Christmas Outfit #13 - McCall's 6396

A Lining, Zipper and Skirt

I got the lining, zipper and skirt done today.  Now I just need to put them all together!

The lining is exactly like the bodice and not hard to make.  What is hard to making it in reverse so that the bodice and lining match when the skirt is attached.  Be very careful when assembling the lining!  Because every piece is unique and the right side of lining is against the body, you will have to be very careful to assemble the lining in the correct order. 

The zipper was pretty easy to install, other than the matching of the plaids.  It took some basting and trial to get it just right before committing to stitching the zipper in permanently. 

The skirt is not hard at all to make, even though it looks unusual.  It is ready and waiting to be attached.

Looks like I might finish this one up in the next couple of days - hopefully by Friday!

Parting Shot:  Christmas Tree.  This is this year's version of our Christmas tree.  Each year we decorate a little differently.  We put the lights and garland along the window this year instead along the banister, just for fun and got rid of a lot of dangling ribbons, which were just temptations for Wellie.  I need to find those white extension cords, too, the lights look sloppy in the photo!

Christmas Outfit #13 - McCall's 6396

For this year's annual Christmas outfit, my daughter has picked McCall's 6396.  She really like the asymmetrical skirt and that fact that it was different from a lot of what her friends wear.  She also chose a brushed plaid flannel for the fabric. 

Between her measurements and the pattern measurements, I ended up cutting a straight size 10, no alterations.  For the skirt, I lengthened it 6", and I'm still not convinced that will be enough, we'll see. 

As far as the cutting, I will warn you, this is a single layer layout.  There is no way to cut two of each piece or the front on the fold.  The bodice/skirt seam is totally asymmetrical, and no two pieces are a like. 

I did get the bodice assembled for a quick fit to see if I needed to make any changes.  Thankfully, there were none - it looks pretty good as a size 10, in the smallest cup size (this pattern also has the multi-cup sizing).  So far, everything seems well drafted and the pieces fit together nicely, too.

Tomorrow I will get the lining assembled and the zipper installed and if things go well, I might get this done by the end of the week!

Parting Shot:  Leftovers.  My husband and I went hiking the day after Thanksgiving, and I brought along a piece of leftover pumpkin pie for the summit.  It was a great snack!

White Thanksgiving

Looks like we'll be having a white Thanksgiving this year after the snow we got last night!  Not sure how long this will stay, but it will be here through tomorrow, at least.

I hope all of you have a great holiday, and find much to be thankful for!  I will be spending some time with my family and will be back next week.

A Quick Knit Top:  Burda 11/11, #114

My daughter didn't have very many long-sleeved casual tops, and this one from Burda looked like a great top and a quick one to make.  The bonus is that it was one of the patterns that had illustrated instructions.

I found a nice knit in the collection that I had bought for my daughter and she thought it would be a good match for the pattern.  I had to be a creative with the layout and add a seam to the center back, but other than that, I made no other design changes. 

There is no shoulder seam, the fronts and cut-on front facings attach at the center back of the neck, making a yoke to which the back is attached.  You can see the horizontal seam in the photo below.

After attaching the yoke, I added the sleeves and then stitched the side seams.  The Burda instructions indicate to sew the side seams first, then set in the sleeves.  Either way is fine, but I prefer to put in sleeves in knits before sewing the side seams. 

I finished up the hems on the coverstitch machine and it was done.  My daughter loves and will be wearing it to school tomorrow.   As a side note, by design the sleeves are a bit long and the body is tunic length, but that doesn't bother my daughter.

Parting Shot:  Moosiluake.  My hike Saturday was to Mt. Moosilauke, and although there was no snow, it was a beautiful day anyway, with lots of sunshine and lots of wind.  This is a view back to the summit from the south peak.

Vogue 8783 - Small Purse

Done!

Yesterday was an exceptionally busy day, but I did manage to finish up the purse!  The purse is actually pretty easy to make, and even with my extra parts it finished quickly. 

I added tabs and D-rings to the side at the bands.  This made it a bit thicker when doing the final stitching of the purse and lining, especially because of the faux leather, but it turned out nicely.

