We get it, you like lemons - Butterick 6556

Honestly, is there a lemon print I've ever said no to?  Are lemons the new bird?  Just put a lemon on it?  Putting a lemon on it would actually work for me. "Look Steve! I bought a new power drill because it has lemons on it! I know we had a black one already but that's just boring." But enough about my weakness for good marketing, let's talk about lemon print dresses instead.

This is the third lemon print dress I've blogged about here hence the amusing, maybe only to me, post title. I imagine you all murmuring it when opening your blog readers. Listen guys, all the lemon dresses have different colored backgrounds, which is what a girl needs in her closet.  I don't have a problem, I can stop whenever I want.......*Looks up lemon prints in Spoonflower*

This time I used a pattern currently in print, instead of a hard to trace vintage one. You're welcome? May I present to  you my version of Butterick 6556, aka one of Gertie's new designs in the Spring catalog. This design caught my eye right away, especially the neckline. You guys know I like flashing my collar bones all over town.  Even though my sewing is mostly 40's era garments now, I just couldn't resist. As soon as Butterick had one of their regular sales this pattern joined my collection.

I'd bought this stretch cotton sateen home from work last summer and didn't get around to sewing it.  A fabric has to mature to reach its full potential....or something like that.  In truth the sateen weight was a little heavier than I usually buy and didn't fit any of the projects I wanted to work on at the time. However it was the perfect match for the structured bodice and pleated skirt of B6556.

The dress is drafted to have a full bodice lining, but I decided to leave that out due to the thickness of the self fabric.  Instead I used the neckline interfacing pieces as facings and hand stitched them down so that they don't flap out.  The added facings do make the top of the lapped zipper insertion look messy on the inside.  You have to kind of fold one side under so there isn't a raw zipper tape sticking up out of the neckline.  If I'd switched out the lapped zipper for an invisible one then the inside guts would have been a lot cleaner.  For some reason that day I'd decided that we had to do a lapped zipper, even though I hate them. Who knows what that's all about.

Construction wise I found this one extremely easy. Sew some darts, pleat the skirt, do some hems. Heck I didn't even have to hand hem the skirt on this one. Simple rolled hem on the machine and you're done.  I did have to do an "on the fly" waist alteration thanks to the spandex in the sateen making that area too roomy. The side seams were taken in an additional 1/2" and I made the side seam pleats deeper to match the bodice.  Going down a size in the waist probably would have been smart to do in the first place knowing I was using a stretch woven. That's OK though, it worked out in the end.

Pattern
Butterick 6556

Fabrics used
Stretch cotton sateen from Emma One Sock. (We happen to have this in stock still.)

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Blended sizes 14-16.
2. 1/2" Forward shoulder adjustment to shoulder seam and sleeve cap.
3. Dropped bust dart 1" and shorted waist dart the same amount.
4. Sway back adjustment of 1/2"
5. Removed 1/2" from the neckline. - See below for more info on that.
6. Removed 1" of ease at waist due to stretch woven. (1/2" at each side seam)
7. Added 1" of length to the hem.

Confessions/Advice
Confessions - Hmmmm, I've already confessed about my messy zipper insides and that's about the only naughty sewing issue that happened when making this dress.

Advice - I nailed the square neckline fit on this dress by some "just winging it" pattern fitting. To remove the extra width I didn't need a small fold was made in the corner of the neckline and I taped it closed. Figured it wasn't much different than doing a sway back adjustment. 

A poster in one of the Gertie FB groups told me that I should have slashed into the neckline and rotated that width into the bust dart.  That does make sense, but also this worked and was less work? I probably should try the other method on a similar style if only to compare.

Husband Comment
*Started singing U2's song "Lemon."  Declined to comment further as he was sure he already talked about this dress. *

Bonus Son comment - "I think it's cute. I love it and I love lemons." - The brainwashing has been successful!!!

My Final Thoughts
This was a fun, easy project for the start of spring. It fits nicely and gives me plenty of room for moving around. The only reason I'm not wearing it more right now is because it's been crazy hot. This weight of sateen will be nicer when we transition into Fall and have some cooler temps. And last but not least, when people say, "Nice Dress" you can say, "Thanks it has pockets."

