Category Archives: Knits

Vogue 1540

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Still catching up on blogging items previously made.  Earlier this year I made Vogue 1540.  Another Sandra Betzina Vogue pattern.  This one was quite easy.  I did not make any changes, other than my usual size at the shoulders, then gradually moving 1 size larger at bust and hips.  I made the shorter version.

Pattern photo and line drawing:

V1540 line drawing

I used a burgundy wool double knit and a floral print acrylic sweater knit  from my resource center.  I did not add any piping as mentioned in the pattern and did not add pockets.

On me, worn with a brown t-shirt and brown ponte skinny pants (both purchased).  Picture was take in the early spring.

Vogue 1540

My critique:  When I first put this one, it felt like I was wearing a bathrobe.  That isn’t all bad because it is comfortable.  However, I wasn’t sure if it looked like I was wearing a bathrobe.  It is a new style for me and takes getting used to.

Will I make this again?  Yes.  Will I make changes?  Yes.  I plan to take about 4 inches off the length in front, tapering to 0 at the side seam.  I may not do the sleeve insert in the next one either – that will depend on fabric.  I may also make the smaller size in the whole garment to remove some of the volume.  That will also depend on fabric choice.

 

The Artful T-Shirt (Vogue 9057)

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There is a Craftsy.com class called “The Artful T-shirt“, which I have in my embarrassingly large class list.  The pattern that goes with this class is Vogue 9057. Normally the art to wear items are not in my wheel house, but I thought I would give it a try.  A slightly blurred photo of the pattern envelope and line drawing below.

Pattern Envelope

V9057[1]

Fitting:  I did a pattern mash-up of Vogue 1363 (mentioned in this post) for the shoulder to bust area because I know it fits.  I placed V9057 on top of V1363 and traced the area below the bust to achieve the angled hem of View B.  My first version was a test, so it is not very “Artful”.  The print is a cotton spandex from Fabric.com and the sleeves and neck binding are a cotton knit from the scraps in the resource center.

V9057 Summer version front

The second version could be considered artful.  The print is a poly spandex from scraps of a previous t-shirt that was eliminated from the wardrobe due to poor fit.  The orange color is a cotton knit also from scraps.  I don’t recall what I made from that so it must have been a long time ago.  I chopped up the pattern and also did some piecing as you can see on the back to make the fabric fit the pattern pieces.  The two fabrics are slightly different weights, but still seem to work together.  The brown fabric is a sheer cotton burnout jersey use before. The yoke is two layers of fabric so I could use the burrito method to finish it – but also since it is very thin 2 layers were needed for stability.  The sleeves are 1 layer and not hemmed.  This fabric stretches when the hem is sewn, so I just left it raw this time.

Front (on me..)

Front

And the left back:

V9057 Side back

I enjoyed the creativity of pulling together the various fabrics for this.  The jury is out on the style, and I am finding I am not crazy about leggings on me.  My knees are not thin so I don’t think leggings are my most flattering look.  I need a little more room around the thighs and knees. Will I wear this?  Yes, around the house since I work from home and want to be comfortable while working, but still look decent when I go outside to walk the dog, answer the door, etc.  This outfit will probably not see a lot of public wear.  But it is fun to try new things!

Thanks for visiting!

 

 

 

Twist Front Top – V1477

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Continuing on with my Vogue Today’s Fit items, I recently completed two versions of Sandra’s twist front top.

V1477_04

V1477

When I was at the retreat, I asked for Sandra’s advice.  I knew the top would be too low-cut for me in the bust area, based on experience with other patterns such as Burda.  I am a little short between shoulder and underarm.  I was glad that Sandra showed me where to shorten the pattern, as the front is oddly shaped.  Below is a picture of the front pattern piece.  Her suggestion was to write “side” and “shoulder” on the pattern piece.  The arrow on the left (pointing up) is the side and the arrow on the right (pointing to the right) is the shoulder.  The right side of the pattern piece with the gentle curve is the center front.

V1477 Pattern

Next picture is a close-up of the shoulder.  A tuck was taken in the pattern at 2 spots below the shoulder in order to shorten the neckline.  Each tuck is about 1/2″ at the neck/center front edge and goes to nothing at the armhole (left side of the picture).  Since I needed a 1″ reduction in the length of the front, Sandra removed 1/2″ from two places.

V1477 Pattern_shoulder

Here is a picture of the pattern piece on a dress form to better illustrate the tucks.

