Loes Hines V Neck Tunic View B

This one is an experiment that turned out ok. I was looking for a new knit top pattern and found this one among my Loes Hinse collection. With a center front, center back, and 2-piece raglan sleeves, the pattern offers lots of fitting opportunities.

The fabric is an old Emma One Sock stretch velvet that's been in the stash for a time.

In spite of the rolling edges that are typical of stretch velvet, it wasn't hard to sew and turned out well. I used a combination of Medium and Large sizes which is my usual. I'll be making more from this pattern in the future! I think it would adapt to many types of knit fabric.

Like many of the Loes Hinse patterns, this design is a classic that has stood the test of time.

Tank from the Loes Hinse Tank Dress Group Pattern

Another remnant project. I used this fabric last year for a project that didn't work out and had just enough to sew this tank. The fabric is another Textile Studios purchase--a woven rayon with some texture.

 I have made this pattern several times before in both dress and tank versions.

However, I wanted the back to have a little bit more coverage so I don't always need to wear racer back underpinnings. My test worked so it's onward with other versions of this pattern!

The SewWest Closet: old black jeans from Ross, the Foster Grants, and Th!nk Birkenstock-style sandals (also old but I'll hate to give these up when they're worn out).

Textile Studio Basic Top

Now this one is a blast from the past. Textile Studio was a pattern company and fabric vendor of the 1990s-2000s owned by Marcia Day, who hired Loes Hinse to design her pattern line. Several years latter, Loes Hinse went out on her own and founded her eponymous pattern line, which is still in business.

This pattern is copyrighted 1998, so it's probably one of the original patterns from the line. I'm not sure how it ended up in my pattern stash--ASG? I rally don't recall. However it ended up with me, I'm so happy that it did! Even though this is an almost 20 year old pattern, it's a classic in the true sense of the word. And can still be found online--a Google search located it at Vogue Fabrics!

I wear a lot of separates, and I'm always looking for tops that will work with the cardigans I frequently wear at work. This pattern is perfect for the little tops I was looking for. So far, I've made it up twice, once with long sleeves and once with 3/4 length sleeves (my variation, not in the pattern envelope). Here they are on the dress form:

And on the hoof:

The color is not true in either photo, but the live shot is a little closer than the dress form version. A long ago purchase from Fabric Mart. The black top with blue, turquoise, and lime is from Cutting Line Designs. I bought it from Louise at one of her shows..

The main change I made from version 1 to version 2, other than the sleeve length, was to drop the front neckline by 1/4" inch since the original neck was a little hard to get over my head (no closure on this design).

I'm sure I'll be making more of these! It's a great layering piece that can also stand on its own. I haven't made the short sleeved version yet but that's coming.

SewWest Closet: Black Not Your Daughter's Jeans and Vigotti wedges, both old.

What I Did on My Winter Vacation

I was fortunate enough to have some time off over the holidays and was able to spend a good bit of time playing in the Sewing Cave. I was able to finish several sewing projects and a crochet one as well.

My first project is the third twin set I've made using the Loes Hinse Sweater Set pattern. It's another older one of her patterns that's still on the Casual Elegance site.

A fast make, and I loved how this set came out. This version was made with 2 yards of a rayon blend sweater knit I bought from Casual Elegance last winter. I couldn't resist the chunky knit print on the fine gauge knit fabric!

The sewing was pretty straight forward, following Loes' techniques. I used a combination of a narrow zigzag and serging for assembly, with only a few hand stitches at the hem of the cardigan (as instructed by the guide sheet) and at the center front neckline (not on the guide sheet). I added an additional button and buttonhole to the front placket since my chosen buttons were smaller than the recommended size.

My next project used the OOP Kwik Sew 2565, which I can always count on for a good T-shirt.

I've made a bunch of these over the years, but when you've got a well fitting basic, why re-create the wheel? My most current version was traced off in 2012. It's a combination of sizes, the neckline has been dropped a bit, and I've adjusted the fit due to weight fluctuations (sigh). I like that the pattern has curved side seams and even has bust ease built in, as well as a high cap for the sleeve.

