A sundress just under the wire - Butterick 6167

Oh hi there, where did those almost 3 weeks go? All I remember doing was laying in bed coughing and then decorating for Mr. D's 5th birthday party.  Maybe I happened upon "The Doctor" and some weird timey whimey crap happened and suddenly it's the end of August and I have strange dreams of giant bugs. AHHHHH, AHHHH, get away bee!  In truth I've been suffering from a rather long case of lost sewing mojo this summer. Usually warm weather puts me all in a froth to sew as many dresses as possible before being forced once again to layer in wool. However this summer's mostly been spent knitting said wool and binge watching TV series most people saw years ago. Maybe I just have too many giant stashes of supplies that make me slightly nervous. Gosh darn hoarding gene.

I have been doing a bit of sewing at about a quarter of my usual pace. You might say that Butterick 6167 is a perfect encapsulation of this. A perfectly fine project that was then complicated by second guessing, procrastination and general laziness. In total it took more than 3 months from start of muslining to finished dress. This is honestly terrifying since it's a cute summer dress and I've made lined coats in less time than that. I'm sorry Butterick 6167, you deserved better!

Originally this pattern was going to be one of my first summer projects.  The design caught my fancy when Butterick released their Spring line and I thought the version Amy sewed up was very pretty. Coincidentally after Amy's FO post JoAnn's had a Butterick sale, so you know I "had" to buy a copy. Pattern in hand I excitedly muslined up the bodice to find that there were going to be major fit issues due to my low bust. You'd think that would have been my stopping point, but no. Sometimes I need to show my dominance by pounding fitting issues into the ground with a steely gaze much like Robert Patrick as the T-1000.

Ooooh yeah....I will kill you fitting issues/John Conner with merely a gaze.  Side note - Anyone else find the T-1000 weirdly hot. He's trying to kill us all, but he looks so good doing it. I'm all a flutter just thinking about his intense running. Stupid sexy evil robot. Anyway, let's just say I put this face on and the fitting problems magically melted away...with the liberal use of elastic. If that sounds vague it's because I'll be going into detail about my low bust alterations in a "Sewing Notes" post tomorrow. I compare boobs to baked goods.......so you've got that look forward to.

Now back to actual sewing talk....having completed the musling process all I had to do was pick a fabric and get sewing.  Usually this is not a hard decision for me because A. I have a lot of fabric and B. I have no problems buying more fabric.  There should have been at least 7 different applicable fabrics in the stash, but for whatever reason I just wasn't excited about using them for this particular pattern.  One sewing lesson I have learned is not to shoehorn fabric into a project if it doesn't feel right. You are never going to be happy about sewing that fabric up. Better just to put the project on the back burner until the right fabric comes along.  So poor Butterick 6167 got put on the back burner a looooong time.  I did try to find it some new fabric but my usual crack fabric dealers just didn't come through for me this time.

I'd just about written this pattern off for this summer when my pal Margo mailed me a surprise package of fabric. Margo has impeccable taste, so I basically squeed all over myself when I found she'd send me a tropical print on a black background. The fabric said, "I'm here for the Butterick dress! Aren't you glad you waited for me?"  YES fabric, YES! You are so worth it. We hugged and I put it in the washer for a prewash.

It's all smooth sailing from here right?  Wrong.  Turns out that if I make a muslin in April and then pick it up in August my little brain decides maybe the whole thing needs to be tinkered with. Maybe it needs to be more like the Bernie Dexter Paris dress I'd been wearing all summer.  The general look between the two was very similar, but I liked some of the details on the Paris dress more.  Why not get the pattern out and just change one or two things?

The great thing about sewing is that you can make a garment just how you want it. It's also the worst thing because you can get caught up in a series of fiddly changes that had nothing to do with the fit of the garment. You end up wondering if you're really just trying to drive yourself crazy and/or find an excuse to abandon the sewing project for you knitting project. "I can't possibly think of pattern edits right now. Guess I have NO CHOICE but to knit this sock and watch The Americans. Yeah baby, Wigs!" Seriously though, the wigs in that show are great. This blonde one....uhhh I want to marry it.

Eventually I burned through all cold war era spy craft available to me and finally buckled down to make those pattern edits. Based on the look of the Bernie Dexter dress I decided to make the following changes:

- Changed the ratio of bust shelf to lower bodice.  The height of the bust shelf was reduced and added to the lower bodice instead.

