Showing posts with label hi/low. Show all posts
Showing posts with label hi/low. Show all posts

Friday, April 14, 2023

Let's Make and Wear a Kaftan


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This was a fun make! I love the ease of making it, but I love wearing it as well!



I did a sew along on TIKTok (yep, I said TikTok) with a talented group of sewist and designers!  That made it even more fun! The talent is certainly there, but the hilarity often takes over - and I love it!! 
So much love, laughter and serious sewing!
The group is @blacksewing network. It was created by Carmen who has 2 handles:
@cagthemag on TT and @CAGReinvented Blog on FaceBook.

The patterns that were used are Simplicity 8877 and Simplicity 8911

They both required a good bit of fabric and because I'm still on a fabric fast - I couldn't find a piece from my stash that was long enough - soooo - I self-drafted a pattern that only has 2 pieces and used less fabric. That piece was not quite long enough to make it floor length.  So I decided to make it a bit shorter in the front and floor length in the back! 
I decided to use packaged bias binding for the neckline. 

Us creatives will always find a way to make it work!

The fabric is a drapey mystery poly blend snake print with a sprinkling of silver flecks.

I haven't decided if I will wear it outside, but I'll  definitely be swishing around the house in it!
It is SEW comfy!



Tuesday, November 24, 2020

Minerva ITY Knit

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Minerva ITY Knit


This beautiful print ITY knit has so many of the colors I love! I was thrilled when it arrived at my door!  It is even more beautiful in person!  It was gifted to me by Minerva.com in exchange for a blog post.



Because of the print, I decided to go simple.  I love hi/lo tops and dresses, so I used one of my TNTs - McCall's 6957 - view B.  I love the fit and flare shaping of this pattern!

The only change I made was to add sleeves.  I love elbow length sleeves.  Many of my TNT patterns are marked with that length.



I did a bit of print matching by making sure the aqua floral was center front and that the sleeves matched. Most of the construction was done on my serger with a 4 thread set-up.


I love using pre-cut fusible stay tape on the shoulders, hems and necklines of my knits.  After fusing the tape on, I serged the edges using a 3 thread set-up.  Then I simply pressed the hem under by using the stitches as a guideline and top stitched.







Here I styled it with leggings, but it's actually long enough in the front that I can also forego the leggings. I wore it to an outdoor setting, thus the flats, but it can also be styled with heels! 


Of course I couldn't resist making a matching mask. To stabilize the knit for the mask, I fused a tricot interfacing to it.  The lining/filter pocket is 100% cotton.





This dress is easy to make and fun to wear!  

Did I say that I love sewing and wearing ITY knits! 😃 



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Saturday, June 15, 2019

One Pattern 2 Ways

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I AM IN LOVE!  



I've had this McCall's 7348  pattern for a few years, but recently pulled it out when I decided I wanted a quick make for Mother's Day.  
Yes! I made it the night before!  

Why do we do this to ourselves?  This time my excuse is that I was buried in Prom and Graduation makes!

But, I'm so glad I decided to make it at the last minute!
Why? 
Because I didn't have time to go through ALL of my stash to find a piece large enough in a color I wanted to wear.  I knew I had 6 yards of this coral ITY knit that I purchased years ago from the warehouse we affectionately call "2121".


I made view D with the sleeves from view C. 
It came together very quickly! 
I did not need to make any measurement adjustments at all!  
That is an anomaly - as I usually have to make fit adjustments on commercial patterns!

I did all of the construction on my serger.  I didn't have thread in this beautiful coral color, so I did what I normally would do...I blended a few colors to make it work!


Before I added the sleeves, I got out my heels and tried it on!  

I WAS IMMEDIATELY IN LOVE!

I walked around in it about 10 minutes!  

Yes! There is absolute joy in sewing for yourself!
  This was one of those moments!  I loved the fit, the flow, the drape and how it made me feel!
  



I added and hemmed the sleeves finished the neckline. 
But my serger decided it did not want to do a narrow hem, and I needed to get some sleep, I decided to leave the bottom raw.  
I cleaned up my slightly imperfect scissor cuts with my rotary cutter and I was done! This was my first time doing a raw hem.  I'm still not sure how I feel about it!  Time (and fabric type) will tell if I do it again.


This top/dress even looks good on the hanger! 😍 Look at that drape!


SEW!
I made it again! 

I bought this beautiful ITY from Vogue Fabrics earlier in the spring. When I saw it, I had no idea what I'd do with it, but after making the coral piece, I knew it would work for the pattern...and for another special occasion...my Grandheart's Graduation!




























I laid it on my cutting table to take a look at the direction and area of the print, because I knew I'd have to "mirror" the pattern to insure the print matched.

I laid out and cut the back piece 1st.  When I attempted to lay out the front piece, I realized I did not have enough fabric to use in the same direction as the back.

Sew, I flipped the direction of the front pattern piece. After moving it around a few times, I decided that I wanted the smaller print at my neckline and the solid black at my waist.








Again, when I tried in on, I was in love with the outcome!

I really love how this print drapes on my body!
  Sexy!  I can say that, right? 

Again I used my serger (4 thread set up) to construct this one.



Of course, things don't always go as planned when making garments.  
But I'm happy that this time it only running out of thread on the spool of thread I was using to hem it.  I only needed about 3 more inches of stitches to finish it.  Sew out came a new spool and I finished it!
No raw edges on this one!



I narrow hemmed it with the lighting bolt/wobble stitch which stretches with the garment...no future popped stitches!

Finished the neckline and added my label!


I am happy and proud to say that my dress/top was featured by
 Judith Rosalind of the Instagram @sewover50 hashtag...which has over 12, 000 followers! 
This was quite the surprise and an honor!


I actually don't know which I like better, the back or the front!  I do know that I love the way I look and feel when I wear it!


And...I've taken a few orders for it!  Of course not in the same fabric!  LOL!



Sew!

I am definitely making another one! 

How often have you used the same pattern to create a new look by simply switching up the print and/or fabric?

Happy Endless Sewing!



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Thursday, June 28, 2018

Godet Anyone?

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Godet: 
A triangular piece of material inserted in a dress, shirt, or glove to make it flared or for ornamentation.


Not only did I enjoy making this top, but I really enjoyed wearing it!  I wore this to a friend's 
surprise graduation party last weekend.  
I wish I could have worn higher heels, but age and aches prevents that more often than not! 😁




The pattern is Butterick 6248 and has a few variations to select from.
I've had this pattern for about a year or so.  I initially bought it to make view B with a super lightweight sweater knit, but still haven't decided what to do with that fabric. 





I ended up making view A because I've been stuck sewing in my dining room while roof repairs were being done.  I needed instant gratification! And I got it!  





I purchased this fun ITY print from Vogue Fabrics during an expo.  I have no idea which expo and as I went to several last year.  The pieces were sold in 2 yard pieces and I'm glad that I bought 2 pieces...4 yards.




                                                Can you believe I didn't hack it!  Hahahaha!





Check out that godet!
It extends from the back/waist to the hemline. For some reason, I always worry that I won't get the godet right, but in most cases I do.  Then I'm always surprised.  I have no idea why I worry!  They are so much fun once finished.😄






And of course, there was some print matching to do.  Although I'm not 100% happy with it (thanks to distractions during the layout), I think it turned out well overall.




I will definitely be wearing this top a lot and am already planning to make another one...maybe stripes or a floral with some sort of hack. 

What do you think?



Let's Make and Wear a Kaftan

This post may contain affiliate links. This means that if you click through and make a purchase from these links, I may earn a small commiss...