Resort wear #1 - Burda 06-2011-104

I have booked a 2 day holiday break to a lovely resort and don't really have 'resort wear' in the wardrobe.  

Being so fair, I need a light weight shirt to wear over swimmers or singlets when in the sun.  I have the most divine blue linen in my stash which was purchased this time last year at the Fabric Store in Brisbane.  I had always planned to make Burda 06-2011-104 from it and this was my opportunity.

Photos are on Diana, but I will try and arrange some on me ... maybe on holiday :)

The only pattern variations I made were to cut a size 38 upper and take it out from waist to the hips to a size 40.  I try and kid myself, but I am a pear and my measurements are 38 top half and 40 bottom half.  I felt as this top was quite narrow I didn't want it to be tight around my hips.  It fits really well.

The only other variation to the pattern was to make the sleeves wider.  I noticed when I sewed the first sleeve seam and tried it on my arm it was going to be too cosy, so I unpicked that seam and sewed the seam narrower.  I then took a little off the top of the sleeve cap to counter the extra width.

I used my new flat fell foot (bernina foot no. 70) to sew the centre back seam.

I love the bands and the button detailing that extends past where the top meets..

My only disappointment (and this is nothing to do with the pattern) is that I didn't sew the back neckline band evenly.  The front bands are straight and easy to sew accurately but I should have marked a seam line to follow on the curve...

I would really like to improve details like this.  My only consolation is that the wonkiness is pretty much even from side to side so it may look intentional.

Next up are some (hopefully) casual flowy pants...Ciao!

RTW camisole knock-off

I love my new sheer top but wanted a cream woven camisole to wear under it and luckily I have a lovely piece of sandwashed silk in the fabric collection.  I couldn't find a pattern, so decided to knock-off the green RTW one I have that came with a sheer green top. I pressed the centre front and centre back seams into the front and back and laid the top on tissue paper.  I then just marked around each of the front and back pieces.  The only difficult part was how to add the dart.   I don't know if I used the correct method, but I sort-of reverse-engineered it and it seemed to work.

In these pictures the green cami is the RTW one and the cream one is my knock-off.

The camisole is cut on the bias, so falls beautifully.  My front top binding isn't as neat as I would like but I got better at it by the time I attached the binding to the back, which carries onto the straps.

I bought a new foot to sew the hem.  A 4mm narrow hem foot (Bernina No. 64).  I had trouble keeping the 'roll' going but eventually worked out to spray starch the hem to make the bias cut silk behave and it went through the foot like a dream.   I also had some difficulty getting it to roll the side seams, so ended up opening the side seam at the hem, hemming to the edges and re-sewing the side seams.  Maybe not the best solution but it worked. 

Ciao kittens, I am starting on a mini-wardrobe of resort wear next... dreaming of a holiday!

This ones a keeper! Vogue 1247 Rachel Comey top and skirt

After my last disappointing top, I have to show you a successful project... so successful I have bought more fabric to repeat this one.

The Rachel Comey top and skirt - Vogue 1247.  The skirt is made from a heavy denim I had in my stash and the top from a polyester fabric called Clip Georgette purchase at Lincraft recently.  I am wearing a cream knit camisole under the camisole.  I have made the skirt a size 12 and lengthened it by 3 inches  and the top was made in a size 10.

I am not going to say a lot about the sewing as there are many well written reviews of these pieces.

Loving this outfit and particularly the top...

Love the drape of this top, I think the pleats at the shoulders really work well for this top...

Pockets...

I tried it with a green (woven) camisole...

 Happy now....

Should I stay or should I go? New Look 6648

A few of you commented that you loved the colour of the silk jersey that I showed you in my last post.  This is the top that was made out of the fabric.  I think my face says it all...

The pattern is New Look 6648 a favorite from the top 10 of 2011 on Pattern Review.  

What is it that doesn't work?  ...the shiny fabric? ...is it too small? .... is it the unflattering gathering at the waistband?

Maybe all of the above?

I am really sorry I didn't use McCalls 6078 which I have made before - post here.  I could have tried View B, the sleeveless cowl neck with no loops.  I really think it would have been more successful...

Not sure whether to keep this top or move it straight out to someone else who it may love it... at least I have the cowl...

Ciao for now, the next post shows a much more successful outcome...

More waste not, want not...