Hollywood 1413 - The Easter Outfit That Wasn't

Hello everyone, happy summer 2018 to you heat loving people out there. You all are currently flooding my instagram feed with giant smiles on your faces as you gleefully break out your sandals. "Finally it's warm and I can ditch this sweater" you exclaim! I'm glad you are enjoying yourself, heck I can semi empathise having grown up with a beach loving father and sister and a weather neutral mother.  They never thought the summer sun was a hateful orb sucking up all their life essence while simultaneously stabbing them in the eyes. Only I would be huddled under an umbrella hissing with distaste while successfully trying to read in the eye searing glare.  Yes my friends, in my immediate family I'm the sole possessor of the nordic and/or vampire genes of my ancestors.

If you're a long time reader of the blog this is no surprise. I've been bitching about summer for probably as long as I've been blogging and will continue to do so. However I will admit to liking two things about summer. One - fancy summer shoes and Two - wearing rayon dresses. My closet is full of rayon dresses, but there's always room for more. Which brings us to some sewing actually done in 2018......gasp! So let's talk about Hollywood 1413, aka the Easter outfit that never was.

Here in southern Pa you have a 50/50 chance that Easter Sunday is going to be either 55 degrees or 85 degrees. There is no inbetween. In 2017 it was 85 degrees and my version of Hollywood 1025 was not heat appropriate.  I wore it anyway because by god my sewing plans were not going to be ruined by a freak heat wave. However the memory of unwanted sweating did trigger me to choose a flirty short sleeve dress pattern for Easter 2018.  It would look lovely paired with some stashed rayon from Gertie's JoAnn's line from the year before.  See, a match made in heaven.

Hollywood 1413 is full of 40's design detail goodness.  The bodice features a ruched center that is created by putting a seam along the neckline that extends down toward the bust.  This makes it possible for center of the bodice pattern to be extended/more ease added. This extra ease is then gathered back into the seam area and sewn in place.  A jaunty little self fabric bow completes the neckline area.

The skirt features 3 tucks that radiate out of the left hip and a sewn in cascade. The front skirt is pieced at the left hip to give you a seam for the cascade. Finally a bow belt balances out the bow on the opposite side of the bodice.

The back is pretty plain Jane with standard darts and no design details. Not that I'm complaining..... there were plenty of new techniques and hand sewing in this design already.

The sewing goddess has been very generous with larger sized 40's styles this year and this pattern happened to be my bust size of 36 inches.  Would I have purchased this in a 32" bust and graded it up?  Probably not.  That ruched bodice detail might have discouraged me from trying. As it was the pattern only needed minimal grading through the waist and hip to fit.  Used my cheater method of slapping .5" on the side seams and called it good. 

I did reference the instructions a few times since the drafting for the bodice ruching was totally new to me. All the neckline edges are faced which means there is a set order of sewing that needs to happen or you'll bungle the whole thing up.  Good news is that the original pattern drafter did do an excellent job giving you reference/placement points. There are various sized circles in the neckline area to help you line everything up.  After reading the sewing steps twice I was able to see what needed to be done and use these marks to assemble the neckline properly. 

The skirt was a bit easier since sewing tucks is pretty much the same on any part of a garment. The cascade was a no brainer, just hand hem and insert into the seam.  I only wish my nails looked as good as the illustrations while doing a rolled hem.

Hollywood 1413 was finished in plenty of time for Easter 2018, a whole month ahead of schedule! It didn't matter though because Easter wasn't 85 degrees this year.  Instead we came down on the 55 degree side of the coin. Obviously Mother Nature is trying to neg me by looking at my sewing plans and making the weather the opposite of whatever's coming out of the sewing machine.  Oh well, as you all may remember I put on Hollywood 989 and saved this dress for hot weather.  Now we'll be best buddies until the blessed Fall breezes arrive.

Pattern
Hollywood 1413 (pictures above)

Fabrics used
Rayon from Gertie's JoAnn's line in 2016.

