Pattern Palooza

Woo Hoo! I think I went from six to only three doses of the pain medication yesterday. This means that probably for the first day in two weeks, I was awake more than I was asleep! While I've been on the mend, I've noticed three new spring collections -- New Look, Burda and Vogue.

I think spring collections are my favorites because it's all about the dress! These did not disappoint. New Look is first. Please forgive the wonky formatting. Blogger and I are not friends today.

Fav!                                                                            Happiness!

There are very few maxi dresses I don't like.


Love a breezy skirt.                                   Knit coordinates! What's not to love??

And here comes Burda! I'm glad these are on the Simplicity site, so I can read them in English. I just wish the Simplicity site was designed differently. It's too hard to pull good-sized pictures of the patterns.

I think this is my fav. Summer can't get here quick enough.














Close runner-up for favorite. How hot is this top? Two things I love cowl-y/drape-y neckline and a tie.


More maxi love! How cool is the skirt??!


These look chic and comfy.


Thinking about this one                                     Pants!

On to Vogue! (I kept the pictures the same size as the ones from the Simplicity site.)  Some of the designer patterns are also in larger sizes!!! Thanks Vogue!


I just want the top.                                                       Winner!

Dresses and more dresses!

Last, but not least


On to what would be a fave, if I had the skill to make it.  I love this top! I'd like to pair it with wide-legged, dressy pants.



Vogue, I do have a bone to pick with you. Not one single Very Easy Vogue Custom Fit Dress?? Guess I've been spoiled. And *ahem* it looks like you're still working out the bugs with the pictures.

New Look Fall & Winter 2011

More fall pattern love! This is courtesy of New Look.

6079 -- close to S2152, but I'd still like to have it.

6083 -- I like it, but I feel like I have this combo (in larger sizes) among other patterns. I do like that there's a CB seam.

6082 -- honorable mention.

Kudos to New Look for showcasing some diversity with their models. The marketer in me is pleased.

New Look Summer 2011

The latest collection from New Look is here.  There's a new line called New Look Workroom and it's associated with Project Runway. As a marketer, this makes no sense to me. Anyhoo, even with New Look Workroom, I like only one pattern in the collection, 6047.

New Butterick & New Look

First, kudos to the McCall Pattern Company. The Spring 2011 releases for all three brands have been amazing. The new format of the McCall's pattern book and the focus on different designers is great. Butterick's Facebook presence is really good. As a marketer by day, the efforts make me tear up ... I get excited when I see a solid strategy that is well executed.

Anyhoo, let's get to the point.  And the winners are:

B5608 - I'm intrigued by views A & B (the white and the print). Really wish this was for knits.


B5618 - wish this was in the closet now.


B5615 - I'm on the fence about this one.


B5619 - staples are good


B5609 - Remember M6078, M6287 and B5562? whoever is designing the knit tops is really bringing his/her A-game.  This one is a must-have-now pattern.


B5620 - the first Connie Crawford pattern I've ever liked. Yep, this is a must-have-now.


B5598 - wish it was already in the closet.


B5606 - maybe?


I have one contender from New Look, 6032.

Let's Take It From The Top

So, umm ... yeah. It's back to the drawing board for NL6432. I've retaken all of my measurements and I'm getting some guidance from someone who knows what to do! Check out Patricia Schoeman at Perfect Sew & Fit if you ever have any fitting questions.  Send her a pic and she sends it back telling you what needs to be done and then walks you through how to do it. I would show you an example of her instructions, but it would be too painful ...

For now, I'll leave you with shots of the 'before' tissue. I added two more tucks for the sway back, which still don't look like enough. I added a back shoulder dart and adjust for my forward shoulders. We'll see what Patricia says.

I'm amused by how poorly the turtleneck fits. Hopefully, I'll learn how to make those too in 2011.  I'll worry about jeans later :-)

Happy holidays!

Dangerous Curves

Okay. I'm still working on the sway back adjustment for NL6432. I traced my back curve onto the garment. Yep, used a Sharpie. (Focus on the dominant line.)

After trying it on, I saw that I needed a straight seam from the end of my back instead of trying to sew a curve to fit my entire backside.

The concave portion of the curve matched my back perfectly. However, look at what happens above (and below) my waist!  My dress form still needs work, but that's a close approximation of what's happening on me.  I guess the good news is that I don't have the pooling at my waist ...

Okay curvy ladies. How do I sew a CB seam to work with what I've got going on?  Should I go back to the paper pattern and start over? Ugghh...

A Quick Note on Curves

I spent four+ hours fitting the coat yesterday.  They were a leisurely four hours, but I could have been putting up my Christmas tree with that time. I realized that the sway back adjustment I made to the pattern was no where close to being right. So I spent hours pinning and re-pining the garment on me to try and fix it.  I used my dress form to pin the side seams. Finally, I basted the new stitching lines and ... it was a total disaster. The side seams were fine but the center back wasn't even close.

Here's one of the pinning attempts. Now that I look at it, I probably should have stitched this one.

