Do you own a Black Shirt?

I know all of the fashion pundits tell you that you should own a good white shirt. It appears on all of the Top Ten lists. However, if you think about it, you could use a good black shirt too. It would work with a black skirt (denim or otherwise), a pair of trousers, jeans or leggings.

So do you own one?  I didn't. It came up last summer when I wanted to make a jumper/sleeveless dress for fall. I had a pattern, the fabric ~ a black/brown wool blend check, tights and shoes but no shirt to go under the jumper. So it didn't get made because I was missing a vital element to make the look work.

Then I started to think on it and realized I didn't even own any black shirting fabric...which started it's own search. I didn't even ask myself the question of why didn't I have any with such a large fabric collection...because the answer was simple...I'd never needed it before.

Supply List ~
I found some at Fabric Mart of course. It's a 100% cotton, 57" wide fabric that was the deal of the day for $2.99 per yard. At that price I bought 10 yards. This was purchased last fall and was on the website until recently when it sold out.

The black 'n white gingham is from the collection and I've had it for over 10 years. I bought it to be accents on a white corduroy denim type jacket that still hasn't been made...*sigh.*  Even though I used it for accents on this shirt there is still plenty left for the corduroy jacket, some day. The buttons are from the button collection. That makes the shirt a total "from collection" sew. Yes!!!

Construction ~
Imma be honest. When I sew shirts I don't flat fell the seams. I guess I should care about using the technique but I don't...I just want a shirt to wear. So my seams on this version are serged finished first, stitched together and then topstitched down.

My TNT shirt pattern has the button band included on the front of the pattern. It also has front princess seams. The back has a yoke and a gathered one piece lower back. The set in sleeves have a band that can have an opening with a button and buttonhole or a band that's just added to the bottom of the shirt. I've made this shirt eight times with a variety of changes, most of them detailed in this blog post.

However, if I want to have a different fabric for the back of the button band, which is what I wanted in this version, I had to make a change to the pattern to achieve that look. It was a simple alteration. I redrew the front pattern piece leaving the 1/2" past the center front on the pattern.  

Then I drew the button band piece with 1/2" seam allowance and the rest of the band from the front pattern piece.

For this shirt, besides the front band in black 'n white gingham, I added a fold up cuff using the gingham for one side of the cuff, inside the collar stand and the back yoke.

Since I usually add a label to the back yoke of my shirts, when I went to add this one, it kind of melted into the background. So I sewed the label to a piece of the black shirting and finished the piece by using my pinking shears. It was then stitched to the yoke. 

It's not a huge detail but I love how it's just one more thing that adds to the fabulousness of this shirt.

The inner band and sleeves with cuffs

A few pictures ~
...taken with casual shoes which I thought were black 'n white gingham...Surprise! They're blue!!!

 

 ...taken with red velvet heels...to wear out with friends.

 

Conclusion ~
I've worked out all of the issues with my pattern and have the perfect shirt pattern now. This look is becoming my daily uniform. Its so comfortable to wear that I've decided to use different details for future shirts to make them distinguishable. I've been inspired by changes Cennetta made to several of her versions, as well as this Instagram post. Her post has really challenged me to think outside the box when adding fabric details to my shirts.

As you know, this will not be my last shirt this month or this year. I counted. I have enough fabric to make another two dozen shirts and that's only including one from each of the 10 yards of white & black shirting I own. *sigh* Yeah I kinda went for it when I started buying shirting fabric but I blame Fabric Mart and those amazing sales for that - TOTALLY! LOL!

Lastly, lest you think I've forgotten about the Crazy 8 Wardrobe ~ this is item number 4 from the wardrobe. It's also the first shirt I made when I decided to make a bunch of them. 

The next shirt on the blog to celebrate "April is Shirt Month" is a chambray dotted shirt... 

...as always more later!

A Boucle Vogue 9286

This is my second completed garment in "The Crazy 8 Wardrobe Plan - Vogue 9286."

I bought this pattern last summer because I liked the big slouchy top. I thought it would work well over a turtleneck or crew neck top and some jeans or leggings. That it would add a little polish to my casual work wardrobe as well as a little warmth during the winter season.

Normally I put my pattern conclusions at the bottom of my post but I've moved this one up to the top of the post. Why? Because as usual a Vogue Easy Pattern is easy to sew but not easy to fit. I made the classic mistake of looking at the measurements and thinking wow, with all of that space I won't have to make any adjustments for my abundant abdomen or bodacious booty...ummmm wrong! I cut out the largest size an XXL and I should have started with a size L instead of the one I chose. It was just toooooo much fabric on my body!