Pattern changes/alterations
1. 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment to both shoulder and sleeve cap.
2. 1/2" extra ease added to waist and hip.
3. Dropped the bust dart 1.5" and waist dart point the same amount.
4. Added a .5" of length to the bodice.
5. Made .25" sway back adjustment.

Confessions/Advice
Not too much to add here for this pattern.  Will note that I spray starched the rayon fabric before cutting to make it less slippery. Then all the pattern pieces were carefully cut out on a single layer, keeping the selvedges parallel with my cutting board. This method worked with with this rayon which was on the less slippery side of the spectrum.

Husband Comment
"The swirly pattern on the fabric works well with the loose fit." - I think loose fit actually means the design elements. If that's the case he might be learning something about sewing after hearing me natter on about it for 13 years.

My Final Thoughts
This pattern perfectly scratched my intermediate sewing skills itch of wanting a bit of a challenge.  It was neither too easy or too hard, but jusssst right. 

2017 Flashback - Suit Jackets Galore Part 1

Confession - I have always loved suits.  Back in high school I had a black pinstriped pantsuit with a double breasted jacket that was my pride and joy.  It was a cheap ass polyester blend purchased at *Fashion Bug but I felt like a million bucks in it.  One year I wore it to school with on Halloween with heels and told people I was a lady mobster.  No one was charmed by my "creativity" or fashion sense. However this was one of two instances that my highly insecure self said...not outloud but internally.... "Fuck you guys, I look good in this suit." (The other time was when a boy I'd known for years  disparagingly said I was the only girl he knew that had sideburns. That time I internally said, "Fuck you I have great hair.)

All of this is a roundabout way of saying that in the summer of 2017 I blocked out about a month and a half to make a couple of suit jackets.  During the previous winter I'd been constantly annoyed about not having enough dressy options that worked with the weather. I didn't sew anything then for some reason, probably distracted by cake.  Instead I just bought several new pieces of wool while cackling with glee. Oh wool, you complete me. Let's go get brunch. Honestly though, who wouldn't fall in love with this plaid? Only a monster.....or maybe someone who looks terrible in green. I'll cut you a little slack if that's the case.

You guys know how I feel about plaid, we're soul mates. Also it's super hard to even find a predominately green plaid. As soon as I saw this on the Mood website I was practically screaming, "TAKE MY MONEY! I NEED THIS IN MY LIFE!" Didn't want this one to languish in the stash for a few years, so sewing it up was priority number 1. One needs all the green or red garments they can get for Christmas season theme dressing. Aka the best season of the year because everyone wears my favorite colors.

For once my existing pattern stash was rummaged through for a suitable pattern. Memory fails me but I think I bought Simplicity 1207 on a whim during one of my random Etsy pattern browsing bindges. Nothing de-stresses me like staring at new patterns.  That shoulder detail intrigued was very intriguing. I didn't realize it was a pocket until looking at the pattern pieces.  Sure the lady on the left has a handkerchief in hers but sometimes I'm oblivious. Probably distracted by the shoes the lady in red has on. Would buy! **Can I get Royal Vintage shoes on the phone and make this happen?  Also if you're wondering why the pattern number is different on this picture it's because Simplicity re-released the pattern about a month after I completed my jacket.  I haven't bought the new version check if the patterns have been tweaked to make them easier to sew.  Even so it is nice to be able say, "If you want to make this pattern you can easily get a copy."

Anyway, back to the yoke detail! Sewing it together was one of the most interesting construction processes I've had in awhile. It's a good thing I did have the original instructions to refer to because it still made me go......huh? Here's a photo I took mid sewing process to document the yoke area. What you see here is the back on the left with the yoke/back half of the pocket bag attached at the shoulders. On the right is the front with the back yoke area attached. The fronts have the other half of the pocket bag sewn in already. They're in lining fabric and you top-stitch the edge of the pocket before getting to this point.

