions. I've ordered swatches from Spandex World too:

Today, I'm going to attempt a square shoulder adjustment on the KS3740 muslin. I'm so thankful for all of the help everyone has offered on this project. Carol @Fit That has suggested that I might get better results if I start with the medium instead of the small. There's more than one way to skin a cat, so I'll try this in a medium and follow her recommendations (as soon as I find muslin-worthy fabric). 

True confession: it's supposed to be 70 degrees today and 56 tomorrow. I might end up sewing tomorrow instead of today :-)

Jersey Girl

I'm still tweaking M6078. This is moving slower than expected. The culprit is the Vera Wang jersey I'm using for the muslin (best Fabric Mart Deal ever. I wish I'd bought more for muslin.) This is my first time working with a slippery, thin fabric. It's all over the place, even with my machine's integrated walking foot. It shifts even when I pin every 1/4 inch.

So, I have questions for you who know what you're doing :-)

• How do I keep the fabric from moving so much?

Look at the pleats:

• What stitch do I use for sewing the pleats? I'm using a tiny zig zag. Should I be using a straight stitch? If so, do I need to stretch the fabric as I sew?
• Is my tension too high?
• Should I switch to a fine or silk thread?

Also, my 2nd-favorite Chicagoland Hancock store is closing. All patterns, except Kwik Sew, were $.99! I didn't do too badly LOL. I stuck to my resolution and didn't buy any fabric. Although, if the matte jersey or ponteroma gets any cheaper, y'all will need to pray for my strength.

When Life Gives You Lemons, Make a Muslin

I have been working on V8699 for what seems like forever.  It's a Custom Fit, so no FBA needed and it came in a 24 for my hips. This was going to be easier to tackle.

Then came the dreaded sway back alteration.  I made a 2" wedge.  The side seams were straight and the CF matched mine. The round back alteration worked like a dream. Dealing with forward shoulders on a shoulder princess was no walk in the park, but I think I got it.  All of this was done on Swedish tracing paper.

I whipped out my prized ponteroma knit and began cutting.  I made it to the sewing machine, knocked out the staystitching and basted the top together. Tried to get fancy and add clear elastic to the shoulders, but I did it wrong. No biggie.

I anxiously tried on the top this morning. Y'all know what I forgot to do? Pay attention to the placement of the front princess seams.  They were INCHES away from my apex; waaaay too close to the side seams.  Wait, I forgot about how I didn't actually complete the round back alteration.  I made the dart, but forgot to widen the back shoulder. I would have been able to save the top if it wasn't for that.

Oh well. I have a nice stash of ponteroma here and there's plenty more at Hancock. When I replace this fabric, I'll get to use less because the View B tunic is not the look for me. I knew better! I've been reading The Science of Sexy (I'll review it later) and I fully agreed that pear-shaped women should not wear long tops. But I really liked the shaped hem on the tunic. Lesson learned. I'll be making the View A top with long sleeves.

All is not lost because I'm continuing to fit my 'new' muslin. I'm happy with the front and lower back. I added a CB seam for my sway back. I've had to take even more length out.

I think I've had enough for today.

Not Bad For A Muslin - Kwik Sew 3617

I finished KS3617 today and not without drama.  First, you see that blue dot on the neckband? That was where I numbered the wrong side of the pattern piece so that I wouldn't confuse things.  I used a Mark-B-Gone marker.  Then  I fused interfacing over the mark.  Now, when the collar is wet, the ink goes away.  When the fabric dries, the mark reappears.  That better come out when I wash the top tomorrow.

The second bit of drama was, and I almost came to tears, when I was hemming the sleeve.  I used my machine's free arm and I thought I had stretched the fabric out.  I don't know if I would have recovered if I had.  Thank God it worked out. 