I originally planned to make this T when the weather is warmer since the fabric is a printed knit lace. However, I noticed there was a big pull in the fabric that had resulted in a hole when I was getting ready to put it away. I didn't want to risk any additional damage, so I cut out the T and sewed it without even washing the yardage first. I have better control using the sewing machine when sewing delicate knits like this, so I used a narrow zigzag for assembly, and a wider zigzag for the hems.

The fabric came from Casual Elegance, but since I had this sitting on the cutting table for a couple of weeks before putting it away, I can't say if the fabric was flawed or if kitty paws were responsible. I've always had a good experience when purchasing from them in the past, so I suspect that Smudge is to blame.

I made a couple more pairs of pajama pants from cottons in my stash. These two I bought from the estate of a sewing friend. I have enough of the black print left over to make another project. For the pattern, I used the McCall's 2476 pattern that I've used many times before.

This particular pattern is probably out of print, but the major pattern companies seem to always have a few sleepwear patterns in their catalogs. I've found that most of the pants are very similar to each other. I do prefer a Miss pattern to Unisex ones because I don't need as many adjustments that way.

The last two projects didn't require patterns since they're scarves! The plaid one came from a remnant that a friend of mine gave me, so I'm not sure of the exact fiber content. One side is a plain weave and the other is brushed. I really like it, and it's already seen a lot of wear. The crochet one is just double crochet and is made from reflective yarn from Red Heart. I wear it when DH and I go on our early morning walks. It's warm and since the yarn is bright and reflective, it also adds a bit of safety.

The plaid scarf was originally a large square with fringe on all sides, but I was unhappy with the way it looked. So I re-cut it into a narrow strip, saving some fringe on either end. The long edges are machine sewn.

A close up of the crochet scarf shows the reflective qualities of the yarn a little better. I went with with double crochet throughout and improvised as I went. It's simple and utilitarian, but that's what I was going for.

Loes Hinse Cowl Top, Part Two

And the third top from the shoot! I'm loving this tunic since the fabric is so soft and cuddly. I made this one about 2" longer than the pattern so I could wear it as a tunic if I want to (and I have).

The SewWest Closet: Simply Vera narrow ponte pants with faux leather patches, MIA boots. The coral necklace is a vintage piece I bought at a silent auction.

TSW Cortina Shirt, Part Two

Seeing that it's still Christmas vacation and I had a little time for photography, albeit inside. Here's me wearing the Cortina I made recently. Unfortunately, the pink is a bit plain for a stand alone piece, although it works well with other items in my closet.

As I mentioned in the previous post regarding this shirt, I've worn it with this cardigan I made from the Loes Hinse Sweater Set pattern.

The SewWest Closet: NYDJ jeans, Ivanka Trump suede boots.

Loes HInse Cowl Top

This is another TNT pattern that I've made before in both long and short views. It goes together quickly in all sorts of knit fabrics, including sweater knit, stretch velvet and interlock. This one is made from a cuddly cotton and synthetic sweater knit I bought from Casual Elegance Fabrics earlier this year. This picture of the collar shows the texture of the fabric in more detail:

My tracing of the pattern combines size Medium in the neck/shoulder area and Large from the armhole down. The only changes I made this time were to drop the neckline about 3/8", cut the cowl a little larger for the deeper neckline, and lengthen the body by 2". I wanted a tunic length that I can. wear with jeans or leggings.

I went from cutting out to finished in an afternoon, and really is an easy make. The pattern is still available on the Casual Elegance website even though it was issued many years ago. It features a couple of shorter versions too. I highly recommend it. 

Pattern envelope and technical drawings:

The garment pictures are also from the post-Thanksgiving shoot, so I'll provide some pictures of me wearing it soon.