V1477 Shoulder on form

The first top was made from a rayon/spandex blend fabric from FabricMart.  This is a wearable muslin.  I wanted to be sure it would not be too low in front, and that it fit.  It fits and is very wearable.  (My hips are a bit larger than this form, so this fits me a little closer in the tummy area than it shows here).

V1477 Print

The 2nd version is the one I really wanted; made from a poly knit purchased at Mulberry Silks during the retreat.  This is red and black with the red being glittery.  This fabric is a little thicker than the test fabric.  It is less clingy and just skims my body.  I like it very much and it washes like a dream.  With the glitter aspect, this is good for evening, but can also be worn during the day with a jacket or vest.

V1477 Red

A few tips:

  • Read the directions carefully for the twist.  It is a little confusing, but if you lay the front out as Sandra shows in the directions and follow her “twisting” method, you will get it right the first time.
  • Some sewists have commented that the twist accentuates the bust.  The more drapey fabric does do that, so I just wear a 3rd layer.  I have a brown faux leather vest that looks great with the print top.  The red/black top does not accentuate the bust because the fabric is not as thin.
  • Sandra made the longer version and sewed up the slits on the sides to turn it into a dress.  I don’t wear dresses often, but I think that would look good a bit shorter, with leggings.  The sides hang slightly differently and it looks very nice.

 

Fall 2016 Sewing

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I began my Fall sewing in August.  I love Fall, and the colors that go with it because they are MY colors.  I reorganized my closet (yet again) and found I was woefully short of clothing in olive green.  And I always need tops.  I chose to sew a variety of knits in a variety of styles.  As long as i have been sewing, I still run into things that can cause frustration.  These fabrics did just that – caused some frustration.  I used patterns I have used before, so that helped a lot and the fit of everything makes me happy.  This is probably the first time I have been happy with everything I have made.  I am trying to get over being so critical too.  First up – a couple of “tissue knits”.  These are thin, sheer, burn-out type knits.  I used the Fit for Art Patterns Tabula Rasa T-Shirt pattern here.

The contrast is a brown cotton burnout knit from Mood Fabrics.  I don’t recall where I picked up the green and brown knit – even though I have a ‘card system’ where I keep track of key information for a fabric, I am not always diligent about writing down every piece of information.  I am thinking I may have picked it up on a NY Fabric trip – I usually try to look for unusual fabrics.  I had to underline the print and the brown at the side seams.  I used a tricot lining fabric from the stash.  I did not underline the sleeves.  Seams were sewn with a slight zigzag, then serged.  Hems were done with the zigzag.  I haven’t worn this yet (still too warm), but I think I will like it.  Due to the step of underlining, it was a little time consuming for a ‘t-shirt’.

p1010268-800x600

Item #2:  I used the Judy Kessinger Fit Nice/Sew Slim T-shirt pattern, with her Therese Tops variation. For this variation, you add a wedge to the side seam before you cut the pattern.  You end up with a slight flare at the sides.   I like the look – there is not too much volume/flare.  The photo looks like there is flare in the front, but there is not when it is worn.  But again,  have not yet worn it as it is still in the 90’s here.

Fabric used is a fairly substantial knit; a ponte-like fabric.  I think it is a poly spandex but beefier than usual.  Again I used the same brown cotton burnout for the sleeves and the neckband.  I made a V-neck for this, and followed Lynda Maynard’s directions in one of the Craftsy classes – Essential Techniques for Sewing Knits with Craftsy Sewing Instructors.  (This is a class made up from excerpts of other classes).

p1010273-541x800

The last ‘project’ is a twinset.  This fabric was a nightmare!  It is a slippery poly/spandex, 4-way stretch, with tone on tone texture.  The pattern in the texture was horizontal, but I turned it so it was vertical.  With the 4-way stretch, I felt that would work.  The t-shirt took  much longer than it should have.  The pattern used was the Pamela’s Patterns Perfect T-Shirt #104 here.  I have made this several times; however this time I narrowed the area above the bust and it fits much better.  I made it sleeveless, and used binding as a finish for the armholes.  I also lowered the neckline a bit.

p1010270-800x600

I used the same fabric to make a cardigan, using Pamela’s Patterns #111 Cool Cardigans Banded front.  I have used that pattern before, but this time I made two changes.  I narrowed the area above the bust and cut the sleeve smaller.  These changes were made based on the sloper I have developed for wovens, and the sleeve drafted for that sloper.  The cardigan progressed quickly since I had all the kinks of using this fabric worked out from the t-shirt.

 

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And both of them together…

p1010271

I am quite happy with all of these pieces and feel they will serve me well during the fall.  I have brown, olive and khaki bottoms to go with these.