I purchased the fabric to be a muslin.  I think that by the time I was done with the sale at Hancock, I paid around $1.00 for the fabric.  Silly me should have bought the whole bolt.  Then I'd have a more realistic muslin fabric for this ponteroma knit wardrobe. In the back of my mind, I was hoping that this muslin would be wearable.  I think it is:-)

The last quirk I have for this top is something I've done with everything I've tried to make -- I accidently cut a hole in it. Without fail, I do it every time.  I know less about mending and darning than I do sewing, so here's my best attempt at a fix.

Let's review, shall we?

Pattern Description

Misses' pull-over close fitting tops. View A has scoop neckline with wide neckband and full length sleeves.

Pattern Sizing
XS-XL

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?
Yes. Kwik Sew has become my favorite brand for knit tops. The patters are well-drafted and the instructions are clear.

  

What did you particularly like or dislike about the pattern?
I love the scoop neck with wide band. 

Fabric Used
Ribbed knit from Hancock's value fabrics

Pattern alterations or any design changes you made
1.  I tissue-fit the patten as subbested in Fit for Real People: Sew Great Clothes Using ANY Pattern (Sewing for Real People series)

2.  No-dart FBA as described in The Perfect Fit: The Classic Guide to Altering Patterns.

3.  I added back darts.  At the time, I didn't understand how to do a sway back alteration. So I added darts using a really scientific method; I pulled out a pattern that had darts and traced them onto this pattern.

Would you sew it again?  Would you recommend it to others?
Of course. It's a good basic top.  If I can tackle this with moderate success, beginners should have no fear.

Conclusion
This top is a wardrobe staple. I look forward to it in many colors in both short and long sleeves. 

Beginners, here are the skills you'll get to practice:

• Working with knits
• Understitching
• Hemming
• Double-needle topstitching
• Fusing interfacing
• Attaching a shaped neckband 

See the work in progress here, here and here.  Thank you to those who provided advice and encouragement along the way.

Slowly But Surely - Kwik Sew 3617

I completed the neckband today. It takes me a long time to work a neckband. I get confused about which way to pin it. And it takes me forever to sew it onto the neckline.  This one was a two-piece neckband with interfacing.

I have it attached to the top.  Please tell me what I was supposed to do with all those seam allowances. I made up a way to trim them, but I'm sure there are some proven techniques.

My understitching skills need work.

Didn't do too badly on this round of understitching.  This is the part that really took forever because I had to rip and re-sew several times.  Okay, a ton of times.

I pressed everything within an inch of it's life. Next up sleeves, side seams and hemming.  Whoo hoo!

Are Darts My Friends?

I made a very rough muslin of Kwik Sew 3617 tonight.  I think the front of the top is fine.  I was very proud of my no-dart FBA.  I also did a nice job of tissue fitting.

When I looked at the back view -- uggh.  It's very similar to this:

Are darts the answer for fixing that pool of fabric?  I've piled all of my reference books and all my shirt patterns with back darts in the bed for some late-night reading.  In the meantime, please let me know if I'm on the right track.  Back darts in a knit top seem odd to me, but that's the only way I can imagine a fitted shirt fitting me. Since I plan on wearing the shirt out and not tucked in, I need to explore every option.

It's Finished!! Kwik Sew 3338

Whew! This top is complete! I'm so happy. I would be ecstatic if it wasn't for the wrap disaster I suffered through during the break. And to think that stopped working on this to attempt that wrap. The top looks better on me than it does on the form. (I can't seem to get the padding right on the form since I put the cover on it.) I don't know what's causing the neckline to do that, but it's good enough for me (my expectations aren't that high yet.)

What took me forever on this was the hem. Not that it was all that difficult. It's just that as I kept trying to pull the top down over the butt on my dress form that was larger than mine, the fabric developed runs. There was no more extra fabric to be had, so I had to figure out how to fix runs that were about 1 1/4" in some places.

I folded the hem so all of the runs would be on the wrong side, but I was afraid of losing too much fabric. (This top had to work.) You can still see a little of the Fray Check on the right side, bit it's not too bad. The result isn't perfect, but wearable, especially since I made this top to be worn only with this poncho. I'm more than a little ticked about the run that developed in the neckline. Needless to say, as a safety precaution, I finished the edges before hemming.

