Repeating Patterns: A Skirt & A Sorbetto

Over the last week I've been working on an outfit consisting of multiple patterns I've made before. My recent Burda Swing Top (#115 11/18) was so much fun to make that I wanted to repeat it in the fancier fabric I had in mind for it all along -- but in order to do that, I'd have to make a couple of pieces that would match the fabric, both in colour and style.

I wanted a straight skirt and a shell to wear under the top, since the fancy fabric for that is a lace.

I went with the infamous Rachel Comey Vogue 1247, which I have made once before. This time I also used leftover fabric from my recently made Burda 6381. This boucle-like fabric is so pretty I wanted to use it up -- and it did use every last bit of it to cut out this skirt. Of course, I did add 6 inches to the length of the skirt as it is notoriously mini!

I had to adjust the sizing somewhat; since I still have my first one I was able to assess it to see how to adapt the fit. I cut it at 18 (the largest size in my pattern) and added about 1/4" at each side by the yoke seams to give myself more hip room. I also shortened the darts by 1/2" each. It's all done except for the skirt hook & eye as I couldn't find the one I thought I had ready for it -- I'm just going to unpick one from an old skirt I haven't worn and reuse it.

I decided to line it, as this fabric really needs a lining. I cut an interior shell with no horizontal seams by overlaying the pattern pieces, and instead of darts, sewed tucks into the lining. Then I basted the lining to the top of the skirt before sewing on the waistband. I also used the lining material for the extra pocket piece to reduce the bulk of the pockets.

My dress form is a little thinner than I am, since I haven't padded her up yet, but even though the skirt looks loose on her, it is a perfect fit for me! I am really happy with it.

Now on to the top -- it's my old stalwart, the Sorbetto by Colette Patterns. I needed a sleeveless shell for this purpose so this is the first sleeveless make in all my Sorbetto variations.

I had the perfect shiny poly in my stash that I'd planned on using for the back of a waistcoat which never got made -- so grabbed it for this. There was *just* enough to fit a sleeveless Sorbetto in. I used French seams to reduce fraying and instead of sewing down the box pleat I sewed an inverted pleat down about 2.5" from the neckline.

The released box pleat on the inside looks so nice I might use that option on the outside of the next Sorbetto I make!

While I won't wear these two alone like this as an outfit (I don't wear sleeveless tops like this usually) I will wear them with the top they are made to support. Which should be shared here soon!

I can wear a lot in my wardrobe with this skirt. I also think I could wear this shiny Sorbetto under a cardigan or blazer in future. I enjoyed trying new versions of these patterns I've made before -- the fit on both of them is much better than previous iterations.  Having these standards in the stash means that when I want a particular shape I can rely on these kinds of patterns. And I got to use up more stash fabric! A win all around.

Spotted Gauze Sorbetto

Hazy summer day!

I bought some double gauze in the sale at my local fabric store -- I've had my eye on this particular bolt for a long while but when I finally decided to buy some there was only one metre left.

So what to do? Make another TNT -- that I way I know it will use the fabric well and it will fit me.

Excuse my squinty eyes -- I just got back from the eye doctor!

So I got out my Sorbetto pattern and went back to a variation I've used before when I have barely a metre of fabric to play with. I lay it out with the pleat placement line for the front actually on the front fold, to eliminate the pleat and fit the top onto limited fabric.

And I use an old add-on short sleeve pattern.

It worked -- it just fit onto this small piece of polka dotted double gauze. I made a few changes due to the fabric though. I sewed it all using French seams, to avoid any fraying or separating along the seam lines. It gives such a nice finish. With a 5/8" seam allowance, I like to sew my first go at 1/4", trim that down to about 1/8" and then finish it off with a 3/8" final seam. Trimming the first line helps to avoid loose threads and fabric coming through the final stitching.

I didn't want to press this much, since I wanted to keep the hand nice and crinkly, so to hem the sleeves and bottom, I stitched a line at 1/4" then just folded it up at that line and over again, finger pressing and then stitching it down. I then gave it all a light press with steam and that got all of the waviness out of the hems.

To finish the neckline, I magically had the perfect denim blue cotton bias binding in my stash that I thrifted a while back. I finished it with the binding and gave it another gentle steam press to get the neckline smoothed out. The binding is slightly heavier in weight that this airy fabric so it did sag outward a bit, but I think the pressing fixed most of that.

This was a straightforward make that I took a little extra time with to use the fabric to its best advantage. I'm glad I went a bit more slowly because I really love this finished top.

Stitched Sorbetto in Grey & Yellow

I've now finished my second Sorbetto that I began back in November. But with this version, I spent a lot more time over it :)

Two things came together for this project: my love of hand embroidery and the new DMC colours, and the front pleat in the Sorbetto pattern, which is extremely ideal for hand stitching additions. In the process of making the pleat, there is a seam all the way down the pleat extension, and then the pleat is fastened down in the neck binding and hem. So there is no way any underside of stitching or stabilizer will show (or get caught on anything) once construction is complete. Perfect.

I was inspired to make this Sorbetto as one of the possible versions for the PR One Pattern, Many Looks contest in Nov/Dec; actually it was the original idea I had for it. But as I mentioned in my last Sorbetto post, contests never get far with me ;) I gave up on the contest idea, but I kept working away at this project, stitching sporadically and sometimes in the evening while watching tv, as you might be able to tell by some of my not so perfect stitching in the petals as I was getting tired! But I wasn't going to tear anything much out -- it's good enough -- it's for a top, not an exhibition piece, and besides, if someone is looking at my stitching in close up on the front of the blouse when I'm wearing it, there are bigger issues than uneven stitches that I'll be worrying about ;)

I made this Vogue 1247 skirt ages ago (in 2014), and as I was cleaning, reorganizing, shuffling (whatever) my stash around in the fall I realized I had quite a large piece of the grey cotton-linen fabric left over. It felt like really nice fabric for stitching, and I considered hooping some up for a decorative piece, but then this idea hit me and I just couldn't do anything else with it. It has a lovely hand and was dreamy to stitch on.