To put these two pieces together press the seam allowance under on the "band" portion of the front. Then you lay it on top of the back and top-stitch everything into place. Pretty sure the pattern drafter wasn't thinking, "And maybe some crazy person will do this on plaid. That will be fun!" He was probably thinking the opposite. Of course I was that crazy person and was already past the point of no return.  Time for a walking foot, lots of pins and maybe a burnt sacrifice to the sewing goddess.  Though I like to think of her as a cousin of Jobu from "Major League" and she really just wants some alcohol. P.S. "Jesus, I like him very much, but he no help with curve ball."

As you can kind of see in this poorly lit photo, it worked! Bless whichever relative gave me the anal retentive fabric cutting genes.  All....The...Plaids....WILL...Match. Then months later you can smile smugly into your camera about how awesome your yoke plaids match.

The other detail to talk about is the buttons. You might have noticed that my version has 2 instead of 1 like on the pattern illustration.  Well when I muslined this up it seemed like the button was way too low to keep all of the jacket in place. The upper portion was gaping a bit in a non flattering way.  If I had to guess my low bust point might be to blame. Lurking down low and pushing everything about with abandon. Solution, more buttons!  I added another button 4.5" above the original button location. After wearing the jacket once I also added a snap to keep the bottom half in place. Gotta keep all those plaid lines in place.

Pattern
Simplicity 1207.  Since making my version this pattern was re-released by the company as Simplicity 8461.

Fabrics used
Wool plaid from Mood fabrics, black bemberg from Emmaonesock

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Graded pattern up from 34" bust to 36" bust.
2. Added 1/2" ease to the waist and hip.
3. 1/2 forward shoulder adjustment.
4. Added another button to the CF.

Confessions/Advice

The plaid matching might be on point, but on the other end of the spectrum we have the back of this jacket.  I had no idea this suit was so puffy there until taking these photos. Checked the pattern and yes I did neglect to put in my normal sway back adjustment.  Oops.  At least I've got plenty of ease to move around.

Husband Comment
"It has a lot of real estate for pins. Also the pattern illustration looks like an air hostess. Not you though."

My Final Thoughts
One good thing about blogging months after completing a project is that you know how successful of a wardrobe item it is.  I wore this one as often as possible from December to April. In fact I was always pissed if I'd worn it to church last week and didn't want to repeat my outfit.  I will admit that the color had a lot to do with that.  Pros for the actual design is that it's very comfortable and warm thanks to the wool and full lining. I do like the pocket yoke detail and it makes me think I need to pick up a pair of dress clips.  Simplicity 1207 isn't a pattern that I'm planning on sewing again, but I'm 100% happy that I did make one up.

During the summer of 2017 I made two other jackets, one successful, one that's a bit of a mess. It may be salvageable if I rip out the lining and maybe replace a collar.  Of course I hate taking apart finished garments so that one may never see the light of day. You'll definitely see the one that worked out even though it's a pattern repeat. Until then buy plaid and cake. I already am.

* Don't know how prevalent the Fashion Bug chain was but it was slightly better quality than Walmart but not as good as Macy's. Anyway the price was right so my Mom let us do a lot of our High School wardrobe shopping there.

** I happen to wearing the Royal Vintage Marilyn pumps in these photos and I'd give them a thumbs up.

2017 Flashback - I might be too pale for this dress

Is there an expiration date on unblogged garments? It's not like any of you live near me and are thinking, "God Heather, I've seen you wear that dress for 3 months. You're blogging about it now?  As far as you all know this dress never existed until now.  Well if you've forgotten about any instagram progress posts in the summer of 2017.  I'll just get out my "Men in Black" light stick forgetting thing and take care of those memories. Ha! Now let me tell you all about my "new dress" the Dragnor pattern from "How to do Fashion."

Come to think of it I should have waited until it was summer and passed this off as a fresh new make. Ta Da, my hair is mysteriously less gray around the temples for one blog post. What is my secret! Witchy trickery of course. Definitely not living through 3 consecutive traumatic events that happened one after another in a space of 3 weeks. *insert crazed laughter*  (Seriously though the 3rd quarter of my 2017 was a shit show which I can't really talk about since none of the events happened directly to me or my husband/kid.  But I was only 1 degree removed so there was plenty of feelings and stress to drive me more than a little crazy. But enough about real life stuff that's a bummer, let's talk about sewing.)