I used to think Burda had the best directions in the industry, I now give the award to Kwik Sew. My next three tops will be knit ones from Kwik Sew.

My technical issues included sewing the neckline. Not because it was all that hard, I just didn't have much experience doing it. I found the top stitching was a little challenging, I don't think I ever got to the perfect stitch length and tension combo. This was my first attempt an an FBA, I'll get it right as time goes on. There are issues with this one, but the poncho hides all sins and mistakes :-) The parts that show look great! Remember how your mama told you to always wear clean underwear in case you were in an accident? I hope nothing ever happens to me while I'm wearing this top! If I find more fabric to match the poncho, I'll remake this (but I'm in no hurry.)

The cool thing I learned is that instead of using my non-adjustable overcast foot, I could use the zigzag foot to get the proper seam allowance and then cut off the excess fabric. (Cut me some slack; I'm self taught and it's a slow process.)

I told my coworkers that I would be wearing this on Monday. Looks like I will. It might even make an appearance at church tomorrow :-)

Hate Mail

Dear McCall Pattern Company: It was with great excitement I opened McCall's 5241. I spent a lot of time thinking about a new knit wardrobe. M5241 was a big part of the plan -- I was going to make three of them. I'd been hoarding ponteroma knit from Hancock's. I looked like a crackhead as I waited for my next coupon fix. Finally, Christmas was here and I would be able to make these during my time off. My goodness, how slowly I worked to make sure I got the stitching right. I would be wearing these to work and they needed to be right. Look at that hem. I was so proud. I'm learning as I go, so I struggled to figure out how to even hem this. Did I need to finish the edge first? Was I supposed to fold it twice? I had to keep looking at the shirt I was wearing for reference. Not bad at all, not bad at all. What I do need to remember to do is not start in the middle of the hem, but start stitching at a side seam. Oh well.

My topstitching was a labor of love. I was looking for perfection -- a tall order for someone who has problems sewing straight seams. All is well, I even figured out the double-needle thing.

This was only supposed to take an hour! I'm new to sewing, so I do things slowly. I was also being extra careful, so I figured it would take about a day to make this. No problem. Okay. Time to sew the sleeves in. Gee. These seem way too big for the armholes. Let me consult the instructions. There's nothing here that would suggest I need to do anything other than pin and sew. But these seem really big. Time passes and these damn sleeves still aren't working. Maybe I screwed up the markings. I'll re-mark everything. Okay. This still isn't right. Did I cut the armholes wrong? Let me check Pattern Review.com. Arrgghhh! Other people had problems with the armholes too. This is where I should have cut my losses and walked away. Maybe I could figure how to make this sleeveless later. Although this was mentioned nowhere in the instructions, I tried to ease the sleeves in. Well I suck at it and I don't want the look of set-in sleeves anyway. But alas, what if I could make the armholes big enough to fit the sleeves? Using some really unreliable methods, I figured that if I re-cut the armholes using the seamline as a guide, I might be able to get things to work. Success? Not a chance. By now I'm angry and determined (not a good combo.) The sleeves are still to big. What if like when attaching a neckline, I stretched the armhole while sewing? I'm desperate, I'll try anything. This is when I stretched the armhole out. Game over. McCall's, you owe me $17.72 for the fabric and a bottle of wine to calm my nerves. Actually, you owe me for the replacement patterns I bought/will buy too: Kwik Sew 3285, McCall's 5713 and Butterick 5394. None of these excite me as much as M5241, but I need toppers so I'll have to make due. The good news is that I'm really comfortable with working with this type of knit now. I also got to practice my topstitching. I've also become fanatical about pressing. Yea me.

Psyched & Ready To Go!