I found a free border floral design at Mary Corbet's embroidery site and adapted it to the size I needed but ended up free styling a bit as transferring the design to this rougher surfaced dark fabric was time consuming. I semi-traced it and semi added in lines with a chalk pencil. I stitched the leaves in my favourite fly stitch, outline/stem stitch for the stems and rough satin stitch for the petals. I enjoyed my time doing it! I used DMC floss #18 for the petals, which I remember because I had such a hard time finding it, and I can't remember the colours of the cream and green, they were just in my stash.

For such a simple project, I feel very pleased with how this turned out. I used my original pre-altered Sorbetto again for the body of this version, but I used the sleeves from the new version of the Sorbetto pattern. I tried to adjust them accordingly -- I took out a fair amount of length between shoulder and bust from the original design, but I couldn't recall exactly (it was about 5 years ago that I first traced the Sorbetto, after all). So there was a bit too much sleeve, but when I gathered the sleeve cap it turned out to look like they were pleated and slightly puffed and I love it so much I left them that way.

Long story for such a simple free pattern (both shirt and embroidery design) but it does get just a little longer. This is the project I had just prepped as some hand work when I was invited to be a part of a super secret project, which is now, this week, no longer secret -- the Sewcialists' Wordpress commercial! It was such fun to be able to help out in a tiny way with this, and the 60 second commercial is full of happy sewing thoughts. Take a look if you haven't watched it already.

A Floral Sorbetto in Winter

Back in mid-November I cut out a couple of Sorbettos, inspired by PatternReview's One Pattern, Many Looks contest. I had a lot of ideas on how I could alter this simple pattern and come up with a bunch of different looks -- I even sketched out 7 different options! But, as usual, I didn't keep going with contest sewing, and started other projects instead.

But this first Sorbetto was half done, so over my Christmas break I hemmed it and put the neck binding on. And it was done!

Please excuse the wrinkles, I forgot to take any photos until the end of the day!

I made this first one of a length of vintage fabric from the thrift store - I think it's some kind of rayon blend as it is soft and drapey but also (obviously) quite prone to creases. I had *just* enough to squeeze out this top, altered to leave out the centre pleat that is a defining feature of the Sorbetto. I tried this version once before and really liked it, and it suits this fabric nicely, I think. I added sleeves using a pattern & blog tutorial originating with Mena of the Sew Weekly. I gave everything a narrow hem, and the fabric did stretch out slightly but not enough to keep me from wearing this.

I used the original Sorbetto pattern, as I'd already made my (quite extensive) fit alterations on that one. But Colette has a new and updated Sorbetto pattern available now, which comes in three different views and has a sleeve pattern included. So I've downloaded that and whenever I get around to it I'll adjust the new one accordingly and give it a go to see what the difference is.

I narrowed the neckline somewhat, as I do find it quite wide. But I like how this pleatless version fits, and the fabric is so light and comfortable, it made me feel like spring was coming even in January! I wore it with another free pattern, my polka dotted Lindy Petal Skirt, which I love, and enjoyed a relatively warmish day to wear this light outfit on (with a cardigan when I was not being photographed!)

This was a fun "unseasonable sewing" project and I'll have another to share later this week that was a little more extensive in detail than this one. I had enough time off over the holidays to get a good start on my unfinished project stack!

Through the Wardrobe, Part 2

And now for the third & fourth items I made for Sewing Pattern Review's Mini-Wardrobe Challenge...

Along with making the dress and cardigan I decided to make a skirt and a blouse. The skirt was intended to challenge my very basic skills -- I would have to insert a zipper and I also determined that I was going to add a lining. Somehow I've avoided these procedures for oh so many years ;)

I used New Look 8643, another pattern that I've owned for ages, for the skirt. Plus a brown floral print microfibre that I've had in my stash for ages and ages. You can't really see the floral here but it's a great embossed effect. I also, as usual, added side seam pockets. I love this skirt, even if there are a few flaws -- the first zipper I ever did worked out pretty well! Except there is a small gap where I mismatched the top of the zipper & the waistband, sigh. Not too noticeable though.

Love my brown skirt

A closer look at the full Sorbetto

Then I used my first ever downloadable pattern, the infamous Sorbetto tank top from Collette Patterns. I added sleeves though, thanks to this downloadable addition from Sew Incidentally, as I do prefer a bit of sleeve. I had to make a muslin first to adjust the fit, as I've noticed a few reviewers mentioning that the fit can be a bit wonky, depending on your own shape. I know I have to alter shoulders, neckline & length often, so I tested this one and found that I did indeed have to alter. I took up 3/4" between the shoulder and bust, and 1/2" in the underarm seam. I also added 1.5 inch to the overall length, but may shorten it by a touch. This was fun to try, but I really can't imagine making a complicated design via print-out-and-tape-together patterns. I don't know how people do it!

In any case, this project was really engaging and a lot of fun. Here is the final snapshot of everything all together. I like how each piece turned out, and the colour pallette too. Glad that I decided to give it a go and challenge myself as I get back into the sewing groove.