Materials ~
Pink Boucle fabric from Fabric Mart (purchased December 2016)
Black Ponte remnant
Design Plus Bias Tape Fusible Stay Tape
Two 1" black covered snaps

Pattern Alterations ~
Originally the only change I made to the pattern was to lengthen the front and back pieces by 3" at the lengthen/shorten line.  I wanted my top to be more tunic length than top length. I like my abdomen and some of my thighs as well as all of my bottom covered.

Because the sleeves are off the shoulder, extra large and gathered into a cuff, I didn't need to make any changes to the pattern. That was a plus for this pattern.

Construction Techniques ~
Since I was using a very ravelly boucle, I needed to serge finish the edges of the fabric as quickly as possible. But I didn't want to stretch the neckline or armholes out by handling the fabric too much.  So I ironed fusible stay tape to the neckline, the shoulder seams and the armholes. Sewed the pattern as per the pattern instructions and then disaster struck!

I tried the garment on and it was huge...HUGE!  As I said above...I chose the wrong size to begin with so because of that I had to take the top apart, cut it down and sew it back together. The first change I made was to was the front.  The v-neckline was flopping around since there was just too much space. To solve this challenge, I cut it down the front and sewed it back together with a 1" seam allowance. Even cutting down the facing and reapplying it. This change allowed the neckline to lay flat.

The second issue was that the sleeves were hanging too far down my arms. Luckily, I'd only basted the garment together to try it on. So I removed the basted side seams and the sleeves from the body of the top. I cut 1.5" off each side of the body. I added the bias tape back to the armhole, serge finished it and then sewed the sleeve back on.  This solved the problem of the drooping sleeve. However, I still had to cut 1" off the bottom of the sleeve because it made the cuff droop down my hand.

Since I'd basted the sides with a 1.5" seam allowance, I trimmed off 5/8" and then sewed the side seams with 5/8" seam allowance. Yeah alot of work right?! If I'd just believed that I needed a smaller size, I wouldn't have had to jump through hoops to make this fit.

The last touch was to add a strip of black soft fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Group to the hemline after assembling the garment.

The cuffs are button cuffs but my fabric was thick and I just didn't feel like wrangling it under the sewing machine to make buttonholes, so I added black covered snaps to them.

A few pictures of the topper ~

Seeing the full extent of the topper!

Yeah, that's a lot of fabric...

My daughter making me laugh gives

a good view of the back of the topper

Conclusion ~
The construction of the garment is easy just as the pattern says, it's the fit that you will need to be careful about. I did add a few extra steps because of my sizing issue. Also I chose a very fiddly fabric to work with so I needed to do a little more work to preserve the integrity of the fabric. Then I added a piece of the selvedge as trim in the back yoke seam to give it a design element. But looking back on the process, that was the easiest part of the design.

It's a cute oversized top that will work with a turtleneck under it but I have no plans to use this pattern again. I purchased the pattern for the top only and it wasn't talking to me as I was working with it. Not sure if its because I chose the wrong size, or if this is just one of those designs that you only need one of...anyway I'm moving onto the next garment on the list for my Crazy 8 wardrobe!

...as always more later!

McCalls 7481 - Hack'd

This was the second piece completed during my Christmas Sewcation and the first piece of my Crazy 8 Wardrobe Plan. Just to remind you the details of the plan are in this post.

It's McCalls 7481 ~

Inspiration ~
Earlier this spring, I made this jacket using an African print. I've worn that jacket twice ~ both times out to dinner with friends. I've never worn it to work and I don't know why?  I stumbled across the inspiration jacket during my Pinterest travels. 

I follow Blair from Atlantic Pacific on Instagram, Pinterest and her blog. I'm constantly inspired by her looks and copied a garment she featured years ago too. When I saw this pic I immediately thought of McCalls 7481 as the starting point.

What I most admired about the jacket is the floral print and how it extended into the gathered bottom. It looks like it's made from a silky type fabric. However, I immediately saw it in a denim and I KNEW I had the perfect fabric in the collection to make it work.

This lightweight denim fabric is from Fabrixx in San Francisco.  Shams was shopping there and sent me a note asking if I wanted some. People seriously I have the best sewing friends! Definitely wanted some - it was just a matter of determining how much to buy...I ended up with 2 panels though later I wished I'd bought 3.