The real version of the KS338 top is coming along wonderfully! All I have to do is press the side seams and hem it. I'm saving this for later during my vacation. I want to use a double-needle for the hem and I need two things - a needle and some practice! Wednesday is hemming day. I've planned and re-planned my wardrobe to death. What I've finally settled on is knit. Until March, I will be a ponteroma-knit-sewing queen. My goals are ambitious - 13 pieces, but they are repeats in different colors. The BMV patterns are rated easy or very easy; the wraps are supposed to be one-hour projects. I'm getting the hang of Kwik Sew tops. (We'll pray together when I start Hot Patterns 1062.) Including the current KS3338 top, I want to return to work on January 4, with six new pieces. First on my sewing agenda is tweaking my dress form. Ruby was perfect until I put the cover on her. Everything got compressed and the cover really doesn't work with the sway back situation. I added more padding, but the butt is too high and round. The top I'm working on fits me better than the form. I have to fix her ASAP, especially before I start the pants and skirts. Well, here's the wardrobe plan. All in ponteroma knit (purchased with coupons of course). Holiday Break

• KS3740 (brown)
• KS3617 (cream)
• M5241 (brown, cream & black). I've been calling these wraps, but I guess they are cardigans.

January-February

• V8605C (brown & black)
• B5191D (brown & black)
• KS3093 (cream)
• KS2948A (cream)
• NL6922E (black)
• KS2856A (black)
• HP1062 (black)

It's a Miracle!

Look at what a good press will do! No puckers. Yea!!!! I had pressed the sleeves and decided to try and salvage the neckline. Look at what happened. Woo Hoo!

Back to the sleeves. I realized I need to sew very slowly. My lead foot is not welcomed while sewing. Even still, I ended up with this:

After pressing, I still see puckers, so I'm going to press again. I just had to stop and share my neckline joy.

Pucker Up

Yesterday was neckline day. I also worked on the fit in the back; I finally realized that the fabric was pooling because I cut the back too big. I'm trying to remember if I was this clueless when I started cooking. I think the difference was that when I was little, I could stand at the stove and ask questions. I was given small tasks as a helper and paid with chance to lick cake batter from the bowl. Those were the days. I'm on my own with sewing. That is until I find great how-to videos, but more about those later. So I stitched my neckband and pressed it open.

Next, I folded the neckband in half and pinned it to the center back, center front and shoulder seams. I machine-basted it in place. The neckline puckered, so I redid it. It puckered again. I tried a longer stitch length with my already loosened tension. Still puckered. I chalked this up to hurry-up-and-finish-the muslin-and-figure-it-out-before-you-make-the-real-shirt. Probably a bad call, but my frustration level had risen to "I hate sewing." I stitched the neckline in place using the overcast foot. Yep. More puckers.

The good thing is that I've figured out what I was doing wrong -- I was sewing this with the free arm and the neckband was on the bottom. Duh. That's easy to say now, after I saw this video. Duly noted for the real thing, which I need to have finished before the end of the year. Practicing with the sleeves today. See, my attitude has changed. I realize that with each new technique, the first try is practice. I no longer have delusions about my truly neophyte skills. My frustration has dissipated.

I Turned On The Sewing Machine!

This weekend was about fits and starts. But it ended we me actually at the machine - for five minutes. I was so happy. Let me say now that I really admire people who sew. I didn't start this thinking it would be easy or that I had a natural talent; I'm now proving both to be true.

But, I love the challenge. The thought of rocking a handmade something so fierce in both garment selection and fit that people ask me where I got it keeps me going. It's actually fun, once you get behind the machine.

However, before you get to the machine, you must prep fabric (did some of that yesterday and reorganized the stash). Then you gotta cut the pattern, tissue fit it and then cut the fabric. You know there's more, but I want to pause here and explain Saturday.

I woke up excited. Got an early start on the pattern. Then I got a little stuck. Are knit patterns cut smaller because of the fabric's stretch? This may be a dumb question with an obvious answer to you, but I was stumped.