So back in 2017 I'd been eyeing the How to do fashion site for a bit.  Nanna's style is similar to my own and I always like trying new pattern brands to see what they're like.  I chose to go with the Dragnor pattern because it looked like a good match for some vintage border print in the stash.  See, look at the pretty fruity border!

I purchased the PDF version and had a positive experience with it.   The layout of all the pattern tiles was nice and clear and I didn't have any trouble getting the pieces to fit together.  As is my habit I traced a copy of the pattern onto trace paper and made my fitting changes on that version. One thing to note is that the sewing instructions are not in the PDF download.  You need to go back to the website and download another PDF.  The link to the instructions is clearly marked in the pattern purchasing area, just thought I'd mention it.  The dress itself was easy to put together.  I like the fact that the bodice comes with a full lining, so you don't have to worry about neckline and armhole facings flipping around.  There's also a nice amount of bra coverage for those of us who prefer not to wear strapless bras. (I'm definitely in this camp because strapless bras just end up at my waist.)

Overall this was a fun sew and I was excited to put this dress on......only to find it looked a lot better on the hanger than on me.  Ru Ro Reorge. What went wrong?

- Maybe I'm too pale for this much white background.  I hear some of you saying, "Don't worry Heather, you just need to wear this in the summer when you have more color." Well these pictures were taken at the end of summer sooooo this is my summer color.  My aversion to the sun is good for the face wrinkle situation, but maybe not for wearing white.

- Maybe I got the proportions off a bit.  Thanks to my low bust point the inset area had to be reduced 1" in width. The skirt length also might be a bit too long.

- Maybe a waist inset is not the best design feature on my body.  Kind of highlights the whole pear shaped situation.

To be honest I'm not entirely sure why this is a bit of a miss. Maybe you guys can weigh in.

Pattern
Dragnor from How to do Fashion. I used the non draped neckline for my version.

Fabrics used
Vintage cotton border print bought from Etsy a number of years ago.

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Raised the front and back necklines about .5"
2. Made standard .5" forward shoulder adjustment.
3. Took .25" off strap height on both the front and back.
4. Added 1" of length to top of front bodice and removed 1" of length from waist inset.

Confessions/Advice
- I did try to fully line the entire dress for opacity but that created too much volume in the skirt area. The finished garment only has a lined bodice.

- Despite taking in the shoulder straps they still feel too long.

- I might have enjoyed this angry outtake so much that it became my FB profile pic until this month. Oh and strangers will DM you and ask why you're using such an unflattering picture as your profile. (For Irony, Duh!)

Husband Comment
"Red and white, first aid colors. You could be a nurse, a fruity nurse."

My Final Thoughts
Long story short, great pattern. My execution, not so much.  So do any of you have thoughts on how to rework this dress? The fabric is so pretty and I don't want it to go to waste. I'd be ever so thankful for you recommendations.

It's an Easter Miracle

This could be an Easter miracle or more of a Dr. Frankenstein hooking up a corpse to lighting sort of situation.  Either way you slice it, the blog is ALIVE! ALIVE I TELL YOU!!!!! *cue manic laughter*

Sooooo how's everybody been?  Over here it's been snowing....every week. On the one hand I've gotten a few extra sewing days in. On the other I'm all, "I'm getting to old for this shit" every time my eye falls on the camera tripod. Unless you've got a winter coat to model who wants to go saddle up their team of huskies to go get some blog photos?  (Confession, if I did have a team of huskies I would 100% do a photo shoot with them. It would be a disaster, but probably hilarious.)

Anywooo, today it wasn't snowing or torrential raining and I thought, "Hey I've got myself all made up. Might as well take some blog photos." Looking around I saw that my son was distracted with his new Easter Shark* and my husband was happily eating his easter chocolate. I grabbed the tripod and ran out of the house before they could grab me and demand more food. FREEEDOM!   Well freedom to squint into the sun while dog walkers at the park wonder what the hell I'm doing. (BTW - One of them did tell me my outfit was fantastic.)