- Added a bust band under the ruched area.  I thought the band gave a nice transition between the two areas.  I've put my drafting and construction details for this in the Confessions/Advice area.

- Thinned the shoulder straps to about the same width as the Bernie Dexter dress.

- Added a lot more width to the skirt for more gathered volume. Since this made the pieces very large the skirt was cut on the cross grain even though my fabric wasn't a border print. I think the skirt as drafted is nice, just wanted to turn it up to 11.

- Added side seam pockets because why doesn't this dress have some in the first place?

I kept some of the nicer elements of the Butterick pattern that the Bernie Dexter dress doesn't have, like a full lining and a deep hem. If you're cherry picking you might as well have it all, don't you think? Just nod your head and we'll move on.


Pattern
Butterick 6167. Started with a straight size 14 with a C cup.

Fabrics used
Stretch cotton shirting from the most excellent Margo. Thank You Margo!!!

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Added 1/4" at the waist to each side of the front princess line seam.

2. Changed the proportion of the front bodice of the dress.  The overall height was nice but I wanted the ruched area to be a bit smaller.  Removed 5/16" from the bust pieces, added the same to the lower bodice pieces. (Back needs no alteration since the overall height remains the same.)

3. Changed the angle of the bust shelf. On the bodice side added 1/2" at the very top of the curve and graded it out to nothing. Removed the  3/4" from the bust stay and bust inset because that area needed to be taken in.

4. Additionally reduced the length of the bust inset 2" for a total of 2 3/4" of width removed.

5. Added 8" long elastic to the top of the bust shelf to get rid of the rest of the gapping.

6. Added a bias band to the bottom of the bust shelf.  Finished width is 5/8".

7. Reduced shoulder strap width to a finished width of 8/16".

8. Added 11" to both the front and back skirt pattern pieces to increase the skirt fullness by 44".

9. Added pockets to the side seams. I used the pockets from the Odette dress.

10. Made the hem slightly smaller at 1.25" when pattern calls for 1.75" hem.

11. Omitted the boning called for in the back of the bodice.

12. Went back into the finished garment and took the side seams in a 1/2". Think I didn't make my muslin small enough to account for the lycra in the real fabric.


Confessions/Advice
- Just a note that my fabric choice was a lighter weight than the cotton sateen the pattern sample is sewn in. I probably wouldn't have added as much volume to the skirt if using a sateen weight.

- I'm not opposed to boning in dresses, but don't think one piece makes sense for the design. I could see adding additional boning into the side seams/front princess lines seams if you wanted to make the garment really sturdy. I also think this design works fine with no boning at all. (Bonus, you don't have to worry about dry cleaning the dress because of spiral steel boning.)

- The hem was machine sewn because I wasn't feeling it in the hand hemming department.

- Also skipped the lapped zipper and put in an invisible one. Screw you lapped zipper.

- Looking at these pictures I should have done a bit more seam allowance grading at the waist.

- If you like the underbust band, here's how to add one to the dress.  First measure the curved seam of the lower bodice to get an idea of the length needed.  Double that and add an extra 1" of wiggle room. This will be the length of your underbust strap pattern piece.

Decide how wide you want the finished band to be. The fabric piece will be folded in half when it is attached, so double that measurement and then add seam allowance.  For example my finished band is 5/8" so the finished pattern width is 2.5"  After drafting the pattern add a bias grain line to it.  You'll want the band cut on the bias so that it bends around the curved part of the bust seam.

The band is added before sewing in the bust inset. To attach the piece, fold it in half and then baste it to the lower bodice edge.  Change to a regular stitch width and then edge stitch the folded edge to the bodice.  Try to make the curved area as flat as possible. You may need to manipulate the curved area of the bias with your fingers as you stitch.   Once the folded edge is secured you can remove the basting, or leave it in until the bust inset is attached.

Husband Comment
"It's bunchy...and all the cleavage is hidden under the bunches." *Insert sad face emoji here* (I even showed him my Marilyn Monroe impression photo and he was not impressed.)

My Final Thoughts
The husband and I are going to have to agree to disagree on this one because I felt pretty darn good taking pictures out on the sidewalk today.  I even got an unsolicited "Beautiful dress," comment from someone's husband.  (His wife chose not to comment, but I'm going to pretend he spoke for both of them.)  I also like being able to bend over in a dress and not worry about my girls falling out. Flashing cleavage all over town has never been my MO anyway.  Flashing collarbones, now that's another story.