TSW Cortona Shirt

This garment was inspired by Martha's lovely ikat Cortona that she posted on her blog. I bought the pattern (Siena and Cortona) when it first came out, but seeing it made up encouraged me to give it a try. I actually ended up making two of them. The first was a little snug for my taste but the second one is fine. It was easier to adjust the fit than I imagined, although making a large slash into the front pattern piece took a leap of faith!

The fabric is a cotton and linen blend that I located in my stash when looking for a suitable prototype fabric. In other words, something that had enough yardage, wouldn't require design matching, and wouldn't be a big loss if it didn't work out.  I have no idea how long I've had it or where it came from. The buttons also came from stash and matched perfectly. I think they were originally on a RTW sweater from many seasons ago.

The predominant feature of this shirt is a horizontal dart at the waist that starts near the center front on each side and continues to the back to form a slight peplum.

I eliminated the center back seam from the upper back because it wasn't really needed and eliminated the need to exactly match up the center back along two seams. I made the narrow button cuffs as they appear on the pattern. I would like to add "Lucille Ball" cuffs like Martha's on a future version for a little more flair.

Here are the pattern envelope and technical drawings to give you some more information regarding this design.

 I'm pleased with how it came out and will make this again, although it's a pretty distinctive design. It would be interesting to see how a stripe or print would look, or without sleeves as a summer top.

I hope to be able to model this for you in the near future so you can see how it looks on a person. Alas, today's photo shoot was indoors due to iffy weather and wind. I've already worn it to work and it went well with a Loes Hinse cardigan I made last winter

Latest Loes Hinse Tango Skirt

It's obvious that this skirt is a favorite because it's appeared so many time on this blog. Easy to sew, beautiful in both lengths--what's not to love?

This latest one is made out of a gorgeous vintage rayon challis that my friend Sue Ellen gave me. There are 10 panels, all cut from the same pattern piece. Honestly, cutting out all the panels is probably the most time consuming part of making this pattern. I made this using mostly the new Bernina to sew it together, using its dual feed feature. It's like having a built-in walking foot, and there are several feet compatible with this feature. Love it! The seam edges were serged to finish. The casing was made in the traditional fold over, sew, and pull elastic through manner instead of the technique described in the guide sheet. I'd like to be able to alter this skirt later if needed and while Loes Hinse's elastic waist technique is great, it's a pain in the neck to rip out due to multiple layers of stitching at the edge. The hem was also serged then just turned up and machine sewn.

I made the top from Kwik Sew 2565 a number of months ago, and it was previously posted here.

The shoes are the "Sable" from Sole Society, in gray suede, and very comfortable even with a 2 3/4" heel. I bought them at the end of the season last year and there are still a few pair in stock.

Second Loes Hinse Sweater Set

I was almost able to finish another Loes Hinse Sweater Set before the trip, but didn't quite get it done.

This one is made from a Missoni-ish knit fabric that I've had in the stash for a long while. There are are two yarns, a chenille and a thin rayon. It came from JoAnn's, back when they had quite a bit of good "jobber" fabrics. I still have some green and some black left in this fabric.

Since I'm lounging about with no makeup and pajamas, I'm showing it on Ms. Acme this time.

My serger did not like this fabric at all, so I used a conventional machine throughout, a narrow zig zag for construction, then a wider zig zag for finishing. The new machine did a great job making all the buttonholes.

Coco recently asked about my dress form. It's an Acme adjustable form that a friend gave to me when she moved to Oregon several years ago. Based on the label (which fell off and is lost), I think it's probably from the 1950's-early 1960's. It has metal bars on inside to allow for adjustment. It a bit smaller than I am, so I use it for display vs. fitting. It comes in handy during construction as a tool for working out how the garment should look.

Loes Hinse Sweater Set

This pattern has been around for quite some time, but this is the first time I've made it up. I traced it out in a combination of Medium and Large, which is typical of  how I trace designs for this pattern line.

The fabric is an acrylic/rayon sweater knit that I discovered at Hancock Fabrics in the fall of 2011. It looks like wool and was easy to cut out and sew. I haven't seen any lately but it does pop up from time to time, so I'll be keeping an eye out for more.