This wasn't what I'd planned to wear for Easter. There's a nice blue/white floral rayon number all ready to go for a festive Spring celebration....except it doesn't feel like Spring yet.  After sticking my head out the door I said, "NOPE, not suffering for fashion today....other than my shoe choice. Let's pull out the wool." And low, I clothed myself of in the fleece of a sheep and was happy. But how did I get here you might ask? Oh, oh, oh, I'll tell you.

At the beginning of the month I went on a pattern buying bender since it's only way to get myself excited about sewing up fabric that's as old as my son. Just give me something new and shiny!   As usual Etsy came through and hooked me up with a new Hollywood Pattern. Bam!

All winter I'd been staring at this glen plaid and thinking, "That would look nice in a suit jacket with some pleather. But what pattern would work?" Nothing really came to mind even though there are a healthy number of suit patterns in my stash.  But when I first clapped eyes on Hollywood 989 I knew it would be perfect.

The illustration doesn't show a version with contrast fabrics even though the construction makes it easy to add them. The collar is inserted in similar to a button down shirt collar, so you don't have to worry about piecing a facing on the inside.  The pocket flaps are only decorative, no worrying about sewing bias bound pockets in pleather.  I also decided to do the undersleeves in pleather so there wasn't a nasty plaid mismatch on the back sleeve seam.  There's some extra ease in the elbow area so it was impossible to match the two pieces across the seam.

One other interesting design element is that the jacket does not have a side seam in the normal place.  The front piece wraps around to where the back bodice dart might be positioned. A fish eye dart is used to shape the side seam instead. But you'll have to take my word for it because my plaid matching is obscuring all vertical seams.  Thank god for that CB seam because that make sway back adjustments even easier. (Looks like I need to take out a bit more for the sway back looking at these pics. Darn curvy backside.)

Pattern
Hollywood 989 - Jacket only.  Probably should grade up the skirt because a one with an inverted pleat would be a nice addition to the wardrobe.

Fabrics used
Plaid wool with a bit of a boucle texture/medium weight pleather. Both of these are long stashed Emmaonesock purchases.  The cobalt lining is also from the stash, originally from Gorgeous Fabrics.  In fact even the interfacing, shoulder pads and buttons are stash. A 100% stash project!

Pattern changes/alterations
1. Graded the pattern up to a 36" bust.
2. Standard for me forward shoulder adjustment of 1/2" to shoulder and sleeve cap
3. Decreased sleeve cap height 1/2".
4. 1/2" extra ease added to waist and hip for my pear shape.
5. 1/4" sway back adjustment.
6. Took 1/2" out of the center back seam at the waist.

Confessions/Advice
- No tricky construction issues on this one if you're an old hat at jackets.  See what I did there, old hat. *wink, wink*

- Desmond convinced me on using these buttons that were in the stash.  I was going to self cover some buttons with pleather instead.  After mocking one of those up I admitted that Desmond's pick looked better. More Sparkle!

Husband Comment
Him - "Oh it's got shiny parts. It's like a hybrid of a leather jacket and hounds tooth." 
Me - "It's plaid, not houndstooth."
Him - "Are you sure?"
Me - "YEESS. Who has a fashion design degree around here?"
Him - "Hmmmm, well the plaid is houndstoothy."
 
My Final Thoughts
This baby turned out just like it looked in my head.  I've also worn it all day and wore like a dream. So warm and comfy. This patterns is going in the "would make again" pile.

My sewing machine has been humming all winter so there are plenty of garments I could show you.  But will I?  Maybe Frankenstein's monster could ghost write for me. His grasp of English is probably better.  Until then enjoy your chocolate haul!

*Easter Shark patent pending. It's a real thing and not something I just made up for my shark obsessed 7 year old.  The Easter shark brings steaks, chocolate, and a stuffed shark for you to hug. He's awesome for all ages.