I then made a strap for the purse.  I cut a strip three times the finished width, interfaced the middle third, folded each side over the center and then edge stitched and top stitched to finish.  This produced a flatter and sturdier strap than if I would have made a tube, turned it and top stitched it.  I added the clips and it was done and ready to attach to the purse. 

My daughter is happy with it, and has already figured out an outfit to wear with it!

Parting Shot:  Vintage Simplicity 3447.  This is one of my latest pattern purchases and it will be used for costumes for a dance ensemble of eight girls.  The director wants red dresses with collars and black belts, so it should be a fun project. 

Vogue 8783 - Small Purse

A Little Progress

Sad to say, there has not been a lot of progress on the purse, although *maybe* tomorrow or Friday I'll actually get to work on it.  It has been really busy here and yesterday I managed to lose my camera on a hike.  Fortunately, another group of hikers found it and contacted me, so I went and picked it up. 

I did get the zipper installed into the purse, and so far it looks like this:

It is now ready for the lining.  Once that is done, I can make all the straps and get those basted in place, readying the whole piece for final finishing.  I was able to pick up some hardware today, so I think I got a plan for adding the long strap that my daughter wanted.

So.  Maybe tomorrow I can work on this. 

Parting Shot:  Tecumseh.  Yesterday's hike was Mt. Tecumseh.  The actual summit isn't all that exciting.  What is exciting about this mountain is that it is home to the Waterville Valley Ski Area.  The ski slopes are supposed to open on Thanksgiving weekend, but I'm not sure about that - there was no snow up there at all and it was rather warm this week!  As you can see, the ski trail below is rather bare and brown.

Vogue 8783 - Small Purse

So Far, So Good.

I did have some time to work on the purse yesterday, and made some good progress.  Most of that work was cutting out the fabrics and interfacings and applying the interfacing.  I chose fusible fleece for the body of the bag, and a stiff craft fusible for the faux leather contrast. 

I also spent quite a bit of time marking the pleats on the bag.  There are eight per side, so this takes a while to mark and then sew, but I like the result.  I think you could probably use gathers instead of the sewn pleats, to save time or to give the bag a slightly different look. 

Once the pleats were done, the contrast trim was sewn on and topstitched, readying both pieces for the zipper.

The zipper install is supposed to be the next step, but my daughter wants a long strap for the bag, so I'm trying to decide how I want to do that and if I'll need hardware for that.  I do know that I need to think it through before adding the zipper, because that might be my attachment points for the strap.

Parting Shot:  "Hiding".  My son brought home his moose poster today and Wellie immediately thought it was a good place to hide.

Vogue 8783 - Small Purse

Part One

My daughter and I were out shopping yesterday when she saw some really cute purses in plaid trimmed with brown leather. Today, while looking through my patterns and looking for a small project in between a few larger ones, I came across Vogue 8783, the latest Marcy Tilton purse pattern and thought that View B with the addition of a strap would make a cute purse for my daughter.

I even have brown faux leather and some plaid to make a purse with similar materials to the ones we saw.  

The pattern only has three pieces, so it should come together quickly.

I'll probably work on it on Sunday; I'll be out hiking tomorrow.

Parting Shot: Warm Laundry.  Pix found the warm laundry and made herself a nest.  Wouldn't it be great to be a cat?

Draped Blouse - Paco Peralta

Armhole Finishing and Side Seams

The only two things to finish the top are the armhole finishes and the side seams.  The armholes are much easier to finish before sewing the side seams, so I've cut and pressed bias strips to bind the armholes.  The binding and top are placed right sides together and stitched, trimmed and the binding is pressed to the inside.

At this point, you can proceed one of two ways.  You can finish the binding by stitching it down and then stitching the side seams or you can stitch the side seams and then finish the binding.  It really doesn't matter, it just depends on how you like the insides of your garment to look.  I chose to sew the side seam first, and then finish the binding.  I like finishing the armhole this way because the binding helps to keep the side seam's seam allowances in place without having to hand tack them in place.