Anyhoo, when I added this jacket to my Crazy 8 Wardrobe plan I knew it would be a project. I was hacking a pattern and I was using a fabric that I hoped would work for the design. Also this style is a little out of my comfort zone. It has more of an artistic/art teacher flair to it. Clothing that I love on others but rarely make for myself.

Materials Used:
Ltwt denim border fabric from Fabrixx
Black midweight denim from Smuggler's Daughter
Ltwt fusible interfacing from Fashion Sewing Supply
Large Snaps from Pacific Trims

Pattern Alterations/Construction Techniques ~
This a great pattern to start with because it comes ready to color block.  Since I've already used the pattern all of the pattern alterations have been made to it. 

Now while the pattern has separate pieces to use in color blocking, I still traced and adjusted my already altered pieces because I didn't want to fiddle with new pattern pieces. 

My pattern changes:
1. Cut the front and back pieces adding 2" below the waistline.
2. Omit the lining since it's a denim jacket.
3. Used the front & back facing pieces I'd made for the previous jacket.
4. Omitted the pockets again ~ honestly I regret omitting now that I've worn the finished jacket.

Construction techniques:
a. Since the goal was to have a fully gathered skirt on the jacket, I used the lower front panel piece from the pattern. I cut it on the fold for the back but I used the entire length of the border print. 
b. Then I cut two front pieces from the border print using the same pattern piece.
c.  The gathering was accomplished using the dental floss technique that's worked so well for me in the past.

d. I cut the collar using a darker piece of the border print to bring some of the border print to the top of the jacket.

Sleeves ~
Let's be honest I have fat upper arms and I almost always need to make adjustments to the sleeve pattern pieces.  This pattern was no exception. Although I'd already made alterations to the sleeve pattern piece when I originally made the jacket, the sleeve didn't work as cut. I don't know if it's because my fabric is an unforgiving denim or what but they just didn't work.

Thank goodness I had enough fabric left over to recut new sleeves. I decided to add a seam down the center of the sleeve so that I could get the extra space I needed where I needed it.

By adding a center seam I solved most of my problems with how the sleeves fit and hung.  I also made the armholes a little larger when I put the sleeves in to take up some space in the jacket front that was pulling in a funny direction. 

I could tell something was wrong not only by how the jacket felt when I put it on but also how it looked. See I've started to take quick pics on my iPad when fitting. It helps me get a better idea of how a garment hangs and looks, as well as how it feels.

Now my upper arms are considerably fatter than my lower arms and wrists. So to insure that my wrists don't look like they are floating in a too big sleeve, I added ties from the border print to the bottom of the sleeve.  This way I can tie the sleeve, giving it a better fit at the wristbone.

A few construction shots ~

Pinning the gathered skirt onto the jacket 

The jacket without the sleeves after 

the bottom has been added

There was a lot of thought and care given to the interior of this jacket since it wasn't lined. I hand stitched the jacket hem as well as the sleeve hems. The front plackets were hand stitched down after I sewed the fabric covered snaps to the front bands.

A few pictures of the jacket in action ~

Wearing the jacket with a RTW pin at the neckline

Jacket front opened so you can see the covered snaps

View of the back gathered skirt

A gust of wind showing the jacket's flow

Conclusion ~
I thoroughly enjoyed making this jacket probably because I had the time to think through the challenges and execute them. I'm also thrilled that while it's not an exact replica of the inspiration jacket, it works for me.

This isn't a silhouette I usually wear and I'm even happy about that. Also, some would think this should be an outerwear jacket but it's cold here on the East Coast. It also looks like it's gonna be a very cold winter, so warm layering pieces are on my creative horizon right now.

This was my second garment of my sewcation and took the longest to complete but so worth every minute I spent working on it.

...as always more later!

It's in the Air!

If you're on any form of social media, you may have seen sewists talking about wardrobe sewing...especially on Instagram the makenine2018 hashtag is trending...at least in my feed. Also quite a few sewists are talking about sewing from their fabric collections...c'mon y'all know I would never use that "S" word! *LOL*

Then MimiG started sewing 10 Must Have Me Made Garments that are based upon sewing every day wearable garments. I've started to think there must be something in the air cause you know I'm sewing my own "Crazy 8 Wardrobe."

So what is it about the beginning of this year, that has collectively caused the sewing community to look at what we've been sewing, and realize that we need to make more garments that reflect the lives we actually live. Or that maybe we should sew from some of that amazing fabric we spent 2017, 2016, 2015, etc. collecting.

