Polka Dot Hawthorn Peplum

I bought Colette's Hawthorn pattern months ago during some such sale or another (because I am cheap and refuse to buy patterns full price).  Since then I have been hemming and hawing over it, worried that the style was a bit too twee for me.  However, at the same time, I have been obsessed with some of the blouse versions I have seen on ye older internets, namely this one and this one, both in polka dot fabric.

I ultimately decided that maybe I could pull off the polka dot blouse version if I found some darker colored fabric to take the girly edge off.  Luckily I scored some super cheap black and teal polka dot fabric on Bangkok's crazy Sampeng Lane.  Because of the fabric's price I didn't feel too bad treating this first version like a wearable muslin; and wearable it is! I think it came out pretty cute!  Not without faults, but cute nonetheless.  Definitely has a vintage vibe to it without being old-fashioned.

The faults: I think my collar interfacing may have been too thick because I cannot get get it to lay flat... I've heard others had this problem, too, so maybe it's not just me.  I sewed it down at the shoulder seams, but may have to sew the corners down, too.  Also, the waist is bit messed up- somehow my button placement is off or my hook and eye insertion is faulty (or both), but there is a big ugly gap at the waist, so the top can't be worn without a belt.  The nips may be a wee bit pointy, too.

I skipped the sleeve bands out of laziness and just serged and folded up the hem to maximize length, but otherwise followed the pattern.  I made covered buttons for the first time using a kit I got at the Japanese dollar store here in Bangkok (might be my new favorite store)- fun stuff.  

I think next time I'd like to play with a lower neckline- a deeper V.  Not sure how to go about that, but I'll figure it out!

Craftin': In Progress, In the Scrap Pile, In the Queue

In progress:

1. Knitbot's Spring Ribbed Cardigan (here's the Ravelry page) in Cascade Yarns Cotton Rich DK bought at Webs during their post-Christmas blow-out sale:

2. Colette Peony, perhaps in a beautiful blue Balinese ikat once I get the bodice fit right on this one-sleeved muslin (made from an old Ikea duvet cover, below).  I think I need to raise the waist a half inch, shift the bust darts slightly and take out a wedge of fabric from the back, as I am getting a massive bulge along the seam... I think it's called a swayback adjustment?

3. Diane Kimono Dress by Sew Serendipity: I have a muslin of this one made out of some crazy fabric from Martha... the top part only (below).  I'm having a little bit of a gap problem at the neckline, hate the facings, which keep popping out, and am finding the waistband to be entirely too fiddly.  When I make the tunic/beach cover-up version I am planning to make from some batik, I may skip the waistband and just sew some elastic on the inside.  We'll see.

4. Darling Ranges Dress by Megan Nielsen: I have a muslin in the works, but the bust darts are giving me a headache.  Trying figure out a) what changes I need to make and b) how to make them. 

5. Crochet wire and bead necklaces for the Jenneth wedding party... drafted, but still awaiting final instructions: 

In the scrap pile:

1. Ug, Butterick 5561, I shake my fist at you!  I'm not sure why I thought this top would be flattering, and maybe I made a poor fabric choice, but what I ended up with looked unfortunately like a hospital gown, both in shape and color.  What a waste of a pretty fabric (Lisette lawn, to be specific)!  I tried to salvage it by changing out the ill-fitting facings with some bias tape and gathering the front... no dice, neckline still wonky.  Then I decided give the waist some shirring for some shape.  That helped a little, but it still looks like a maternity shirt.  I did learn how to use elastic thread for shirring, though, which is exciting!

2. I started this "1 hour dress" well over a year ago, but it was a hot, lumpy mess for me...  I may try to turn the material into a pencil skirt a la Mimi G?

In the queue: 

1. Bubble Pocket Shorts and Ruffle Top from Elegance and Elephants... for Zoe, of course.
2. Jersey Knit Dress as seen on Prudent Baby (free pattern!), maybe from from an old t-shirt?
2. Layer Cake Skirt, also from Prudent Baby, a good use of scraps from other projects
3. High-Low Gathered Back Shirt from Cotton&Curls... maybe a modified Grainline Scout Tee or a Tiny Pocket Tank?
4.  Newcastle Cardigan from Thread Theory when it's released, maybe?  A cute hipster cardigan for Tim, a follow-up to his Negroni.
5. Victory Patterns Nicola: Perhaps using some batik rayon challis I have in my stash... 
6. Simplicity 2684: Batik ruffle pants and tank for Miss Zoe?  Or perhaps Miss Anna! Thanks for the pattern, Chazay
7. Ella Raglan Blouse from I Think Sew: simple and cute.