Don't let my long list of alterations scare you off. Remember that half of them didn't really need to be made to get a pretty end result.  The only thing really had to be tinkered with was the front of the bodice/inset area. If your bust apex is in a "normal" location or if you are smaller busted this area would not be as tricky to fit. For those of you with low bust apexes like me, check out tomorrow's fitting post.  A little elastic in the inset area hides a lot of sins. :)

Coming to an imaginary theater near you.....

(Beginning of movie voice over by that guy who does all the "In a world..." movie trailers.)

In 2009 John Rambo was killed by terrorists, but not before the government had taken samples of his DNA. Concerned with homeland security, the government assembled a crack team of scientists and tasked them with top secret project "First Blood." The goal of the project was to clone fully grown super soldiers from Rambo's DNA. *The project was going well until a fluke lab accident damaged the Y chromosome on the source DNA.  Unable to make carbon copy clones of John Rambo, the team came up with a different plan. They would make a female super solider, one that was as good with a gun as she was with a needle.......and so Jessica Rambo was born.

(Cut to first person narrative from our hero Jessica Rambo)
Returning to my quarters from a kali training session, I found a message from central command.  Major Seamstress Erin had sent down orders for my next assignment. I was to join the top secret mission classifed as The Rambo Project.

Command would be sending me a turban from one of my "father's" prior missions in order that I create suitable garments for tracking down my next target. More instructions were coming in the mail so be prepared.  I cleaned my gun and sharpened my Gingers, now I was ready for anything.

The package arrive a few days later containing 3/4 of a turban and a note written in code to inform me to my next target.  As I removed the turban from it's wrappings I was stuck with a sense of deja vu. Hadn't I seen this turban being worn before?  Had I ripped it into pieces with my gunfire?

A hazy image flickered in my mind.....but no, that wasn't me. No matter, I had orders to obey.

My fabric yardage was limited but I'd make it work, just like Sargent Gunn had always told me. My brain rifled through the possibilities and it became clear that there was only one that would serve my needs. I was a warrior queen and would dress like one.  I ordered Private Froggie to get out the pattern from the Craftsy Bombshell dress class.  A little extra explosive power comes in handy in my line of work.

We worked through the night, carefully considering stripe placement and irregularities in the fabric.  Private Froggie threw his paws up in the air in disgust more than once, but I told him not to despair. **Once you've had to make garments out of stockings and clear vinyl, then turban garments are a cake walk.

My original plan was to attach shorts to the bustier, for those times I have to run through the jungle exchanging sniper fire with masked bandits. Sadly, it was discovered that there was not enough yardage to cut shorts that would cover my "muscular" backside.  Private Froggie and I did some quick calculations and drafted up a mini skirt that would make the most of our remaining fabric.

After sewing the skirt to the bustier and putting in a zipper, I sent Private Froggie off to fill up my bandoleers. One with bullets, the other with red lipstick. While he was doing that, I made up a bustier lining and sewed in featherlight boning to help the garment retain it's shape.  My plastic boning stores came up a bit short, so we had to close up the lining and hope for the best.

I put on my poisoned red lipstick and shoes with hidden knives in the soles to go get photographic evidence that the first part of my mission had been completed. Private Froggie stopped me and said that the ensemble was missing one thing. He pulled out a red head band and I knew he was right, a true Rambo always wears red.

As I tied on my head band I told Private Froggie to saddle up, it was time to hit our target.  Look out evil doers, we're coming for you.

Need more Rambo?  Check out the ladies who have already posted their Rambo projects.
Oona of OonaBalloona – La Wrambette
Sonja of Ginger Makes - Swingy Summer Top
Shams of Communing with Fabric – Jeans Style Jacket
Tempest of Fanbloomingtastic - John Rambo’s Worst Nightmare
Lauren of Lladybird - Slutty Bralette
Leila of Three Dresses Project- Hummingbird Skirt
Keep checking back on Seamstress Erin's announcement page for new links to go live.

* Blatant rip off of X-23. Sorry fellow Marvel fans.

** True story, I had a college course similar to the Project Runway challenges where they have to make garments out of candy or random things you find at the store. Sadly I have no photographic evidence of these garments.

The Dark Side of Sewing

Disclaimer - this post is for giggles, but you knew that didn't you?

