Vogue 1456 - Sandra Betzina tunic...

Well, in addition to rambling on about my hair, I've actually been doing some sewing! And I think I need to take Sandra Betzina to lunch. Her patterns are so interesting, a little challenging, and a bit like doing a puzzle. Absolutely perfect for chilly weather that invites staying inside and making a mess in the loft.

I almost didn't get this pattern - the envelope pics are awful! and don't do the pattern justice at all. Because the lines and details are great. I read every review I could find (I love my fellow sewists at Pattern Review), and just after Christmas I picked it up from BMV's Vogue sale. I decided that even if I didn't like the pattern, I could use some of the details (that back is beautiful).

But Betzina didn't disappoint. This tunic is so cute!  

Some sewing notes - no major changes!

• I love this rayon crepe fabric from Confetti Fabrics, purchased from Fabric Mart. It's a 4.7oz fabric, perfect for a topper. And yes, it frays, shifts, goes off grain, grows... Using a walking foot for sewing, and steam to reshape pattern pieces, really makes crepe a more pleasant fabric :-) 

• The patterns sizing method is not my favorite: Sizes A through J (as on all her patterns). One has to cruise the body measurements, find something, and work back up to a letter size. My goodness, what a lot of fuss...I sewed Size C, which has a finished bustline of 40", View A. 

• When I bought the pattern, I knew I wouldn't use the mandarin collar or front zipper. I just can't wear zippers and fabric up my neck. After studying the pattern, and checking out what other sewists had done, I decided to seam the front where the zipper would have gone and redraft a simple round neckline. I used the Grainline Studio Willow Top to redraw the neckline, since I've made it and know it works for me.

• It's impossible to see the center front seam in this print! But it's there. I opened the seam and topstitched the allowances so they wouldn't wave around on the inside and drive me crazy. The pattern has lots of topstitched finishing, so this new seam just fits right in. 

• I also made a small change to the back hemline. It's meant to be higher than the front, but I thought it was a little too high. So I added 1" at center back and trued it out to the sides. I also dropped the four hemline darts to the new hemline.  

A couple omissions. 

• I didn't add the pockets - I thought they would get lost in the front folds anyway. Plus I don't use pockets in tunics and dresses. I do like to work with them as design details if they're visible.

• And I didn't add the notch detail to the sleeve edge (shown on the line art above, just a smallish vee). This crepe fabric has so much mechanical stretch that I was leery of trying it. I think it would be a nice touch in a linen or other sturdier fabric.

And a tip - use those dozens of marks and tracings from the pattern tissue. You'll need them all!

Parting shot: My fellas in their Christmas flannel robes. I used McCalls 6236, which is for men and boys. It's a great pattern - fast, easy, and with nice sizing from boys XS through mens XL. They both liked the length and the not-in-my-cocoa sleeves.

My Betzina journey isn't over - I actually bought 4 of her patterns, not just this one. Lots of fun ahead. 

Bye for now - Coco

McCalls 6987 Round 2 - the adjustment bureau...

I'm so stubborn. After my struggle to like my first long version of McCalls 6987, I almost immediately searched for different fabric for a second attempt. Honestly, I really like the vibe of this pattern - there is a Lagenlook lady lurking inside me, and she keeps knocking. Kind of fun.

I've sewn the short version 4 times - love it.

This time I tried a quiet seafoam floral challis that I picked up from Fabric Mart's pre-cut buyout. And I really like the balance of the color and the print with the lines of the dress.

However - after hours and hours of cutting and sewing, I was perplexed once again. I loved the way this looks in the back, but the front not so much. I paired it with black leggings, white leggings, and bare legs. The bare legs are an easy nix, but I was torn between the black and white leggings. I looked at these pics every way but upside down, and couldn't decide...

From VividLinen - aren't those great pants!

I was beginning to feel like a long tunic weeny. Maybe I should lift the back a little bit, more like this tunic...

Yes. I took off the ruffle and raised the back 3" (it was loooong in the back). And now I really like it!

All this kept me very busy and interrupted my sleep. I think this white hair (which I love) has messed with my fashion equilibrium :-)

Parting shot: Mr. Cuban Knight anole is back this morning! This one is a juvenile, only about 14" long. Such a handsome fellow.

Ciao! Coco

New Look 6323 - Love this tunic pattern

This tunic and Butterick 5954 are officially my go-to patterns for knit tunics. A love affair!

I used view B: gathered back, long sleeves, and a bit of sharkbite at the side seam. BTW, I tried to find this pattern online so I could supply a link. And it must be getting scarce - it's not on Pattern Review or the Simplicity site. But it's still on SewingPatterns.com.

The back curved seam and gathered skirt are just so  appealing. And add a little sass walking away...

 And the hi-lo hem is just about perfect. Unexpected and so much fun.

Sewing notes:

• This is size 12. My very first version, in lagoona interlock, was size 14, and it was just too big for me.

• I dropped the center front by 1 3/4", trued out to the sides. This decreases the sharkbite effect a little bit and brings the front below the crotch of my pants. Just my preference - I don't care for tops that stop just above the crotch. IMHO, so unflattering...

• This wonderful fabric is a cotton/rayon jersey from Fabric Mart. It has 80% stretch horizontally and 10% along the selvedge. Fabric Mart doesn't give fabric weights, but I would put this at 6 - 8 oz. It's not sticky (the bane of cotton/spandex), due to the rayon content.