8. Many, many others!

It's a Man's Shirt!

It's a man's shirt!

(Sung to the tune of "It's a man's world" if you're feeling sassy)

Tim gets to benefit regularly from the spoils of my cooking and baking habits, but he doesn't typically reap the rewards of my crafting skillz.... most of my crafting has been of the feminine and/or baby variety.   In order to remedy this, I decided to make Tim a shirt for his birthday (in addition to the hat, tie and awesome S'more Cake):  a Colette Negroni, to be precise.  Tim picked out (much to my dismay) a beautiful navy and turquoise plaid cotton shirt material from a shop at Pasar Mayestik near our house.  Plaid... hmmm.  I perhaps would have chosen a less risky fabric were it up to me (plaid matching = eeeek!).  The cool blue ombre buttons were from Toko Maju at Pasar Mayestik.

I'll be honest: I was quite intimidated by this pattern... buttons and facings and yokes and pocket flaps and flat-felled seams?  Oy.  But in the end, using the lovely and thorough directions provided in Colette's pattern while cross-referencing the sew-along over at Male Pattern Boldness, the process was actually pretty easy.

There is only one step that I was 100% confused about, 100% sure I did it wrong, but 95% sure it's not the end of the world: connecting the inner back yoke to the shoulder seams.  Also, I cheated a bit by making the short sleeved version of the shirt.. the thought of adding those sleeve plackets was just too much.  Next time.

However, I did amp things up by cutting the back yoke and the pockets on the bias for visual interest (check it out, dudes!).  Plus, I made sure to cut the fabric in a way that the plaid matched in the front (only in the front... don't look at my side seams... baby steps).  I'll admit I had to cut one of the front pieces twice to get them to match up.  Yay for extra yardage!

Once Tim tried it on we realized we had to make a few changes:

- Shorten the sleeves significantly, maybe about 4 inches (otherwise it had a bit of a Tony Soprano feel to it)... this lead to the sleeves being a little too wide looking relative to the length.  Hmmm.

- Shorten the body length by about an inch

- Omitted the top button tab thingy because it's just not Tim's style

Ideally I would take it in a bit in the body for Tim- he likes his shirts to be more fitted. Also, there is a little weirdness in the shoulders.  Tim says that the Bangkok tailor who makes his formal shirts says he has sloped shoulders...  maybe one day I'll know how to alter a pattern to deal with that!

All in all, I am quite proud of the shirt, but I think next time I sew a shirt for Tim I may have to use a different, more fitted pattern.  This roomy style shirt is not really his style- he wants something a little closer at the waist and with smaller sleeves.  Perhaps Vogue 8759 or 8889?  McCall's 6044? Kwik Sew 3883 or 3506, Burda 7045 or 7359?  (P.S.: when looking for other men's shirt pattern options, I noticed that all that is offered for men at Butterick is a series of pajamas and strangely cultish robes, what up with that?)

Sorbetto Top

After some success with my first clothes sewing project, I decided to tackle yet another downloadable pattern from the internet.  This one is a really cute, multipurpose, vintage-style pattern from the Coletterie that is free to download: the Sorbetto.   Super simple, universally flattering, work appropriate and yet cute enough to wear with jeans or shorts on the weekend, plus it's free!  How could I go wrong?

Turns out, it couldn't go wrong.  Very easy to make.  Very cute.

The hardest part by far with making my own bias tape to bind the neck and arms and then acttually sewing that tape on... I cannot say this was fun, but I'm glad I gave it a try.  I think it would be easier to get the tape to fold the right way if I had one of those little bias-tape maker doo-hickeys, but I used this pin-on-ironing-board method instead.  I think my main problem is that my fingers are just not dextrous enough to work with the thin, stretchy material- it was so fiddly.  Perhaps I'll improve in time, or perhaps I'll just buy pre-made bias tape instead ;-)

The only real changes I made was to lengthen it by about an inch and a half (I made a size 14, but used the size 18 length, plus a teeny bit more) and to top stitch the shoulder and side seams on both sides for additional strength.  I used the same fabric as this skirt I made Chuck last summer.

I think I'll definitely use this pattern again in the future.  Maybe I'll try the version with sleeves?  Maybe the plain-front version with no pleat?  So many options.  Definitely making a batik version, though.  I bought some beautiful hand stamped batik fabric that would look great as a Sorbetto top.