Sewing is fun. Sewing allows us have clothes that fit well.  Sewing lets us express ourselves creatively. There's no end to the positive attributes of sewing that we love to talk about at length.  So much so that our non sewing friends have long since passed into a coma of boredom.  But like any addiction there's a dark side that we like to keep mum about. It's not all pretty prints and designer card stock people. Sometime it's sliced fingers and burnt fabric. So in the effort of full disclosure, I'm going to take a minute to peek behind the curtain and talk about the dangers of sewing.

1. Exponential Stash Expansion
It starts out so innocently, a couple fabric purchases tidily folded up and stacked in a plastic container. But left unsupervised fabric breeds like rabbits. First you need a second plastic container and then 4 more.  You start throwing other things to have more closet space, all the while telling yourself that it's not a problem. Then the fabric begins migrating out to other rooms, leaving thready trails in it's wake.  How did that pile of fabric end up on the dinning room table?  Another threatens to topple over on you every time you open the linen closet. (Note - fabric yardage totally counts as linens.) Yet you still find yourself trolling the internet looking for new babies.  When will it ever stop?  Probably only after they pry some silk out of your cold dead hands.

2. Spousal Fabric Friction
Your spouse comes home from work to find another box on the front steps.  He comes in the door with an accusatory look and chucks the box in your general direction. He might even say, "Is that fabric? Why do you need more?" He seems to be concerned about the pile of fabric on his nightstand toppling over and smothering him at night.  You make excuses like, "It's a present for someone," or "I need this for work, " or even, "Robots ordered this while I slept." He doesn't seem to buy it. You vow to keep a better eye out for the mail man and hide the boxes next time. It's not like anyone is going to notice the mountain of cardboard in the basement.

3. Mild Child Neglect
Sure you make sure that your kid/kids is/are clothed, fed, and not waving around giant knives without supervision. But the phrase "Go play your toys, Mommy needs to sew," is routinely uttered. TV watching watching may even be encouraged if it means you can get 15 uninterrupted minutes to finish this darn hem. "You want to watch another episode of "Young Justice" starring Aqua Lad? Be my guest. We'll talk about DC's ridiculous lad phase at a later time." Mild child neglect maybe also bleed over to aspects of sewing blogging.  Such as yelling to either get into the camera frame or stay out of it depending on who is supposed to be modeling the clothing.  (Note - child will do the opposite.) Let's not forgot about blog writing and your pleas to, "Keep down that racket, mommy's trying to write. Yes I know I've been telling you that for the last 2 hours. Mommy doesn't have a good grasp of the English language."  Do this long enough and your child will tell you to "Go work on your fabric," when you try to talk to them.  No problem, now you have permission to sew.......right after they hand over the rotary cutter.

4. Sewing Planning Insomnia
Tucked tight up in your bed, you're ready for sugar plum faeries to dance in your head.  Instead patterns and fabrics appear and start filling your brain with ideas.  Yes, that cotton would be perfect for a button down skirt. Hmmmmm, maybe you should make that dress pattern you've been hoarding for the next family get together.  Or maybe you need a dress with lobsters on it. OMG, why did you not realize that you needed hot pink zebra leggings until now?! All of a sudden it's 2 am and your mental sewing list is a mile long.  At least you're not the least bit tired now, might as well get started.  Running on no sleep is future you's problem, right now you've got things to sew.

5. Inability to buy RTW
Whether it be lack of time or not having the skills/inclination, sometimes you need to buy RTW clothing.  This doesn't seem like a big deal at first, but sooner or latter you realize your standards are now ridiculously high. Why do these pants fit like crap?  Does the waistband really need to be 3" too big. Oh my word, was this hem sewn by a pack of drunk monkeys?! And poorly trained drunk monkeys to. Mine does much better work even on a full bender.  After criticizing sewing skills sets of the animal kingdom you are still left with a Sophie's choice.  A - Leave the store in disgust with no new clothing, doomed to wear the same 2 ratty pairs of yoga pants for another month/until they fall off your body. B - Purchase ill fitting clothing and grumble about how you could have spent that money on nice fabric instead. Actually there is a C - Tell yourself that you'll stay up late and finally sew those pants.  Then go use that money to purchase new shoes. The pants might not get sewn, but at least your feet look good.