More of Jalie 2564... I was so excited about using small pieces of left-over fabric and making some useful (and pretty) knickers, that I went through my scrap box and found suitable pieces to make more..

First up red and racy...

This fabric is left-over from my Jalie criss-cross top.  It is a poly/rayon/spandex blend and one of the nicest, softest hard wearing fabrics I have used.  I used a stretch lace for the waist elastic and regular pantie lace elastic for the leg holes.  

The other pair from the scrap basket are my black sensibles...

This time a block cotton interlock with foe (fold over elastic) at the openings.

As it is highly unlikely that I will model these undies for a photo, I should just let you know that when worn, they don't sit quite so high legged as they look when laid out flat on the table.  They look more like the ones modeled by the sweet girl on the cover of the Jalie pattern.

Today I have cut and made a top from another piece of silk jersey (don't you love holidays!).  I am not feeling the love for it but hope after hanging in the wardrobe over night, I may love it more when I get some photos tomorrow.  

However to continue in the theme of waste not, want not, I used the left-over piece to make knickers, uh not this time... a bit too much fabric for them, so I thought I would make a cowl...

Next post I hope to show you my new tangerine silk jersey top... ciao!

Waste not, want not... Jalie 2564

I had a small strip of silk jersey left over after making my nightie, so I decided to use Jalie 2564,  which is a great pattern for using little bits of left-over fabric and turning them into useful items.  I have made many camisoles using left-overs and I have once trialed the knickers but made them with a piece of polyester jersey so they didn't get worn, but at least I knew the pattern fitted. 

 

I only had a little strip of the silk jersey left, but as it is so wide I was able to cut two pair of knickers. I (of course) had some remnants of cotton jersey to line the crotch with and I also found I had some stretch lace for the waistline and leg holes.  I am not sure how I have managed to accumulate so many odd pieces of stretch lace but at least they are getting used now!

I also had a tiny skerrick of the lace used for the nightie left over, so decorated the first pair with that.

The second pair are plain. 

They fit well and are comfy.  Now there are only tiny pieces of silk jersey which are safely stowed in the bin.... no remnants... lovely!

First for this year or finishing 2012...

My first finish for 2013, I started in 2012.  It is a nightie I needed.  I used to have a few pair of Peter Alexander slinky nighties, similar to this one, but they are well loved and worn now and no longer in my wardrobe.  I liked these nighties with straps, stretch lace and stretchy fabric.  Very comfy and pretty.  However they were made of polyester and I thought it would be nice to have a silk version.  

When I had a few days clear after Christmas, Birthdays, etc, I started my nightie.  I had a lovely piece of silk jersey which I would have stashed after a little shopping spree at Gorgeous Fabrics.  Just checked and it was bought in November 2010 and the colour is Dawn after the Storm.  Doesn't Ann give her fabrics the best names?

I had a McCalls pattern ready to use as I had cut the pattern pieces ages ago.  However after sorting out all the little bits of scrunched up paper, one piece I needed was missing.  That one ended in the bin as I remembered that kbenco had done a few reviews of a lovely Burda sleepwear pattern - 11-2009-133.

Sold!  I even found a piece of stretch lace bought some other time, with no real purpose and when it came it was much pinker than I expected so I wasn't sure what to use it for... the pink blended and changed colour next to the silk jersey.

I made the longer version 133, not cut on the bias as I was using a stretch jersey but used the straps as per version 134.  134 is the sewing course so has more detailed instructions than you normally get with burda.

The result...

and the back...

You can see it is loose around the back bodice but this makes it very comfortable.  There is elastic on the inside under the horizontal seam line and I did need to use with this soft jersey or it would have been too loose one me.

My only tip on this one is adding the lace at the hem.  As I am using the silk jersey, the hem doesn't need finishing (even though I did finish the seams just to make it noice).  I sewed the stretch lace into a circle, then pinned it to the hem an even distance away - I used the picture on the lace to help me position it and zigzagged the lace right at the edge.

 I then got out the trust-worthy duck-bill scissors and trimmed the excess...

This is how it looked at the end.  The colours in the lace show up a bit better in this shot.

I wore this last night to see how it went and it was lovely to wear.  The only thing I need to do is shorten the loops on the straps as I had to shorten the straps so far, that the sliders came around to the front.

A lovely new silk nightie for the warmer nights, review is here... Ciao!