I don't know about others but I am still trying to sew up a completely me-made wardrobe. I miss wearing something I've made everyday. Especially now that it's so cold here on the East Coast, I'm swathing myself in sweaters and cashmere to protect myself from the bitter chill.

To remind you here is what my Crazy 8 Wardrobe consists of:

1. A jacket - McCalls 7481

2. A cardigan - Heidi Cardigan by StyleArc Patterns
3. Two shirts that button down - TNT pattern
4. A blouse - Vogue 8772 
5. A topper - Vogue 9286 
6. A pair of jeans - Ames jeans by Cashmerette Patterns
7. A pair of pants - TNT pants pattern or the Eleanore Jeans by Jalie Patterns
8. A bonus piece - a vest from Vogue 9273

During my Christmas Sewcation I completed the jacket using McCalls 7481.

Jacket during construction with pants in the background

I also made a pair of trousers made from denim that need some alterations but I think I can make them work. I'm presently working on the Vogue 9286 topper and I hope to complete one of the two shirts from the list this weekend too. 

It's Martin Luther King Jr. weekend here in the USA and our offices are closed on Monday...giving me an extra day of sewing time so I hope to get all of the pieces mentioned above completed.

However, I won't make my self-imposed deadline of January 31st and I'm cool with that. I will have made four of the nine items on my list but there's no way I will get the next five outfits completed in 2 weeks. I still want to sew all of these items so I will be working on this list until they're completed. Especially since these items are all things that I want to incorporate into my every day wardrobe.

This is what I'm sewing/creating/working on now.  Blog posts of the finished garments soon.

...as always more later!

Crazy 8 Wardrobe - Casual Style

In the past, I've loved sewing wardrobes.  I've made several SWAPs and even started a business wear Crazy 8 Wardrobe back in December 2013.  I made a few pieces but never finished that wardrobe. Since I've figured out what I want to sew and acclimated to wearing jeans as part of my work wardrobe, I've really wanted to do another wardrobe.

So to recap, a traditional Crazy 8 Wardrobe consists of:

1. A jacket

2. A cardigan

3. Two tops

4. One blouse

5. One pair of pants

6. One skirt

7. One dress

Imma change it up to better reflect my current work wardrobe. Here is what I'd like to make alongwith pattern suggestions.

1. A jacket - McCalls 7481
2. A cardigan - Heidi Cardigan by StyleArc Patterns
3. Two shirts that button down - TNT pattern
4. A blouse - Vogue 8772 
5. A topper - Vogue 9286 
6. A pair of jeans - Ames jeans by Cashmerette Patterns
7. A pair of pants - TNT pants pattern or the Eleanore Jeans by Jalie Patterns
8. A bonus piece - a vest from Vogue 9273

I need more bottoms than I need a skirt or dress now so I've replaced them. To me the wardrobe should be practical for my needs and these changes work for me. Featured fabrics will be denim and shirting but specific ones from the collection haven't been chosen yet. The bonus is that nothing needs to be purchased to sew these 8 pieces. I already own everything for the wardrobe, including notions.

Since I'm off the week between Christmas and New Years, I have some dedicated time to spend on creating this wardrobe. And even though all of these pieces will probably work together, the upside is that they will also work with most everything else in my wardrobe which really makes me happy. Also, I like the idea of working on a group of pieces that will work with the pieces I'm currently sewing.

This is the plan. Now you know I will either add/change or substitute pieces as the creative spirit moves me. However, the goal is to have these pieces completed by January 31, 2018 so I can wear them during the winter. I really don't want this plan to drag on especially since these are much needed items.

...as always more later!


  

Crazy 8 Wardrobe: A Tunic and Pants

To recap - the Crazy 8 Wardrobe plan has 8 pieces ~ 1 jacket, 1 cardigan, 2 tops, 1 blouse, 1 pair of pants, 1 skirt and 1 dress.  I detailed my plan in this post.  

These are my first two garments from the list ~ a pair of pants and a matching tunic/top...  

I started with my TNT pants pattern and adapted my TNT dress pattern for the tunic/top.  Then it was all about making decisions to make it a special outfit. I was inspired by several tunic/pants outfits on Pinterest and these Vogue patterns ~

Vogue 8840

Vogue 8886

So some construction and pattern details...

Fabric ~
I bought 7.5 yards of a mid to heavyweight black crepe from Fabric Mart last year. Fabric Mart described it as a black double weave wool/rayon crepe.  I bought five yards of it because I wanted to make a dress and jacket combo. When it arrived it was so fantastic that I went online and bought another 2.5 yards, so thankful that it was still there.  Of course, the fabric is no longer on the site which I'm really sad about because this is awesome fabric.