6. Wadder Rage
After spending hours carefully sewing a garment from start to finish it is finally complete. You excitedly try it on only to find it looks like crap. Your excitement morphs into a deep rage which bubbles up from your core.  With a Hulk like scream you rip off the offending garment and throw it across the room. Then you start yelling about seam allowances and no good drafting.....maybe about all these darn socks all over the floor.  Can no one put things in the hamper? Seriously what is the deal? Pets and small children scatter in your wake knowing that mommy is looking to smash things.  Older children fling chocolate in your general area and hope for the best. Your spouse quickly rounds up the kids and announces "It's time for an ice cream trip cause Mommy needs some alone time."  All sneak out the back hoping you will no longer be holding a seam ripper in a threatening manner when they return.   (Note- Wadder rage has a cousin, Sewing Tourettes.  If find yourself routinely cursing at your sewing machine, you may have sewing touretts.  This also might be how your children learn all their "colorful metaphors.")

I hope this PSA has opened your eyes.  Keep sewing my friends but beware of the dark side.......unless you've already mastered light saber fabric cutting. If so give me a call, I've got a lot of yardage to laser.

Confession - I am a pattern addict

This weekend I was reading Jennifer's latest blog post about her TMPTMF syndrome, too many patterns/too much fabric, for those of you not in the "know".  This got me wondering, "Do I also have TMPTMF?" I certainly have A LOT of fabric and my "to buy" pattern list never comes to an end. These seem like the only criteria needed to contract TMPTMF.

But haven given it so more thought, it seems that TMPTMF is not my problem.  First there is never too much fabric, only too little storage space. When my husband says my stash has everything I can accurately tell him the holes it has that currently need to be filled. (Solid knit colors and cheaper black jersey. I ain't sewing up that milk/silk blend that cost 28 bucks a yard into T-shirts honey.)  Second, I'm always jonesing for new patterns. Show me something new, something interesting, some new designer, some garment I didn't know I needed, or that exact garment I really want a pattern for.  MOARRRRR Patterns baby, I need a hit! OK guys, I'm just gonna say it.  "Hello my name is Heather and I am a pattern addict."

It takes a lot of factors for a pattern to become a finished garment in this house.  A pattern is always in danger of being replaced by another that is new and shiny. One that hasn't yet revealed that it's gonna need 3 muslins to fit right. One that is a super exciting garment. Or maybe life just benches a pattern for awhile and I don't feel like picking it back up again.  My pattern buying/making cycle goes something like this..... if it was a choose your own adventure book

1. See new pattern, think "OMG Take My Money and give me that pattern."  Order and dance with glee. Probably tweet about said pattern purchase, cause you guys need to know that I have procured more pattern goodness.  All the patterns Heather keeping up her reputation!

2. Excitingly waiting for pattern to arrive. I don't want to sew any of this stuff on my table right now, all I want to sew is that pattern that is NOT HERE YET. Oh god why? *Lurk around front of the house for mail man to show up.* Maybe I need to search the internet for more patterns.....just to fill the time.

3. Pattern is here!  Happy Happy Joy Joy! Open package and ...
a. happily start tracing.
b. suddenly don't want to sew it anymore. Some new pattern has appeared and all I can think about is that one. Fickle sewcialist I put it in the downstairs pattern drawer. Maybe someday I'll decide to sew it after all...or maybe it will get moved to the upstairs box.  Oh no pattern graveyard!

Don't worry patterns, I still want to sew you if you're in this drawer.

4. For patterns that I trace it's now first muslin time. That carefree time where I'm sure everything will fit just fine with my regular pattern tweaks.  Try muslin on and...
a. Muslin does fit fine! I will ignore new patterns and continue making this garment.
b. Muslin fits OK, but needs second muslin. "You have displeased me pattern, sit in time out while I decide whether to replace you with that awesome new pattern I saw in the net."
c. Muslin fits like crap.  Actively purchase new pattern while throwing the other in the pattern graveyard. "That will teach you!"

This Bellatrix muslin is in time out only cause I'm busy not cause it's naughty. Poor baby.

