Lay you down on a bed of roses

A couple weeks back I was surprised to find an email from the Lillestoff company in my mailbox. My first thought was, "Has someone stolen my identity and bought a lot of luxurious fabric that I will not get to pet? I demand petting privileges!"  But no, instead it was Lillestoff asking if I'd like to receive some of their recent fabric range and host a giveaway.  After falling off my chair, I had to wait 10 minutes before replying yes so that my email wasn't all capital letters and emojis, like some highly caffeinated teenager.

Lillestoff has been my "screw it I'm going to splurge" fabric of choice since about 2011. At first my purchases were small, only getting a yard at a time to make things for Desmond.  Eventually the "kid yardage" started to migrate into the "fabric for myself" pile and I now have my own Lillestoff PJ pants, bodysuits, and T-shirts. Hey moms should have nice things too....and I'm a greedy fabric hog.

Lillestoff was very generous and sent me a GIANT box of fabric.  Des and I might have opened it and then flung fabric around while manically laughing.  "We're high on cotton and we didn't even know it was possible!" Once we stopped sniffing the new fabric fumes, things calmed down a bit and I started to brainstorm what fabrics to sew up first.  Out of all the prints the "Black Rose" jersey was screaming my name the loudest so it got the thumbs up.  (Bright colored roses on black = Heather bait....if you're ever looking to trap me for your own personal baking slave.) Selecting a pattern took a little longer because I was looking for a knit dress that I hadn't blogged about a million times already. (Those would be all of Kitshycoo's patterns which are always my go to dresses.) The pattern winner turned out to be Vogue 1027, a dress I've made before but never blogged.

I attempted this pattern back in 2009 without making a muslin or consulting PR for reviews on the pattern.  What I ended up with was a nice dress that was almost 2 sizes too big.  At that point I pulled up a couple of PR reviews and discovered that everyone found their usual size to be too big.  Most reviewers went down at least one size, sometimes 2 to get the pattern to fit their measurements. Curses, you dirty graders or maybe block makers!!! A knit dress should have a bit of negative ease, not be inches too large.  Well at that time I didn't feel like trying to salvage the dress. Instead it got put away in one of those dirty secret UFO boxes....the ones way in the back of the closet. We all have those right? I always hope some sewing fairy will show up and magically take care of those garments.

Here in 2015 I've done a couple of me-made culls but still have that first version of Vogue 1027. The fabric print is really wonderful so I'm gonna cut it down "someday." (Confession - Someday probably means never.) I figured, why not just use that as muslin #1 and do all my normal fitting changes.  Sounds good, yes? Spoiler, I didn't wait for your feedback and tried the dress on. At my current weight the entire bodice needed to be sized down and a large amount of ease needed to be removed from the waist. I pinned out something in the 1 3/4 to 2" range....on each side. Yes that means I needed to take almost 4" out of the pattern.  There was also some gaping in the wrap bodice neckline that needed to be removed.  OK then, I knew what my problems were, it was time to fix them in the pattern.

I would have loved to simply trace a smaller size of the bodice, but in 2009 I'd made the smallest size in the 14-22 size nest. Never fear though because it easy to do a little DIY grading using the nested sizes. (I blogged about this technique here. To grade down you reverse the process.)  I graded down the width of the bodice, but left the length at the size 14 measurements.  This removed about an 1" of ease at the side seams and about 1/2" around the armholes. At this point I mocked up a new bodice and decided to remove an additional 1/2"(on the quarter) at the waistline. The skirt and belt pieces were adjusted to fit the new waist measurement, details in the review portion, and the length of the skirt was shortened two inches.

In my previous version I used a knit lining to finish the edges of the bodice. This worked well for the armholes, but I had problems with the lining rolling out along the neck edge.  This time I decided to use the provided facing for the armholes and draft one for the neckline.  I traced off the neckline area of the front and back bodice patterns to create the facing.  To reduce the gaping on the bodice I reduced the length of the front neckline facing about 1.25." When the facing was serged on, I stretched it to fit, making it pull towards the body a bit.   To finish all the edges, I covered stitched on the right side and then trimmed any excess facing fabric on the wrong side.

Pattern
Vogue 1027 - DKNY faux wrap dress (Might be OOP by now)

Fabrics used
Lillestoff cotton/spandex jersey in the "Black Rose" print.

Pattern changes/alterations
1. The size 14 bodice was graded down one size in width, but the length was left alone.

2. An additional 1/2" was removed at the waist area on the bodice.  Finished dress had 4" of ease removed from the waist area.