I made both pieces of the set. Here's the shell, which has stash buster potential. It takes less than a yard of 60" wide fabric. There is a seam down the front, but that should be pretty easy to eliminate if a different look is needed.

And here's the cardigan all by itself. It also came together very easily, more so than some McVogueRick patterns that I've used in the past. 

I'll be making more versions of this pattern based on how well this effort came out.  I even have fabric for the next set picked out already!

Loes Hinse Tango Skirt for Fall

Yeah, I know. You're probably thinking..."What? Another Tango?" Yes, this one that you've probably seen in various versions a hundred times.

I can't help it. I really love this skirt because it's so pretty on and so easy to make. This one is made of some rayon that I bought from Fabric Mart many years ago. I'm planning to wear this one with tall boots and I'm still trying out sweaters to wear with it. Here I've paired it with another TNT pattern, my Kwik Sew 2565 T shirt, but I also have a couple of RTW sweaters that would work.

I took this picture last night after Material Girls when it was already dark outside and too late for me to model it on the front patio. But I promise that you'll see it on me at some point. And you'll probably keep seeing new ones too.

Vogue 1292 View B, a Sandra Betzina Skirt

I bought this pattern when it first came out because I was fascinated by the origami flounce of View A. I'm still fascinated with it, but this time I made View B, the "other" skirt in the envelope, which you can see in the smaller picture below.

It seemed like it would work better with the fabric I wanted to use, a textured zig zag stripe that I bought at Santa Fe Fabrics last year (along with some black ponte and a couple of zippers).

It was just too busy for cutting out all those little geometric pieces (there are 12 of them!). It really needs a simple stripe, or even a solid.

I made full pattern pieces of the front and back panels. I didn't think such narrow pieces could be cut effectively on the fold, plus I wanted to be able to line up the stripes as well as I could. The pattern for the side panels is already a full piece, so why not print front and back the same way too?

I cut out the main fabric at Material Girls, where I had a huge cutting table and lots of space to work in. I'm so glad I did! The layout took some time to plan for the best effect, and that's easier to do when you have plenty of room. When I took the pieces home, I let them rest, flat, on my cutting table. While this isn't a particularly wiggly knit, I knew that having the pieces folded up in a tote bag didn't help. I did end up "trueing up" the edges after the fabric had relaxed for a few days.

The guide sheet recommends basting the pieces together first to test the fit because the construction is atypical. No changes needed for me, but if you are making this skirt according to the pattern, don't skip this step. The lining is sewn to the skirt at the waist and the hem so it would be hard to adjust later on. 

I was initially unsure how long too make the skirt. I realized when testing the fit that the 33" finished measurement of the pattern was going to be too much for me. I left the striped pieces alone, but made the lining pieces shorter. I came up with this solution because I had I smallish remnant I wanted to use for the lining and the amount was too small if I cut the lining per the pattern pieces. In addition, the lining doesn't exactly "go" with the stripe so I wanted a deeper hem to hide that. Here's a photo to explain what I mean.

The lining is a poly knit that I think came from Emma One Sock several years ago. I believe I originally made a t-shirt out of it. The price was right (free), and it has the slippery texture I wanted. As a bonus, it's a fun print, and I like having that little surprise for myself. I cut the lining on the lengthwise grain, again due to having short yardage to work with.

I like the hem technique although it took a while for me to wrap my head around how to adjust the length. But it worked out fine, with a finished length of 26". It's below the knee, so long enough to wear with boots, but not too long.

The skirt has an elastic waistband, and Sandra provides two options. I picked the simpler one, which is similar to the technique Loes Hinse uses. I always feel like I need three hands when I do this because the elastic is being stretched while being attached, but it does result in a nice waistband.

I hope to get a picture of this on me soon, but today was not the day, since it's a dreary and windy weekend again. That's been the pattern although it's nice during the week. I think I'm going to like this skirt. The pattern will be versatile too, since it's a basic shape that could be used with many knit fabrics. 