5. Happy Pattern, you've made it through my muslin stage and will now be cut out in real fabric.  But wait, your perils are not over for my pattern eye is always wandering. I fire up the sewing machine and....
a. Sewing goes quickly and without any major hair pulling moments. Maybe I even have a period drama to watch so I don't put off hand hemming for a week.  You are now a finished garment. Achievement Unlocked!
b. Sewing starts dragging and I start thinking about new shiny patterns that won't make me set sleeves twice. Maybe you are lucky pattern and I have chosen a nice fabric that makes me continue on in my efforts.  But the clock is ticking and you best be finished before an Indy designer releases a new collection.
c. Sewing becomes a grueling slog of ripped out seams and on the fly adjustments.  I am covered with ripped out bits of thread and have probably stabbed myself with some shears. My eyes glaze over and I see new patterns dancing in their glossy envelops/hipster environmentally friendly packaging that promise me all sorts of things.  I can't help myself, I'm a slutty pattern addict and I reach for a new one. Pattern you have failed me and your garment is resigned to a box. *Cue sad horn*

Actually this is a perfectly good Archer that is just waiting for some sewing time. Love you Archer pattern! Smooches.

So any you got some new patterns? You do? Meet me in the alley behind my house in 10 minutes. I'll bring the Christmas cookies, you bring the pattern. *Puts pattern envelope to my nose and sniffs* Ahhhhh yeah, that's the good stuff.

In Process

After the flurry of sewing summer dresses my sewjo has decided to take a vacation.  I can't really blame it since I held it's nose to the grindstone for 3 months.  Hopefully it's enjoying some traveling and will return soon bearing souvenirs. Bring FABRIC!

So in the mean time I'm puttering away on the Mae Blouse from Blueginger Doll.  Do you like the vintage cotton I scored on Etsy?  It's berry berry nice. #badpuns.  Anyway the pattern is super easy and should be done by now, but lack of sewjo makes you easily distracted. Squirrel!

The main source of distraction is the new sweater I cast on, the Thermal Pullover from knit wear Fall 2012. This pattern has been in the mental "to knit" column for over a year and looks like the perfect layering sweater.  I'm knitting it out of some long stashed Cascade 220, cause I've not no more room to stash yarn. Yep I'm a dual stasher....maybe a triple stasher if you count patterns.  "The power to stash is strong in this one."

So if you need me I'll be on the couch watching streaming TV with needles in hand or cursing at my sewing machine.  Smell Ya Later.

Maria Denmark Edith Top - You'll be Retro Fabulous.

Hello fellow sewcialists, some of you know I've been drooling over the Maria Denmark Edith blouse since first seeing the prototype garment. It pretty much has everything I like in a summertime button down blouse.
Kimono sleeve...check, collar...check, darts galore...check.  Can I make this up in that narrow vintage cotton I have in the stash, YES I CAN!

So I dropped everything and whipped one up just in time for a trip to the in-laws.  One must put decorative landscaping/fences to good use after all.  Thankfully they don't ask questions when I break out the tripod.

This was the first pattern I used since Maria redesigned the formatting for her PDF downloads and I loved the change.  Every page had a nice red dotted line where the pieces should overlap.  It was easy peasy putting the whole thing together.

Now on to the proper review....
Pattern
The new Edith top/dress from Maria Denmark.  I used a combination of size 42/44.

Fabrics used
Some vintage cotton snagged on Etsy.  This was probably quilting cotton but I liked the cherry gingham print and decided to purchase it for a top.  (Shop is Leona's Old Linens, if you're interested.)

Pattern changes/alterations
1. My usual 1" drop and diagonal tilt of the bust dart.  I've found through past trial and error that this placement works best for me.

2. Dropped the top point of the front fish eye dart 3".
3. Increased the dart intake of the back fish eye dart 1/4".
4. The collar felt a little tight and the bottom of the armholes were digging into my underarms. It fix this I took 1/2" off the shoulder seam at the outer edge and graded it into nothing at the collar side.  Then I dropped the bottom of the armhole 1/2".  This took care of both my fitting problems and put the blouse waist at my natural waist.
5. Normal 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment.
6. Added 1/4" more ease to the hips.
7. Slightly curved the hem at the side seam on both the front and the back.

Confessions/Advice
1.  I used a bias band finish for the armholes.  It was a bit tricky since kimono sleeves have a tighter curve at the bottom than a normal sleeveless blouse. I'm still pretty pleased with the finish.

2. Next time I'd make the front facing slightly wider so I don't feel like it wants to flip out.
3. I never do sway back adjustments on blouses with back fish eye darts but it's probably something I should do.
4. There is no button placement on the pattern so what I did was to put on the shirt and decide where the bust level button should go. Then divide the space evenly for 5 buttons.  On my shirt the top button is 14" from the hem and the rest are spaced 2 1/4" apart.
5. My version has a shirt tail hem in the contrasting hot pink top-stitching....which I seem to have forgotten to take a photo of.

