Coco's Loft: January 2013

Monday, January 28, 2013

Pattern Madness - it's crazy out there!

Sooo many pattern sales and spring arrivals. Yes, they got me! Quick looks at new additions for my spring sewing...

Vogue 8869 Marci Tilton Skinny Pants

Butterick 5854 Easy Top

McCall 6694

Vogue 8825

Vogue 8876 Marci Tilton

Vogue 1297 Amazing Fit by Sandra Betzina

Vogue 1236

Vogue 8688

Vogue 8847

Vogue 8870

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Where did I buy all these adds to my pattern stash? I buy online - rather than drive over 2 of Ft. Lauderdale's busiest roads to JoAnn's with the hope my pattern will in stock. My favorite sites for patterns:

Club BMV - http://clubbmv.mccall.com/
Love this site - and for a small annual fee, I get 20% off just about everything! I have saved sooo much moola with my membership. They always have a pattern company on sale - with 20% on top, I really save with purchases from Club BMV...

Club BMV Membership

Club BMV also has a great store:

Shops at McCall

Sewing Patterns - http://sewingpatterns.com/
Great site. All the big 4, plus Neue Mode, Burda, Kwik Sew, New Look, and extensive Indie patterns! Almost never have an out-of-stock situation. And another plus - they have many many choices in download patterns ( for the I-can't-wait moment). And free patterns - I've gotten some nice ones, they change them out every couple months. I get patterns from Sewing Patterns very quickly. I've seen on PR that not everyone is happy with their delivery times, but I've had no issues.

All of the Vogue patterns in this blog came from Sewing Patterns - the $4.99 Vogue sale...

Ok, I am so spoiled - lots of new patterns on their way. But I have an excuse - February is my birthday!

Ciao! Coco

Saturday, January 26, 2013

New Look 6936 Maxi - Jungle January #3!

I can hardly believe we've reached the end of Jungle January!

Prettynpnk has kept me so busy - and it's been a great safari! Seeing all the incredible - wonderful! - creations of my fellow bloggers has been such a treat. I looove animal prints and am so inspired by all I've seen.

What would my Loft be without a maxi dress! Ah. I saved my very favorite for last...

I've sewn New Look 6936 before - but in the pattern as given, a short dress...

and decided to take the pattern to the Max for creeping (swinging?) through the jungle!

This version uses sleeves from View C, very relaxed, fluttery, so feminine. But very well done - no peeks in the armhole area, the bodice seam comes up just far enough :-)

Changes? Well, of course. Another Coco trait! Here's what I did -

The length - to make this a maxi dress, I added 20" to the length of the skirt pieces. More than enough, but I was a little unsure of how much I needed, even after measuring every dress in my closet. Better safe than sorry...

My fabric is a poly/lycra matte jersey from Fashion Fabric Club. Just beautiful, no wrinkles, and fits into the 'travel' category. Honestly, I think I could roll it up and go. It's a 1-way stretch knit, really no give in the vertical grain at all, and has moderate stretch across the width. Which suits a dress really well - it is not going to get taller!

But the fabric is 'heavy'. I was concerned about hanging all of that off the 1/4" elastic raised waist in the pattern. My fix - I added a 1 1/2" waistband/casing between the bodice and skirt. Lined in cheetah of course! The lining is cotton calico, meant to stabilize the waist, bodice, and skirt. And I used 1/2 knit elastic.

One more change (and I did this on my first version as well) - I used a back facing on the neckline. Instead of turning a 5/8" hem. I just do not like the finish on turned hems on curvy necklines! The facing works great...

I am in love with this dress.

And ready for an adventure. Ciao! Coco

Tuesday, January 22, 2013

Vogue 8584 - Loose Leg Capris

More capris! A breeze to sew and I'm loving the fit.

These are done in a rayon/linen blend from Fashion Fabrics Club. The fabric is 55% rayon, so it has a really smooth hand and nice drape. I pre-laundered twice, so it is also soft and not very wrinkly. It gets a kind of 'crushed' look, but not the deep wrinkles found with linen.

A note: I do not iron my rayon/linen blend pants and capris - this is Florida! Just machine wash and barely dry.

Here's a pic that shows the line and width of the leg (not the most becoming pose - but there's always a sacrifice...).

Cotton knit top, J Jill

I sewed a size 14 in these, my usual Vogue size. After many pairs (more below), my pattern is a snap to use - it is just the right length, width, etc. - I can even hem the legs before I sew them together! My original adjustments included shortening the rise (just took an inch off the top) and lengthening the pants version. The capri length is perfect as is, no changes. The patch pockets are there, you just can't see them in the pics.

These have an elastic waist, but are fairly narrow at the waist and through the hips, without having any darts. Makes them really comfy - plus I used 1" knit elastic, which is very soft to wear. The casing has a 1/4" top seam, which helps to keep the elastic from rolling. You might try this...just add 1/2" to the waistline fold allowance!

Mushroom brown, also rayon/linen blend from FFC

More pants from Vogue 8584 - I've actually made 4 pairs of pants! Two are my cocoa and white polka dot pants and a fun pair in a black and white print .

View C

View B

And I just finished two more in good old black and brown, View B (which I'll note in future posts). Just a great fit and finish.

p.s. a rare action shot! This is my first blog post using my new camera! It's a Canon PowerShot SX260 HS! I knew I needed a new camera but had no idea how far the PowerShot had come since I bought my last one, the 110, over 8 years ago. So so happy with my new pal - as in ecstatic, over the moon, really happy :-) I should have gotten this ages ago.

Ciao from the photo shoot! Coco

Monday, January 21, 2013

Ramble - Exquisite Quilting Cotton Prints

One of my favorite pastimes is window-shopping fabrics. When I find something that speaks to me in some way, I save the thumbnail pic, name, and source in a 'Palettes' folder on my laptop. Fun and very inexpensive!

I particularly love printed quilting cottons - so many beautiful designs and brilliant color schemes. Here are some of my latest 'finds', a little Monday morning pictorial.