Patterns ~
My TNT pants pattern and my TNT dress pattern shortened.  Although I've included patterns you could use to make this outfit with above, I went with what I know will work for me.

Notions ~
14" gold zipper 
gray bemberg lining
black rayon seam tape
black faux leather

Construction & Pattern Alterations ~
The pants are unlined and sewn without any changes to my TNT pattern.  I made them first because they were my jumping off point.  Also, it's really cold here on the East Coast and I'm feeling pants right now.  You will probably see more pants sewn on the blog because my pants wardrobe is seriously lacking. I haven't been replacing them as they wore out and I think this is going to be a colder winter than the last couple of winters so I'm going to need more.

The tunic is my TNT dress shortened.  I have no specific measurements for doing this.  I just held the pattern up and decided where I wanted it to end then folded up the pattern.  Pinned the folded part back, placed it on the fabric and at the last minute added 1" to the hemline.  When I was cutting it out I realized that it would be a bland and simple black top without something extra ~ especially since all of the ones I'd seen online had some special embellishment to distinguish them.

My Zipper Confession...
My first choice was to add an exposed gold zipper to the back of the tunic instead of an invisible zipper. But can I tell you something about this zipper? Of course it's from Pacific Trimmings but instead of getting it cut like I normally do...I just picked up a couple of 14" large gold zippers. Silly me, I thought they were regular zippers. I get the zipper installed in the top...go to zip it down...and it separates. WTF?  I bought separating jacket zippers and sewed it into the top without realizing it UNTIL I was adding the lining.  Now you know, I should have taken the dayum thing out and bought another zipper.  AND you also know that I didn't do that!  

What did I do instead? I added a thread block to the back side of the zipper. I did it by hand so that the thread wouldn't show on the right side of the zipper. Hopefully this will help just in case...but honestly please don't think I will EVAH forget that I have a separating zipper on the back of that top!  So I will need to be careful...but that is my zipper confession...yeah, no one and I mean no one, would confuse me with a couture sewist! *LOL*

To sleeve or not to sleeve?
The next choice was to decide what length I wanted the sleeves to be.  I went back and forth but ultimately decided on short sleeves because I want to not only be able to wear this over other pieces, but I also want it to stand alone. Sleeveless would have meant that I would always need another layering piece on top.  3/4 or wrist length sleeves would have meant that I wouldn't be able to wear it with the cardigan (yet to be made) for this collection or any of the others in my wardrobe.  So...short sleeves.

The Pinterest influence...
This is one of the outfits I saw on Pinterest...

...that made me crave pockets for the front of the tunic.  Normally, I'm not a pocket girl but sometimes they do add something to the outfit's design.  I went with faux leather because it's on trend, it was on hand, and it was simple enough to work with my design idea.  

• I used the pocket pattern from my Burda 8869 cardigan pattern omitting 5/8" all around the pocket because I didn't want the leather to overwhelm the top.  
• To figure out placement of the pockets on the top ~ I placed my hands on the top where I'd like the pockets to be and put a pin in the center.  
• Then I laid the pocket pattern piece on top of the pinned area, measured from the hemline and from the side seam so that both pockets would be equally placed on the top...and pinned yes, I pinned the faux leather again...the pockets to the top. 
• I used a topstitching stitch to attach the pockets to the top.

More Top Miscellany...
Originally I was going to add a piece of the faux leather to the sleeve hems to carry the design feature throughout the garment.  Then I decided that it was overkill.  The pockets should be the focal point.  I didn't add it to the neckline because I want to wear scarves and/or necklaces and didn't want them competing with the faux leather.

The top is lined. Other than the changes noted above, this is just my TNT dress pattern shortened.  

This is a different type of outfit for me sort of along the lines of Vogue 8935 which I wore for the first time a couple of weeks ago. It was very comfortable and professional yet different from the suits that the other women were wearing.  I liked that.  Hopefully this new outfit will work out just as well.

Some more photos ~

Conclusion ~
The tunic was designed to work with the pants, the future dress and the finished straight skirt to give me more options. Yet, it's a great outfit as just a pantsuit. Wait, wait as I type this I realize that I've made a pantsuit, something that appears every year on my sewing list. It's not a typical pantsuit but it is one just the same! So I'm very thrilled with how it turned out.  

...as always more later!

p.s.: All photos were taken by Marce, the bestest friend EVAH!