This pattern was not fitting Ruby at all, even with the FBA. I knew I was taking my chances on the no-dart FBA because there's a max amount you can adjust, but damn. Then there was the issue of the backside and side seams. "Twas not pretty. What I should have thought of was adding width at the hips! Anyway, I traced the new seam line, got distracted and didn't come back to it until late Sunday afternoon.

I was getting ready to cut out the front piece of fabric when I realized that I although I traced a seam line, I never traced and cut the cutting line. I'm brilliant like that at least once a week. If you look closely, you can see the oops here. Learning that coasters make great pattern weights was a bonus.

Notice that black fabric. That was supposed to be my muslin. Totally didn't pay attention to the fact it had less stretch than my real fabric. Boo hoo. Start over. I pulled out the original muslin fabric for this top. (Once I got this piece home, I thought, "Muslin my eye. This is too good to practice on.")

Here we are all pinned up. Is there anyway to fix the swayback thing in a top?

Looks no worse than some RTW tops on me. I know that's not the point of this, but I needed a confidence booster. It's my first time adjusting a pattern, so whatever.

Next, I sat down at my machine to do the easing lines. I was excited to wind the bobbin! The 1/4" seam allowance? No biggie. Yeah right. Thought I could get away without marking the stitching lines. Nope. Why hasn't Crayola or Sharpie done something about the difficulty of marking dark fabric? I have chalk and the white pen, but there has to be something better. I guess I'll be getting one of those new ceramic sewing pencils soon

Okay. Marked all the lines. Let's sew. Easing lines done. What's next? Add interfacing to the shoulders. Hey, I read somewhere that you need to preshrink interfacing. Uggh! Got up from the machine to do that. The strips were so small, I was able to get them completely dry with a towel. Then I noticed on the packaging that it was preshrunk. So is only the type you buy by the yard that needs preshrinking? Anyway, let's fuse, baby!

Yea! Let's sew. Wait, something isn't right. This is because I pinned the wrong side front to the right side back. Then I pinned the wrong shoulders together. Then I realized I had not finished marking the seamlines on the back. (This is why I do all of my important thinking in the morning, I'm completely useless at night.)

The directions say to overcast the seams. I have an overcast foot. No problem.

Umm, problem. My foot isn't adjustable, so my seam allowance is now 1/8." Oh well. I suppose I could have trimmed everything 1/8" and then proceeded, but where's the fun in that? Duly noted for the real thing.

Perhaps I should have put the interfacing right to the edge of the fabric? I guess muslins are important after all *wink.*

And that was my sewing weekend.

Starting Over -- Kwik Sew 3338

Let's see. I was kinda proud of my progress on this top. Then, Ruby came and then Thanksgiving, etc, etc. (Speaking of which, I'm open to any and all suggestions about how to mimic my swayback on a dress form.) So when I sat down to pick up where I left off, I realized I probably should start over.


Two reasons for the decision: a dress form to make fitting easier and I wasn't real clear on how to do an FBA without creating a dart. I wasn't grasping the concept from Fit For Real People. Enter The Perfect Fit -- it made things crystal clear! The clothes in the book are dated, but the advice is timeless.

So, according to the book, The max I can add to the bodice width is 1 1/2." I hope that's enough! I probably should know for sure, but how in the heck do you tell with a knit pattern? Isn't it cut smaller anyway?

So again, I'm using Swedish tracing paper. Love that stuff. I hope Santa brings me more for Christmas. Here's the pattern on the form:

When tracing, I traced both the medium cutting line and the extra large. When cutting, I just left a gap between the two. I figured I could tissue fit the side seam after the FBA.

I'm new to this, so I'm not sure if I did this right. I tugged at pieces of the pattern to get it to fit the form better. I thought that back and shoulders were pretty standard, so the fit issue must be in the bust. Therefore, I got everything else to lay properly and let the center front do what it wanted.

Now for the adjustment. I slid the armhole portion out the max 3/4." I moved the center front waist down 2".

