Archer Button down - Wearable muslin #3

Guess what, that wearable muslin turned out pretty good. Dare I say it gets the upgrade to finished object?
The fit on the front of the shirt is perfect, enough ease for comfort but not to much.

On the back I probably need a bigger sway back alteration.  Though the pleat is messing up my assement since that's not a design feature I use on my own shirt block.

And the pockets! Usually pockets and my boobs do not mix (mini pockets are the devils work) but these are fantastic. I feel like people will look at the shirt and say, "Cool that has pockets," instead of, "What's going on with your boobs?"

Also angled sleeve cuffs = perfect shirt

My love for Jen's designs just grows and grows.  Full flickr set here if you like non modeled detail shoots of collars and cuffs.  A detailed post about my final fitting changes is almost done, so stay tuned for that.  There are still plans to make a silk Archer, but I'll do that with the official sew-a-long.  That way I have a couple of days to stare at the giant pile of silks....too many lovelies to choose from.

Archer button down - Fitting process

Back to button down March!  Both Archer and McCall's 5138 are making some progress on the old sewing machine. You won't see McCall's 5138 till it's done, it being a TNT there's nothing much to talk about.  But today I'm going to "lift the veil" on my half hazard fitting process.

When picking your size know that Archer is drafted to be roomy, so pick the size closest to your bust measurement.  This fact would have been clear to me had I measured that pattern.  But that would be a smart thing to do, so I naturally skipped over it and guessed what size to make.  I started off with a size 14 bust/shoulder and a 16 through waist/hip. (Blending two sizes together like this is pretty standard for me since I'm pear shaped)  On to the pics....

Muslin #1
A 14/16 size combo with the following adjustments - standard FBA that added a dart and 1" additional bust ease on the half (so 2" total), 1/2" extra width in the back on the half (1" total), 1/2" sway back adjustment and a 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment. 

Findings -  Shirt way to big every where. I like a lose shirt but not one that looks like a smock. I also forgot to move the notch for the sleeve head so the forward shoulder adjustment was not successful. 

Conclusion- Need to go down a size, add only a bust dart but not extra width, move shoulder notch, remove back width adjustment and slim sleeve down.

Muslin #2
A 12/14 size combo with the following adjustments - Bust dart added but without full FBA, 1/2" sway back adjustment and a 1/2" forward shoulder adjustment with sleeve head notch properly moved.

Findings -  Shirt much closer to the size I'd prefer.  Bust dart was properly pointed at the bust apex but visually looked too low on the side seam.  Decided that the back was too tight without my standard width adjustment.

Conclusion-Add 1/2" additional upper back width to the pattern again, pivot bust dart further up side seam, gently curve side seams for a trimmer look.

I'm currently sewing muslin #3, which will be in some navy cotton inherited from my grandmother's stash.  Felt like the fit was close enough in muslin #2 that I could risk some free to me fabric.   If the fit of that shirt is to my liking then archer will get an upgrade to some  fancy shmancy silk. Oh Boy!

Sewing for others - Stashbusting Sewalong Feb Challenge

Confession - I am a selfish sewcialist.   That might not be much of a confession since you could figure that out looking at my FO's. Baby T-shirts and jammies aside everything else is for meeeee.

But in the spirit of the Stashbusting Sew-a-long I dug deep and made one present for someone else. I'm a regular Mother Teresa.

Taaa Daaaaa, a lovely little pattern from Etsy seller Super Orange Sewing, the Emmy Clutch.

 This pattern gets high marks for a super clear directions and a chic design.  It was a very enjoyable process putting this little clutch together.  I'm super happy with the little pleats and the zipper stop instructions, look how pretty.

The fabric is left over from a pencil skirt made pre-baby. (Now sadly toooo small)) I loved that champagne snake skin brocade so much that all scraps where saved.  It has a bit of lycra in it but that caused so sewing problems since all the self pieces are fused.  The lining was also from the scrap bag and I have no idea what it originally was for.  It's hard to see in these photos but the fabric is a nice plumy purple.

I made this for a high school friend of mine who really enjoys my sewing. Our joke is that she's going to win the lottery and hire me as her personal seamstress.  I'm down for that.

 I'll miss you little snaky clutch. but you've gone to a good home.  Now what am I going to sew for me. ;)

March Begins with Button Downs

It's only the 4th day of March and I already have at least 5 sewing projects planned for the month.  Send help, or maybe someone to explain that space/time can not be folded like in Dr. Who.

Random stack of fabric.

Right now I'm working on two button down shirts in tandem.   First a second McCall's 5138 out of some stashed linen that was earmarked for this project. Since I'm all about entering PR contests right now, this one is for the fitted blouse contest. I'm hoping that this TNT pattern will be a quick sewing project. (Famous Last Words)

Linen in the front. Original shirt in the back.