3. On the skirt I removed 1" from the side seams and reduced the length by 2".

4. The two belt pieces were reduced by 1" so that they would match the new waist circumference.

5. The front belt edges were serged together to eliminate the white back from showing through.

6. The pockets were omitted because there was not enough yardage.  (Confession - I wouldn't use knit pockets either)

Confessions/Advice
- That waist seam has a lot of layers thanks to the sewn in belt.  On my version I basted each layer with a large zig zag stitch to keep all 4 layers aligned. Then the seam was finished with the overlocker and the basting removed.

- Since Lillestoff cotton is less drapy than rayon, the facing trick did get rid of most of the gaping. If I were to do it again in rayon, I'd reduce the length of the bodice fronts as well.

- I'm not completely sold on the sewn on belt.  At some angles it looks good, in others it looks bulky.

Husband Comment

"It has sharp angles, which I like. That rope thing coming off the waist is like a karate uniform. Cool." (I "think" sharp angles means wrap bodice, but I didn't seek clarification from the source.)

My Final Thoughts
After all the pattern edits were done, sewing up this dress was easy peasy. None of the construction steps are difficult and Lillestoff cotton doesn't fight you as it goes through the serger.  Instead it wants to be sewn, and worn, and fondled....um maybe I should stop there. *Goes and sniffs fabric in a corner.*

This was a bit more fitting work than I'd usually want to put into a knit pattern, but for some reason that didn't bother me too much this time. It helped that I'd purchased the pattern so long ago that it just felt like being thrifty at this point. Now that I have a version that actually fits, I'm very pleased with the pattern. The style lines are classy and work well with my body type. I also think it pairs every elegantly with the black rose pattern making me look dressed up when really I'm thinking, "Ahhhh secret pajamas."

The Lillestoff fabric giveaway will be next post, hopefully later in the week.  I need to take photos and do a video for Mrs. Crafting a Rainbow. As long as tomorrow goes according to plan then everything should be on schedule.  *Famous Last Words*

Summer of Dresses - 80's Flashback

Hello dress parade attendees, I'm sure I don't have to tell you about the dangers of Etsy. Some day you might find yourself trolling that site for wrap dresses without even knowing how you got there.  It happens right?  Someone on twitter mentions they like wrap dresses, you like wrap dresses, maybe Threads just had an article about wrap dresses.  All of a sudden you NEED TO BE MAKING ONE!

Anyway I "think" that's how this pattern got bought, it's all a little hazy now. Or maybe I've had too many parade beverages. No really, it's been long enough since I made this that all information has been deleted from my brain and replaced with song lyrics. It happens people.

This pattern is from the 80's which we are NOT calling vintage cause I was alive then and do not consider myself to be aged to vintage status. Let's just say Flashback....AHHH what am I doing in the 80's...wait wait, sweet dreams Are made of this.

Pattern
Vogue "Very Easy, Very Vogue" 7526.  I bought my copy off of Etsy because I though the sleeveless version looked rather modern. Let's not talk about the sleeves on the other one.

Fabrics used
Green batik rayon from Steve's sewing in King of Prussia.  Was pleasantly surprised that the place I took the sewing machines for servicing also had fabric.  I'm a sucker for a subtle batik so this came home with me.

Pattern changes/alterations
This pattern came with 3 sizes 12,14,16.  The 16 was my actual bust measurement so I traced that and added ease to the waist and hip area.
1. The bodice had a very big bust dart so I reduced the dart intake from 3" to 2".
2. Then I added 1/2" to the side seams of both the front and the back bodice.  (This turned out to be a bit of overkill and I had to take in the side seams on the actual dress.)
3. The back dart was moved 1 3/4" closer to the side seam because it seemed to be in an odd location.
4. Added 5/8" to the side seams of the skirt.
5. The skirt was very long, I chopped 4" off before cutting the fabric and took another 1" before hemming.
6.  I overlapped the two bodice pieces not on CF but further over to give a little more coverage in the bust area. Not that it looks that way. There's a thread tack there too, I swear.

Confessions/Advice
1. The pattern came with armhole facings but those things are the worst.  Instead I bias bound the armholes. As much as I hate sewing bias binding these actually turned out well.

2. The collar instructions were to make a small turned hem for the edges that do not get sewn into a seam.  I did this but have a sneaky suspicion that there is a better way to finish those edges.

3. Unlike the armhole facings, the neckline facings are not trouble in this dress.  With the giant collar covering most of the bodice you can tack them down just about anywhere.