You may remember Easter - Hollywood 1025

Hey guys, do you remember Spring time?  When the flowers were blooming and we weren't dying of oppressive heat? No me neither. My current hobbies are switching out ice packs and bitching about being hot. I'm so Delightful to live with in the summer! #summerhater #nordicgenes #whyamIhashtagginghere

We've probably reached the point that blogging about April makes is ridiculous, but I'm doing it anyway. I didn't entertain/confuse the people driving by my picture location for nothing. (I should make a little sign that says, "Can't understand your drive by yelling," for photo shoots. Right now I just assume they're yelling complement about my hats.)

In the tradition of seamstresses everywhere, I used the Easter holiday as an excuse to sew a new piece of clothing.... and to buy a new hat.  Can I blame my mother for buying me pretty dresses and hats when I was a toddler? I'm just trying to recapture that sugar fueled high of matching dresses and sun hats.  If only I could still find chocolate covered animal crackers that come in a pencil box the trifecta would be complete.

After freezing my butt off previous Easter  Sundays I decided to go with a 3/4 sleeve jacket/blouse made out of cotton sateen for Easter 2017. No worrying about finding matching cardigans this year. Ya hear that Mother Nature?! HA!  (Spoiler Alert - Mother Nature took that as a challenge and made it about 87 degrees on Easter Sunday. F'ing Nature. )

But enough about my personal vendetta with weather, let's talk about sewing. You know I like peplum jackets and Hollywood 1025 is the third version to grace the blog.  This design's claim to fame is that the waist shaping is created with inset pieces. I'd eyed this design a couple of times but couldn't get past all the things that could go wrong grading up insets.  Images of too tiny insets going across my bust danced through my head at night. Then BAM, the pattern showed up in my waist size. Huzzah!  Now my insets won't wind up in unsightly locations. There is a bust dart on the front inset seam that needed to be tweeked due to my low bust point.  The angle is a bit funky but that's why we sew things in bold patterns. You can't see a thing!

As you may have expected, sewing the insets is the trickiest part. I like to mark all my seam allowances around the point of the inset with disappearing marker. Then I clip the allowances a bit and do a bit of basting at the point. Then go in and sew the whole seam on a slightly smaller stitch length than usual. There's always one inset that you have to rip a few times but the rest sewed up fine.

Everything else was pretty standard jacket construction minus a lining. :) That might be while I like jacket/blouses so much.

Pattern
Hollywood 1025

Fabrics used
Stretch Cotton Sateen from the stash. (An old Emmaonesock purchase.)

Pattern changes/alterations
No grading on this baby, Hooray!
1. Standard .5" forward shoulder adjustment to shoulder seam and sleeve cap.

Confessions/Advice
This was the first time I've made a peplum style in a heavier weight fabric and hoo boy did that make a difference in the body of the peplum. Duh.  The top is supposed to go with the standard A-line 40's skirt but with the fluffy peplum it didn't look right.  (Because flat butts do not run in my family.) Happily I'd sewn up this dark red circle skirt a couple of years ago and it was the right amount of volume to balance out the peplum.

(I also confess that I made a dirndl skirt to go with this and it was so hideous that it went straight into the the trash. We shall never speak of it again.)

Husband Comment
"Very festive color and I like the slightly puffy shoulders."  - I assume he's talking about the shoulder pads. If so I've successfully brainwashed him into also liking shoulder pads.

My Final Thoughts
If you've been reading my drivel for awhile you may have noticed that I have a fondness for the peplum jacket/blouse combo.  They are more versatile if made in a blouse weight fabric. You can layer them with sweaters and they work with more styles of skirts. It was fun to try a different weight of fabric and it worked well in the outfit.  I probably wouldn't do it again though. Better to save that bottom weight sateen for regular jackets.

Not related to the pattern, but when I walked into the yard at church it was a sea of clothing in blue/white or tasteful pastels. As I was gleefully giggling to myself about my searing red ensemble a lady ran up to me and said, "I was dying to know what you were wearing today because you always look fabulous."  Then I talked her ear off about my hat because I'm bad at social interactions and crazy about hats.

P.S. - There's me on the right at age 3 on Easter Sunday. I'm probably that happy about candy but let's pretend it's about hats.