Husband Comment
"You did a really good job on the hems. What are these, cherries?"   I did unpick and redo that hem, so husband points for noticing.

My Final Thoughts
I feel all Bettie Draper put together when wearing Edith with some Colette Clovers.  Now I just need to work on my Nordic bitch stare while sucking on some menthols. "No one likes a liar Sally, now make me a drink."
In closing I think this is a great little pattern and would recommend it to anyone comfortable with making buttonholes.  So make yourself one and find a fence to pose in front of....maybe your husband will photobomb you too.

Silky Spring Archer

Once upon a time this garment maker strayed across the Wiksten site and fell in love with everything she was doing.  Being out of her size/price range I made due with just snapping up all her sewing patterns and then serially stalking her blog.

I might have drooled on myself when she collaborated with Dealtry and made the most lovely print imaginable.  I think it's frowned upon to put your kid up for adoption to get money to buy silk tanks and dresses, so again I had to admire from afar.

Fast forward to last year when Jenny tweeted that she'd set up a spoonflower shop with several of her prints.  I threw some goldfish crackers at my kid and grabbed my credit card.  "Don't bother Mommy she's buying custom printed silk." Muhaaaa all the pretties will be mine!  I'm still surprised by my restraint only buying the fall colorway in silk crepe de chine.  It seems that all of you love it too because it was the number one choice between blog comments and tweets for the Archer sew-a-long.

I might have already finished mine, over achiever that I am.

Come closer while I strike a pose

On the back I increased the sway back alteration another 1/2" and think it looks better than the first shirt.

And now the real test, toddler action shots.

This was a perfect fabric/pattern pairing so thanks blog readers, you were so right.

FYI - The pants are Hotpatterns Weekender boyfriend jeans made last year.  They do not fit exactly right because "cycle of pant fitting hate," but I still like them.

My New Sexy Love...Cobalt

Hello Cobalt, I was minding my own business when you walked into the room and gave me that look. Oh you know the one.  I tried to resist you saying, eyelets aren't for me.  But you sidled up along side me and whispered, "This time they are."  Then you might have winked in a rakish manner.  It was then that I realized I had to have you.

Sure our relationship hit that rough patch when I didn't do a proper muslin. I get very cross with you and needed some time alone, but let's face, it you're too beautiful to throw out of the house.

When I pulled you out of UFO box last month you gave me that saucy grin again and I remembered our torrid love affair.  This time we could get it right....this time we did. Fin*.

*Actual sewing details.
The pattern is Colette peony with some style changes.  Using the A line skirt as a base I drafted a pencil skirt with a back vent.  The front tucks were converted to darts and lengthened a bit. The boat neck was scooped a tad lower on both the front and the back.

I got the idea to line the cotton eyelet with some silk chiffon from a RTW top tried on at Anthropolgie.  This allows the wearer to have more opacity but still retains some of the lovely airiness of the eyelet.  It also feels divine as a lining.  The entire bodice and skirt were lined but the sleeves were left as a single layer of eyelet.  I removed all facings, understitching the lining to neckline instead. (Both fabrics purchased from Gorgeous Fabrics last year)

There was a bit of trouble fitting this dress for two reasons....

Fitting problem 1 - I did not read any PR reviews before starting and did not know the back was rather wide .  My standard 1/2" of additional back width was added as well, making the problem even worse.  On my muslin I did not install a zipper and did not notice the excess fabric in the back.  It was not until a zipper was put into the real dress that the fitting problem was noticed.   At this point I got frustrated and put the dress in the UFO box for about 4 months.

Fitting problem 2 - I lost 12lb in those 4 months so now the dress was too big all over.  Now some semi-large amounts of fabric needed to be removed to size the dress down.

Final fitting changes as follows.
1. Connected the back dart and neck dark to create a princess seam in back.  This allowed me to take out some of the extra back width, about 1/2" here.
2. Took in the side seams an 1" on each side.
3. Also reduced the diameter of the sleeve 1".
4. Took in the CB seam 1" in the bodice tapering down to 3/8" in the skirt.
5. Increased the back dart intake to 1 1/4".
6. Made a 3" sway back adjustment on the bodice.
7. Took about a 3/4" wedge out of the remaining shoulder seam.  The slope of my shoulders did not seem to match the pattern with the boat neck shape changed.

The back still isn't exactly right, but it works in a pinch.  If I was to make this dress again, I'd start over again with the correct size for my current measurements and go from there.