Well, that was all of my Sunday progress. (I spent most of my sewing time finishing padding out the dress form.) Next, I have to blend the cutting and stitching lines. My goal this weekend is to finish the muslin.

Older & Wiser - Sort Of

So, I'm all ready to start cutting Kwik Sew 3338 right? Wrong! How about I think about a muslin instead of "practicing" on the real fabric. Wow, what if I used Pattern Review as a resource instead of just as a way to catalog my patterns and wish list? Hot damn, what if I actually read the reviews and figured out what alterations I may need to make? What if I would have thought about alterations before cutting the pattern? (I would have thought to taper to XL in the hips.)


I had a birthday between this series of posts and the Burda Skirt UFO. I'd like to think I'm getting older and wiser. I'm really hoping the wisdom starts kicking in before I pick up scissors. Oh well, I guess I'll be digging the pattern remnants out of the trash. Where's my tape?

So, here's what I learned from Pattern Review:

• I may need an FBA (full bust adjustment) based on the amount of stretch in my fabric. It's not too stretchy, so I guess I'll be doing my first one. Random tangent: weeks ago, I had to argue my best friends down about my D cup. They just could not believe it. Shoot, I'd been in denial myself; it was with great sadness I donated my good C bras a couple of months ago. Things grow as you get older. If I think about the women in my family, I should've seen this coming.
• I may want to add a couple of inches to the bottom. We'll see.
• Stabilizing the shoulders with clear elastic would be a great addition. I gotta read up on that more and buy some clear elastic.

I keep telling myself to stop doing things late at night; I always screw up. Had I waited to cut the pattern until this morning, I probably would've remembered to taper to an XL. Oh well. Time to go through the trash.

Getting Ready

Now that I have my poncho, I need a top to go with it. Enter what I hope will become a TNT pattern for me, Kwik Sew 3338. I'm attempting view A. My closet needs staples; stuff I can wear now.  I know this looks like a very basic top. I was amazed that I couldn't find this simple top among the other pattern brands. Thank you, Kwik Sew!

Here we go: day 1:  I'm even ironing my pattern pieces. (See, I'm taking this seriously.) I love Kwik Sew. Real paper instead of tissue rocks!

Here's the fabric. I have no idea what this is, other than it's a knit! Time to pin and cut. Actually, it's late. Think I'll pin and cut tomorrow. Who knows, I might even get to sew a little. (It's the little things that make me happy.)

The Longest 1-Hr Project Ever -- Simplicity 4781

I finished a project today. That is a feat in and of itself, but this was a project I started in 2005! It was a 1-Hr poncho and I put it down because my mind could not grasp the concept of a hem. I just couldn't get it. (I've since realized that I hate hemming. Period.) That brought my new hobby to a screeching halt. Well, no more! Simplicity 4781 is now complete!!!

When I decided to finish this, I realized it was too much trouble to try and undo the foolishness of years past. In my infinite wisdom, I bought enough fabric for two ponchos. (I knew I would probably screw it up.) I took the pins out of the first one and threw it away.

This fabric wasn't the easiest to work with, but not at all bad for a knit. I guess it's a loose sweater knit. I purchased it because it was purple and I didn't have a single thing in my closet to go with it (my way of trying something new).

I thought it was funny that the thread I got to go with it has been discontinued. Coats and Clark has moved on with a new type of all purpose thread and new colors. I was able to get really close with Gutermann. Why did I buy new thread? I have no idea how long you can keep thread. Better safe than sorry. I'm so glad I kept the original thread because I wouldn't have had enough to make real progress on the top I'm making to go with the poncho.

Turns out I didn't get to sew a single stitch on the top. Oh well, I refuse to go to the store for a single spool of thread. My new rule is to buy two spools for knit projects. All of those stretch stitches eat thread. And since I do a lot of ripping and resewing ... you get the picture.

Well, here's me in my new poncho!

Well, gotta go. I'm gettind ready to cut the top that goes with this.