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.

Kwik Sew 3221

My first completed project.

I really am supposed to be figuring out how to make pants for my beautiful pear shape, but one can’t just jump to a pair of Vogue jeans. I’m easing into things by starting with some simple tops. Although Kwik Sew 3221 is my third top pattern, this is the first one I’ve been able to wear, the rest turned into muslins for various reasons.

I got smart with this one and made a real muslin first. I know the pattern is really simple (a rectangle with side seams). However, how do you accommodate XL hips and M bust in a rectangle? Tapering would’ve destroyed the shape. Thank goodness KS has helpful customer service because I was truly perplexed. The solution? Cut a medium and use XL stitching lines. After making the muslin, I decided to use the XL length.

This was my first neckline and I did okay. In the future, I’ll be a lot more careful when making the facing. I got fancy and used French seams for the shoulders. I tried to make a machine-rolled narrow hem. It was my first and I could use a ton more practice. I figured out through trial and error that the walking foot was a necessitiy for the sheer fabric.

Not bad for a first attempt. I wore it to work and it didn’t fall apart!