Husband Comment
"That's well constructed and the neckline is nice as well you know."

My Final Thoughts

I bought this cause the reverse collar was snazzy looking and do think it looks cute in real life.  However I think it would look better on a person with a normal or long torso.  Just because a whole lot of visual interest gets put on the low bust which will indirectly highlight where your waist position is.  That caveat aside I do like this dress and think that rayon lent itself well to the design.  

Now all I need is an ironic 80's perm.....

August Sewcial Bee - Late Season Strawberries

I've had so much fun looking at everyone's pictures in the Sewcial Bee Flickr group. So many beautiful garments and it seems like everyone had a good time.  Thanks so much to Gida Studio for a fun challenge for our second round of the Bee.

So what did I sew for the Bee?  Well just a little mash up of the bodice from Vogue 1027
and my favorite Lady Skater skirt.

My sewing time was limited for this round of the Bee so my mantra was "Keep it simple, Stupid." Guidelines were, use a TNT pattern, minimal or no closers, and for the love of god try to use a knit.  Luckily for me this bamboo knit from Harts.com fit perfectly into GidaStuido's garments inspired by food challenge. Yum strawberries!

I've been itching to make the Vogue 1027 dress again since posting back in May about my first version. It has gaping neckline problems that keep me from wearing it often.  Many of you kindly gave me suggestions for fixing the problem and I was eager to try some out. This is the technique I settled on and it worked great on this knit.
1. Ran a line of basting in the neck edge of the fronts.
2. Very slight gathered the neckline, just the tiniest bit.
3. Used some of the knit tricot stay tape over the basting line on the wrong side of the fabric.
4. Folded the edge over and used the coverstitch machine to finish the edge.

For the sleeve edges I sewed on the facings and then finished the edges with the coverstitch machine.  The facings were trimmed down to the stitching so you get a nice edge finish that doesn't flip out.

There were only 2 yards of this fabric so I couldn't use the huge circle skirt that comes with the Vogue pattern.  Instead the Lady Skater skirt was subbed in with 2 additional inches of length.  Similar look just a little more flirty.

Since I've made Lady Skater mash ups with both Vogue and New Look bodices a quick list of the differences between the patterns might be helpful to others.

Breakdown of the design differences...
Vogue 1027
- Bodice wrap only goes over half of the front
- Pleats on waist seam
- Cut on Kimono sleeve

New Look 6097
- Bodice wraps entire front
- Pleats at side seam
- Set in sleeves

Personally I feel that the Vogue bodice is a little "fancier" because it shows a bit more cleavage.  I love the kimono sleeve, but that does limit your sleeve options unless you're comfortable with pattern drafting. The New Look bodice is more casual because the neckline is not gonna dip as low due to the full bodice wrap.  Set in sleeves make it easy to swap out different lengths and the Lady Skater sleeves fit almost perfectly into the armholes.  So now you know....and knowing is half the battle.

Thanks again to everyone who participated in the Sewical bee.  For those of you who where busy, don't worry we'll do it again. :)

Summer of Dresses - Vogue 8728

Good news everyone, you've all been cordially invited to my "Summer of Dresses" cake tasting party/dress parade. They'll be plenty of cake and alcoholic beverages, but you might want to clear your schedual cause the dress parade might take all summer.  Get out your lawn chairs and settle in cause the festivities are about to BEGIN!

The first dress in our parade is the vintage inspired Vogue 8728.  Let's let the our model tell us a little more about the pattern.....

Pattern
Vogue 8728 - As if you didn't know. ;) Actually if you're anything like me you don't remember pattern numbers at all, just the illustration on the front of the envelope.  This is the one with two vintagey ladies looking put out about having to attend some lame ass cake party.  The one is the black already has her "bitch please" pose going.  The flora lady is either mocking us or is secretly pleased with her armpit hair removal technique. 

Fabrics used
Stashed rayon/lycra jersey originally from Emmaonesock.com. All the birdy prints will be MINE!
Also some left over stretch lining also from EOS. She has it in different colors than the one I bought a couple of years ago.

Pattern changes/alterations
It was a classic Heather moment when I went and bought the pattern and then read everyone's PR reviews on this dress.  The common recommendation was to go down a size or two, however I'm a Vogue size 16 which is the smallest size in the larger size split.  There was no smaller size to go down to unless I threw some more money at Vogue. And Vogue was getting any more of my crumpled one dollar bills, at least not today.  That turned out to be a good decision because I needed the depth of the size 16 bodice to fit my girls and taking in a side seam is a lot less work.