Second shirt is a Grainline Studio Archer cause Jen is great and I can not resist her patterns.  Can Jen quit her real job and make me more patterns?  No?

You will be mine, my pretty.

I've planned a couple of posts on the Archer shirt since it's new and will need my standard fitting changes.  Not sure if I'll get my version done before the official Archer sew-a-long starts but either way it will be fun.

Pushing Daisies Coat - a project of 8 days

I don't know about you but I always get great ideas for contests right before they end.  This seems to happen to all sewing on deadlines, it's like my brain needs weeks to ferment before it spits out the best idea.  In senior year of college we had to make a collection of clothes each semester, at least 3 complete outfits.  Both times I scrapped the whole idea/garments at midterm and started fresh.  It was insane.

So basically the same thing happened with my plans for the PR RTW contest.   I was going to knock off a lovely nightgown from Dollhouse Bettie, but just felt like sewing other projects first. Then on the 20th I thought, "You know what would be a great entry for the RTW contest, that Pushing Daises coat knock-off."   Back when that most awesome show was actually on the air, I'd bought all the materials needed to make a version of the coat Chuck wears in the episode "Corpsicle.  Then never did it, probably distracted by something new and shiny.  Here are some screen caps of that lovely coat.

Did a quick rummage through the pattern stash and Simplicity 2311 seemed like the perfect starting point.  I traced off the single breasted, short length version and began by redrafting the collar. McCall's 6519 was used as a guide to make the collar wrap around the neck.   For the wider lapel I just did a free form drawing while referencing the screen caps.

Since there are no good shots of the back of the original coat I decided to have a little fun and add a decorative yoke.  Simplicity 2311 comes with a yoke piece so that was traced, increased in length a tad and given a curvy edge.  I cut one yoke out of self fabric and another out of lining.  Sewed the two together, understitched the curvy edge and then overlaid the decorative yoke over the regular one before setting the sleeves.

Speaking of sleeves, simplicity only gives you a one piece sleeve in this pattern. Shame Shame!!  Lucky for me the sleeves from Colette's Anise fit right in the armholes, no drafting of my own required.  I did reduce the sleeve circumference by an inch to make them a bit sleeker looking.   Did this by cutting own the seam allowance on the forward most seam.

The pushing daisies coat has no visible closure other than the belt.  At first I thought about making a hidden button placket, but that didn't seem like a good idea with my rather thick wool.  Instead some beautiful large snaps were purchased from the wonderful Waechters.

A little decorative topstitching was added to mimic a placket.  In this picture you can see I topstitched from the bottom up to the point of the dart in the undercollar.  This wasn't planned but it looks nice and tidy.

For the belt I just kind of flew by the seat of my pants.  The main part is simple, more self fabric the length of my waist measurement/4"wide, with some topstitching added.  The leopard print portion is some light weight suede cloth that needed some extra body.  To beef it up I took some hair canvas from the stash and sandwiched it between too layers while sewing the seam allowances.  This was attached to the ends of the green wool and given it's own topstitching. I really wanted a 4" belt buckle but lo and behold this is something that seems to be only made for RTW clothing. If I'd had this "bright idea" at the beginning of the month maybe I could have found a cheap one to cannibalize, but my local Target yielded nothing. With limited time to finish the coat for the PR contest I had to resort to Plan B - get creative with a 2" belt buckle. 

The belt buckle (also from Waechters) was attached behind the belt with loops of the suede cloth.  They were just sewed on with the machine since the stitches would be hidden.  I then folded the leopard belt ends back and secured them with another row of topstitching.  Finally the belt buckle pieces were secured by hand to the belt to keep the front from popping out away from the body.  It actually looks pretty good from the right side.

Here's my PR review if you're interested in what fitting changes were made.  Generally I had to take the coat in but that may have been because I started with with wrong size.  Big 4 ease sometimes confounds me.

Be sure to check out all the beautiful entries in the RTW contest and if you feel like casting a vote my way that would be great. Now excuse me, I must get my note to Oscar Vibenius.

Renfrew Cardigan How-To

Ok, it's the moment some of you have been waiting for with baited breath.... the Renfrew cardigan How-To. Let's just get right to it.

For this modification you'll need to trace the following Renfrew pieces,
1. Scoop front and Scoop front neckband
2. Back
3. Long sleeves and long sleeve hem bands
4. Hem Band
 You'll also need a writing utensil, scissors, tape and extra paper.

(Note Renfrew comes with 5/8th seam allowances but I've reduced mine to 1/4.)