 But for now I'm gonna enjoy my sexy new love, Cobalt

Leveling up on my stash busting pledge

Back in January I joined the stashbusting-sewalong and pledged to use up 12 pieces of fabric.  Well after sewing 100% from stash in the first quarter of the year I've used up 23 pieces of fabric.  Yikes, even I'm surprised.

Seems like it's high time to update that pledge so here goes...
I Heather B, rabid sewcialist pledge/buyer of too many shoes, pledge to use up 40, yes 40 pieces of stashed fabric by the end of the year.   Honestly that would only put the most minor of dents in the stash and technically I'm already half way there.

Right now my sewing table seems to be in a blue phase, Spring is making me want to sew bright colors.

Half of these blue fabric blobs are already finished. There will be fun new FO's to show you but I'm waiting for shoes, always waiting for shoes.

Sewaholic Cordova with GillianCrafts

Twitter pal Gillian, of Crafting a Rainbow, and I conspired together and decided we needed to sew Sewaholic Cordovas for Spring.  She didn't need to twist my arm much, the pattern was already in my stash and it seemed like a good time to jump back into jacket sewing.

Not gonna lie, going into this I had some concerns about the style.  Peplums do not look good on me.  (Why did you buy it then....because it was cute, shut-up!)  Despite knowing that I just had to make up the first muslin with all the fluffy peplum bits.

Cordova Muslin #1 - The pattern as drafted with both peplum layers.

Yeah, not so great.  The peplum says, "Heeeeeey, check out these giant hips/butt."  (Spared you the profile shot, your welcome.)  Also no collar/crew neck has never been a flattering look for me.  I was ready to give up on this pattern, but all my sewcialist friends pushed me to do some more tinkering.

Cordova Muslin #2

I drafted a collar, removed the upper peplum tier, and added more to the princess seams in the back and reduced them some in the front.  Now this had potential.

Further inspiration came from this review where Diana put contrast panels in her Cordova.  Awesome! I had to do that too and the stash had just the right fabrics to do it.

BAM, cobalt wool suiting and black faux leather.  Ohhhh Yeah I'm gonna be a faux badass!

Still have linings and zipper and other such unexciting things to do so no FO's for a bit, I got an Easter dress to finish.

Opening up the UFO Box

Last Fall I hit a wall in the sewing department.  A bunch of design ideas backfired, muslins made only to find the style didn't flatter, and fitting problems, lots of them. The end result is that everything I was sewing got shoved into a box and put away. 

None of these projects had reached the dreaded wadder status, they just needed to be ripped out again and refitted/restyled.  I didn't have the energy then but now enough time as passed to open up the UFO box.* 

(* Disclaimer, these are not all my UFO's...... only the most recent ones. There is a bunch of stuff wadded up in the back of the fabric cave that you don't even want to know about.)


 1. Purple Renfrew
This was supposed to be a quick FO to ease my sewing troubles but then the purple thread was MIA.  Looked high and low without success and finally ordered new purple thread.  The day it dropped on my doorstep I found the original purple thread in plain sight, in a location I had thoroughly searched earlier.  As a FU to the universe the cut out renfrew got thrown into the UFO box.

This week I wanted some brain dead sewing and this renfrew finally got sewn up.   So that's one UFO converted. You don't really want to see me model my millionth renfrew right?

2. Blue Peony
Made a muslin that I will swear up and down fit pretty good. (Except I might not havechecked the back.)  Made it up in the fashion fabric and surprise the back was waaaaay too big.   Fuzted around with it until giving up in disgust and throwing it in the UFO box

This seems like it would be the perfect Easter dress, if I can figure out the fitting problems in time.   I worked on this yesterday and it looks like the dress needs a sway back adjustment and to be taken in on the sides.

3. Silk magenta blouse from my shirt block
Was knocking off this Boden blouse and forgot that the sleeve I grabbed had gathers at the sleeve cap and the sleeve cuff.  When I sewed up the blouse those gathers + yoke gathers = super 80's blouse.  Not in a good way.   I disassemble the sleeves to cut the cap down and then got cranky this stupid project wasn't done yet.  Then threw it in the UFO box.

Haven't yet taken a look at this garment yet.  I can't remember if the sleeve heads are already cut down or what.  Due to the time constraint of finishing a dress by Easter this got stuffed back into the UFO box. Dumm Dummm Dummmmmm.

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