Here is the rundown of all my changes....
1.  Cut down all the seam allowances to 1/4" since I was using a knit.

2. The neckline was too wide so 1" was filled in just at the shoulder edge and then graded out to nothing.

3. On the back I folded the darts closed and taped them shut.

4. Took in the side seams 3/4" and raised the bottom of the kimono sleeve 1".

5. Reduced the length of the neckband  4.5".

6. Shortened the bodice length about 2" in the back and about 1 3/4" in the front because my waist is titled.

7. Reduced length of skirt about 4". 

8. Drafted a lining for the gathered part of the bodice.

Confessions/Advice
1. I want to thank Jennifer of Jennifer Lauren Vintage for bringing to my attention the potential problem of  "boob gatherage".  Aka the gathers sliding to the sides of your boobs leaving you with an unsightly smooth areas attracting you the wrong kind of attention.  She mentioned that one fix for this was to draft a bodice lining piece without the gathering ease.  I did draft one up in a totally half hazard manner using the upper and lower bodice pieces.  First I took the upper bodice piece and traced the shoulder and sleeve area.  Then matched the lower bodice piece to the upper and traced the upper curve.  The neckline curve of the bodice lining was just drawn freehand.

2.  I reinforced my neckband with the beloved tricot interfacing that I won't shut up about.

3.  It was hard to tell how long the bodice needed to be before adding the skirt so I did a lot of last minute tweaking of the bodice length/waist tilt.  I should have removed the skirt, cut down the bodice, and reattached the skirt.  I went maverick and just basted extra wide seam allowances at the waist until the bodice length looked correct.  Then a permanent seam was sewn in, the SA cut down, and edge reserged.  Most of the extra skirt length was sucked up with this alteration and I only had to cut an 1" off the bottom edge.

4.  The skirt was first sewn on with the 1/4" serger stitch but it felt too heavy for that narrow seam. I used my regular sewing machine to put in a lighting bolt/stretch stitch further away from the edge.

And now a little rant about the lighting bolt stitch....it is the work of Satan!  It's like trying to hammer in a nail with the handle of a screw driver.  You can kind of manage to do it, but not without cursing a blue streak and partaking in an alcoholic beverage so that you don't stab your loved ones.  Lord help you if you make a mistake and have to rip that motherf***king stitch out.  You might as well just fall on your sewing shears and end it all.
If you feel like sewing with knits on a regular basis, please for the love of god, buy yourself a serger!  I own the Brother 1034d, it's inexpensive, easy to thread and and never acts up...unlike the other two machines I own. Yes, I'm giving an extra slightly eyed look at you coverstitch machine.  Knits are only hard if you don't have the proper tool, get yourself the proper tool.  Thus ends my PSA/rant about sewing knit with your regular machine.
P.S. Here's my non-professional video on how to easily rip out a serger seam.  Now save your pennies and buy one.

5. I used the coverstitch machine to put in the hem and finish the kimono sleeve edges. A 3/4" worked well on the sleeves.

6. Hey Heather, didn't you just say that you don't wear gathered skirts cause they're not flattering and blah blah blah blah, gored skirt, blah blah?  Ummm yes, yes I did but a "lady" has the right to change her mind.  In this case I thought the gathered skirt echoed the gathered bust line and decided to go for it.

Husband Comment
"I actually like this one. What's that bird? A phoenix....like a phoenix rising from Arizona."

My Final Thoughts
Whoever first thought to make this pattern up in a knit deserves an award and a giant piece of cake.  Because you can eat a giant piece of cake and still look good in this dress. 

Me-Made-May Day 17 - Gone with the Wind

In tonight's production of "Gone with the Wind" Heather B will be playing Scarlett O'Hara and Mr. JubJub will be playing the part of Rhett Butler.  We hope you enjoy the show.

 

I made this dress (Vogue 1027) in 2009 and it was several sizes to large for me. It fits me now so yeah?

Pros
- The fabric is awesome.
- I really like the sleeves and the full skirt.
- It's very comfortable.

Cons
- My assets are always trying to make a quick exit out of the wrap front.  I put a thread tack there but gap-itus is still a problem.
- Think the at waist tie empahesises that I'm short waisted.
- To finish the bodice I made a lining out of some stretch knit which is mostly great.  However it's a tad too big so it also sneaks out the wrap front. 

I should probably take the bodice apart again and do some fiddling with it but who wants to do that.  Sorry V1027 you'll just have to be a sometimes dress.