That's it!  All done.

Here it is, worn with the brown Paco Peralta wrap skirt and a RTW jacket.

Parting Shot:  Posing.  Kiwi was happy to see me come home again, so she was stretching and then just looking at me, as if she was posing for the camera.

Draped Blouse - Paco Peralta

Shoulder Seams and Facing Finish

Once the front and back are prepped, they can be joined at shoulders.  To do so, the facings are opened outward and one continuous seam from the edge of the facing to the edge of the armscye is sewn, pivoting at the corner.  In the photo below, the facings are on the right and the shoulder seam extends down toward my thumb.

Once the seam is sewn, the shoulder seam is pressed toward the back and the facings are folded once again to the inside.

Lastly, the facings are tacked on the inside by hand to the shoulder seam. 

Next (and last) up:  armhole bindings and side seams.

Parting Shot:  Happy.  I was substitute teaching today, and Kiwi was very happy to see me when I came home, rubbing and purring everywhere. 

Draped Top - Paco Peralta

Preparing the Front and Back

The front and the back need to be prepared before joining them at the shoulder.  I first need to answer Bunny's question from yesterday regarding the upper front.  The portion of the front that has the drape is cut on the bias for a woven and on the straight of grain for a knit.  You can see both sets of grain lines in the photo below.  I cut mine on the bias.

For the front, the upper front and lower front need to be joined.  The upper front has a point, which must be set into the lower front.  The lower front is stay stitched along the stitching line and pivoted at the point, then clipped, as seen below.

 After that the front is set in carefully, stitching along each long edge and pivoting at the point, as you would for any inset corner. 

So far, this is what it looks like:

For the back, the back facing needs to be attached before stitching the shoulder seams.  This is because the front drape is drafted with a self facing, not a separate one.  Because of that, you can not construct the neck facing as one unit and attach it later.  If you're going to use a zipper (I'm not for this version), you need to install it first, then install each side of the back neck facing.

At first, I was going to use a very light colored organza as interfacing, but once I made and finished the back facing unit, I was not happy with it at all.  I ended up cutting a new facing and not using any interfacing, and I think this will be fine.  The back neck is pretty stable between the stay stitching and the seam used to attach the facing.  

Next up: sewing the shoulder seams and finishing the armholes.

Parting Shot:  Sewing.  Now that she's done with the drafting and dyeing, my daughter has to do the sewing on her project.  If she gets it done, and I have permission from her, I show it to you although that might not be for a few months.

Draped Top - Paco Peralta

Pattern and Cutting Notes

I've got the top all cut out and while I was cutting noted a few things about the pattern. 

First, the back is not on a center fold.  A seam will allow for an optional zipper, and a shaped seam fits the curve of the back better than a straight one.

Two, the shoulders are also curved, to better fit the shoulder than a straight seam.

For this version in lace, I've opted to cut the hem right along the scalloped edge of the lace.  To do that, I've folded up the pattern along the indicated hemline and then placed the pattern along the scallops.  I took care to center the back so that when the center back seam is sewn, it will make a continuous scallop all along the back.

You can see the scalloped hem better from this side:

I should be able to work on this tomorrow and finish it up this weekend.  I'm hoping to post the steps, because there is a slightly different but logical construction order.

Parting Shot:  Muddy.  Today's hike was one of those with a combination of mud, ice and snow.  There was snow at the summits, but at lower elevations there was mud. 

Draped Top - Paco Peralta

Introduction

I'm back from being busy with everyone's sewing and now I can try out a new pattern I just got from Paco Peralta.  He's done a detailed post on this top with some sewing hints and it doesn't look too hard to make. 

I'm going to make mine in lace and wear it with a matching brown camisole underneath.  I have just enough of this brown lace with gold accents from my fabric collection to make the top.  The key with this pattern is to pick fabrics that drape well, either in knit or woven.  This lace is drapey and not stiff, so I think it will work. 

Parting Shot:  Melting.  Almost all of our snow is gone.  We've had a mild week and now everything is dripping.