I'm wearing my Essex linen/cotton wide-leg pants in the pics above. But this tunic is also great with my Love Notions Sabrina Slims. 

Last spring I made this in black spun cotton/rayon jersey from Girl Charlee, and for some reason I never blogged it - but I wore it in  in my post on those Slims...  

The black jersey is 6.5 oz. and has 50% horizontal stretch. I hope it comes back to GC, it's so nice for tops. Funny story: I wore the outfit below to my annual checkup in May - when my doctor walked in, she said "you've lost weight". Nooo, but I'll take it!

So - Election Day tomorrow! I voted by mail several weeks ago, rather than try to stand in line with my cane (would they take it away at the door?). I find voting to be so empowering and levelling at the same time - the country feels like a small community when we do this.

And I'm looking forward to watching the election results all day tomorrow to see if I won :-)

Bye for now - Coco

Edited to add: Stirswatersblue on Pattern Review let me know that this pattern has been re-released as New Look 6439 - and sure enough, the exact pattern!

Burnout jersey and sticky business...

Have you ever noticed how jersey knits want to cling to pants and skirts? right there where it's least wanted - on the bum.

I've overcome this issue in large part by wearing my jersey tunics with ITY knit bottoms. Nice slippery ITY - nothing clings to it, plus it's just so comfy to wear. Bonus - just throw it in a suitcase. It doesn't wrinkle.

But I digress. I've been meaning to make a 'slip' for my tunics for a long time. Such a simple solution.

I used a poly mesh knit from Fabric Mart, acquired 2 years ago - 8 yards of it! because I planned to line a mother-of-the-bride dress with it. It's really more of a knit lining than a mesh, and I've used quite a bit of it for interfacing knit garments.

At the same time I bought 8 yards of poly/cotton burnout jersey in a beautiful abstract (think Art Nouveau) print. In the end, I used something else entirely for my MOB dress.


But I really wanted to use the burnout jersey and finally got my act together for the needed slip. I used Butterick 5954, View A, as the starting point for the slip, largely because it has the basic silhouette of my tunics.

I simply sewed it together on the serger, put it on Emile, and trimmed away at the armscye and neckline until I had nice muscle shirt lines! The fabric is so stretchy that it was easy to fold in the edges to hem them - no binding needed.

Then on to a B5954 tunic in the burnout jersey...

A few notes on sewing the burnout jersey, which has intimidated me - this is the only piece I've purchased:

• It's definitely sheer, and it's not straight-forward to sew because of the thick-and-thin texture.

• After trying several sizes,I used a size 70 universal needle.

• I used normal pressure on the presser foot, and I worked with my upper thread tension to achieve a stitch that didn't look loose on the burnout areas.

• Finishing the hems - I serged the sleeve and skirt edges to stabilize the fabric, then folded the edge twice and finished it with topstitching. No steam-a-seam tape needed.

• I think it would be a lovely fabric for a scarf - but I don't think it would work well with a rolled hem on the serger, because of the varying texture. Has anyone tried it?

I wore white pants for these pics so that the lines of the tunic would show up - in real life I'll probably wear black or gray.

No cling!

The slip works like a charm.

A side note: I worked on this in Ft. Myers last week, and I managed to get there without any gray thread. So I bopped over to Holly Lobby and picked up a spool of their Sew-ology thread. It worked great, I absolutely could not distinguish between it and the Gutermann I generally use.

Whew! What a project. But I enjoy sewing challenges, and I feel good about conquering the burnout fabric. Meanwhile - it's almost the weekend. I hope yours is nice and full of sewing :-)

Bye for now - Coco

McCalls 6987 - just had to try this...

This little adventure has taken most of my time for a week!

I've really enjoyed the tunic version of this pattern, and I've been so curious about the longer view. Earlier this week Birdybooo posted a darling version on Pattern Review. Which led me to Fabricsofcolor's wonderful version in an African waxed fabric.  Such inspiration!

This rayon challis from Girl Charlee has been hanging around in my stash since last October. I haven't used it because I knew that the pattern matching would be a beast. Sure enough, this thing kept me so busy. I drafted full pattern pieces so that I could lay them out flat (rather than on the fold) and have more control over the fabric and print. Challis is so shifty! I was pinning it to itself, the tissue, and my cutting board. Five hours to draft and cut...

The only change I made was to lift the back aspect by about 3". I just knew I wouldn't want quite so much 'hi-lo'. And I used the sleeves from the tunic, View A - they're really interesting and fun to wear.

 Check out all that pattern matching. The print has about a hundred things going on. Patting myself on the back...

So - one more pic of this version, in the light of day. I think this dress is unique and interesting. It just doesn't make my heart sing, which means I wouldn't wear it.

However, I knew going in that I could always chop it and make it into the tunic. It was super easy to do, and I like the result.

I'm glad it's finished! but looking forward to wearing it. Challis is a perfect fabric for Florida, and these colors just say autumn.

So, it's almost the weekend. I like a weekend project, it just feels right, and I've decided to give StyleArc a reprieve :-) In progress today - the Stevie boyfriend jean jacket. The one that the clothingengineer made for her mom snagged me!

Parting shot: how about a toad in a frog pond. This big guy has been spending all his time in this bird bath, making an awful mess and keeping the doves away. He's cute, but not a good housekeeper. So I emptied it. A few holes in the bottom, and it will be a cute flower pot.

Hope the weekend is nice for all - Bye for now. Coco