Then I had a late stroke of brilliance - use a flexible curve to get the shape of my back. By this time I was tired and frustrated so I did an initial tracing of the curve and drowned my sorrows in DVDs for the rest of the evening.

Here's what I got this morning:

I'm now adjusting the padding on Ruby so that she matches perfectly. I'm thinking that while I'm at it, I should probably add my forward shoulders to the dress form too.

So, no I still don't have a completed project, but I'm moving further in understanding sway back, which is really what's driving my desire to sew. I wish I would have thought of using a flexible curve when I padded my dress form last year.  I've decided I want a flexible ruler. The curve is nice, but I want the ruler markings.

Well, time to get ready for church. I was a member of Bedside Baptist last Sunday, so I need to get it gear this morning!

New Look 6432 Update

Hope your Thanksgiving was a blessed one! I took the week off, but I didn't make it to my sewing machine until late this afternoon. I've attached the facings and done the topstiching. In spite of my best understitching efforts, the facings still wanted to roll and it was driving me crazy. I had to do the topstitching tonight for my sanity. I'm still not 100% happy with what's going on where the facings and shoulder seams meet.

I'm about to take my seam rippers to bed with me and dismantle the side seams. Once I get those right, it's hemming, a button and *gasp* a buttonhole. Since I'm using fleece, I'm going to try this faux bound buttonhole method.

Today's progress has raised a couple of questions for me:

1. Understitching:  If I turn all the seam allowances away from the garment and stitch perfectly in the seam using a stitch in the ditch foot, is that the same as understitching or do I need to be a millimeter or two away from the seam? Being even slightly outside the seam line looked horrible on my fleece.
2. Please, please, please give me a link to a tutorial for trimming overlapping (or are they intersecting) seams. How exactly do you trim the neckline and shoulder seam allowances when you have facings? Mine are not pretty.

Work In Progress: New Look 6432

I've been working on this NL6432 coat for a couple of weekends.  I use the word coat lightly.  This is my first time using fleece and it has been an interesting adventure. I really want to press it! You'll see why in a second. I did (carefully) fuse knit interfacing to the shoulder seams.

The good news is I made my first cuff of any type. The big news is I set in my first sleeve and it came out perfectly.  Kudos to Ann for the great tutorial. I did alterations according to FFRP for my slightly round back and forward shoulders.

Now for the bad news:  This coat seems way too big. I started with a small and tapered to an XL.  I tried to take out the excess via the side seams, but that's not working out so well.  The left side is better than the right, but both need work.  I really struggle with side seams and my high hip.

The back pieces are joined with a single welt seam.  I did a sway back alteration and I don't know if this is the cause of the problem, but that seam is dead center and falls (sinks) most unattractively down my backside.    I'm assuming this wouldn't happen if the fabric were stiffer. Because of the drape, my "coat" feels like an overgrown cardigan.  I hope I feel better once I get the front facings in. I know that won't help with the CB seam, so I'm open to any and all suggestions...

I'm going to finish everything except the hemming before I work on those side seams, which in spite of my best efforts are still not straight.  The back pulls forward and I've got an extra fold of material in the front. Ugggh. I'm willing to stick with this until I get it right. I'm even willing to make this one over since I'm using Northern Lights fleece from Hancock and it's on sale.

Winging It -- Kwik Sew 3617

I'm making slow, but steady progress on Kwik Sew 3617.  I decided to add contour darts to help with the pool of fabric at my backside.  I kept looking for clear directions on how to do the sway back adjustment, but I couldn't find any written and illustrated so that I could understand.  I also have some serious concerns about adding a horizontal seam across the back. If anyone has pictures of how the finished technique looks, please share.  **Update:   found the technique illustrated here. Silly me thought that the seam would be visible in the garment like adding a dart**

Back to the contour darts.  I took the path of least resistance.  I went through my patterns to see which had back darts.  I decided to go with New Look 6945.  I simply traced the darts from that pattern onto the new pattern. How's that for winging it?

Here's a recap of what I've done so far:

When I trace my top patterns, I usually trace the side cutting lines for small-XL.

Then I tissue fit.

It's painfully clear why RTW never fits me! Next I add cutting and sewing lines.

Now, after some slicing and dicing (no-dart FBA).  I end up with this:

After the FBA, I elected not to redraw the cutting and stitching lines.  To make things easier, I included a 1" seam allowance when I finished the FBA.

Time for the darts.  Since I was new to this, I ended up tracing all of them (and not too neatly).

I ended up going with the one for the largest size.  I also tried to increase it.

Here we go.  Not bad. Certainly not perfect but, not bad. 

My FBAs are getting better with each attempt. I just wish I could get the armhole shaping right. Anyhoo, Got my neckilnes ready for later use.

I'm hoping this will turn out well.

Resources

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  Tissue fitting:  Fit for Real People: Sew Great Clothes Using ANY Pattern (Sewing for Real People series)
  
  
  
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  No-dart FBA:  The Perfect Fit: The Classic Guide to Altering Patterns
  
  
  
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  Contour darts:  New Complete Guide to Sewing (Readers Digest)