Front
1. Take the scoop front and shorten the length by 2".  Then add 1/4" extra width to the entire side seam.  Add another 1/4" to the CF since you'll be sewing a button band to it.

2. Next put your ruler on the shoulder seam of the front. Measure 1 3/4" down from stitching line (not edge of pattern) and draw a line parallel to the should seam. This is your front yoke line.

If you're going to do gathered yokes add some placement notches on this line before cutting it. Later you'll need them to know where to put your gathering stitches.  On my sweater I put a notch 5/8"away from the stitch line on each side. Cut the pattern apart on the yoke line and then add seam allowance to the yoke edge. Label the top part Front Yoke and then set it aside.  We will be using only the bottom half of the pattern next.

3. To add ease to make gathers you'll need to slash and spread the lower part of the front.  Draw a line between the placement notches and parallel to the grain line though the entire length of the pattern.  Now cut the line from the top almost all the way through to the bottom.  You want to leave a little "hinge" for the pattern to swing open from.  Take a scrap piece of paper and place it behind the cut.  Spread the pattern open til there is an 1" gap, then tape the pattern piece to the scrap paper.  Make sure you add some seam allowance to the now yoke seamline now. Trim off any extra paper and label this piece front.  It should look something like this...

Back
1. Take the back and shorten the length by 2".  Then add 1/4" extra width to the entire side seam.

2. From the CB line measure down 4" from seam line.  Draw a straight line perpendicular to the grainline across the pattern piece.  You'll only need to mark on placement notch since the pattern is on the half. Mine is 2.5" from the armhole stitch line. 
Cut the pattern apart on the yoke line and then add seam allowance to both cut edges. Label the top part Back Yoke make sure it says Fold on the CB edge and then set it aside.  Again we will be using only the bottom half of the pattern next.

3. Once again we will be adding more lines to slash and spread on.  Since I wanted to add 2" of ease to the half the back I drew in two lines parallel to the grain line.  Both lines are cut almost all the way through and each is spread open 1".  Fill in the gapes with scrap paper and tape down the cut edges.  You'll want to true the yoke seamline a little bit.  Just make sure it is smooth and it will probably have a tiny curve to it.
Add seam allowance to the yoke seamline edge, trim any excess paper off and label the pattern Back. It should look something like this...

Optional yoke alteration
You can keep the shoulder seam  or you can remove it and have a continuous yoke.  I decided to remove the seam since the front yoke piece is so small.  Simply tape the two pieces along the should seamline and you're done.

Sleeve
1. Add 1/4" to both side seams.  I also shortened the length of my sleeve by 1/2" which is optional.

Bands
1. Hem and Sleeve hands stay the same
2. Neck band gets 1/2" additional length added to each end.  (If your fabric has plenty of stretch you may not need the extra length)

Drafting a button band
1. Button band needs to be the length of the CF + half of the hem band + seam allowance doubled (Ahhh Maths!) and 2 1/4" wide plus your chosen seam allowance. You'll fold it in half and serge it on just like the other bands.

And now for a few sewing notes....
1. I used tricot interfacing on the button bands and neck band because I wanted to keep these areas stable.

2.While my overlocker does have a gathering setting it makes no sense to me, so I just used the regular sewing machine to put in some basting stitches.  Using a ball point needle stitch a basting stitch between your placement notches.  Then pull threads until the the main body piece fits the yoke piece.  Serge together and then remove basting.

3. I cut two yokes like you do in shirt making.  Sandwiched them around the back gathers and serged all 3 pieces together.  On the front I only serged the right side yoke and main piece together, then slip stitched the inside yoke to the seam.

4. Sewing order was back yoke, front yoke, neckband, sleeves, side seams, sleeve bands, hem band, button band.

Hopefully this is clear enough but it you have any questions, leave them in the comments.  Happy Sewing!

Pattern Hacking - Renfrew Cardiganized

 What do you get when you have a semi-large stash of sweater knits and every cardigan pattern disappoints?  You get out your trusty Renfrew pattern and hack it up! (After tracing off a copy of course.)

Renfrew is always there for you.

I really like those RTW sweater with gathered yokes so I did a little slashing and spreading as well.

Yoke Gathers!

I selected a nice firm knit from the sweater knit stash, an acrylic/polyester/wool blend purchased from Mood last year.  About 2 hours later we had what I like to call Librarian Chic. (Pants are Colette Clovers in stretch Corduroy BTW)

I have just the book for you!

Also doubles as personal assistant chic.

Yes, yes pick up your dry cleaning and then file the Peterman account.

And look the back is really pretty.

More gathers cause they're awesome.

After giving this a really good pressing I'm super pleased with it.  The pattern changes aren't too hard to do and I'll explain them in my next post.