Repairs and Alterations

This is definitely not my favorite area of sewing but sometimes you just have to grit your teeth and go for it.  I worked on four garments this weekend, so more items are in wardrobe rotation as a result. And that's a good thing.

I made a TSW Lotus Skirt years ago in the pre-blogging era. You may recall the Lotus, it was in the Sewing Workshop lineup for quite some time but has disappeared from the site. Maybe it was time-- at least in the long incarnation.

Mine was almost floor length in front but that was the style back then (early 2000's) and besides, I was wearing heels all the time. I stopped wearing it after a while and put it in the closet of the Sewing Cave. However, after seeing some similar skirts on Pinterest, I decided I should pull it out again. However, the full length no longer worked for me. I haven't shrunk but my heel-wearing days are few and far between lately. So I cut 3" off the edges, which translates to 4 1/4" when you include the original hem allowance. I'm happy with the shorter length; it looks more modern now. This wasn't a difficult alteration but a time-consuming one with all the pressing up of the new hem on nice, albeit synthetic, black crepe fabric. It isn't the most pressing friendly fabric in the world and there's a lot of hemming involved.

So that was yesterday's project. Today included two more skirts that I've made, both from View C of  the Loes Hinse Boot Skirt pattern.

I think I've only blogged one of them, though. I flat lined that one, and the lining fabric shredded along one of the seams although there was ease. I guess there was a stress point somewhere. I fixed the seam with a combination of hand and machine stitching, including edge stitching along both of the side seam. Hopefully all of that stitching will work, it's a nice little workhorse of a skirt.

I also made a knit version last winter from remnants of this project but didn't snug up the waistband elastic enough and was too lazy to fix it. Fortunately, I used a normal casing for this one, so it was a simple matter to open the casing, shorten the elastic and close it back up again.

I also had a RTW project, since I'm 5'4" and most pants are too long for me. This pair was a nice pair of Calvin Klein dress pants that I bought during my banking days and never had time to fix. In addition to shortening them 3", I also narrowed the leg a bit below the knees to eliminate an unfortunate flare (another style from the past that no longer works for me). A little extra work, but not difficult and now I have a "new" pair of pants for the office.

Loes Hinse Tank and Simplicity 8863 (OOP)

I've been working on a tank top and skirt set from some stash fabric that I seem to have an endless supply of! I think this project represents the 3rd and 4th garments out of this rayon or polyester textured print!

The tank is from a favorite, the Loes Hinse Tank Group that I've made several times. The skirt is an OOP, Simplicity 8863 (circa 1994), that I'm trying out for a future project. I made the straight version shown as a photo and drawing on the pattern envelope. Skirts were so much longer in the 90's. My skirt is 7" shorter than the pattern! True, I'm 5'4'' but that's a lot.

During the rest of the summer, I'll be wearing it with tank untucked over the skirt, like this:

Then when it gets cooler or I need more coverage in cold A/C, I'll wear the tank tucked in with this matching cardi:

I've had the sweater for a while, but it's been a wardrobe orphan lately. It's nice to have something that it goes with. One of the nice things about this set is that it can be worn in a lot of ways--together,  with the matching sweater, or as separate pieces with other items from my closet.

Loes Hinse Tank, Plus Bonus Simplicity Sarong!

Last weekend I took a little break from 1st Day of School sewing to sew up a tank top from the Loes Hinse Tank Dress Group. Below is a picture from Loes Hinse showing a dress view from the pattern.

I used a piece of batik that was left over from a sarong-style skirt I made from Simplicity 7231 (oop).

I made this skirt several times pre-blog, and brought it out again for a tropical party we were invited to last summer. I wore it with a T shirt for the party, but always felt like the outfit needed a little something more. I was so happy to discover that I had enough fabric left for the tank top!

The Loes Hinse Tank Group is a "go to" pattern for me. I've made several easy little casual dresses from it that I wear in the summertime. Just the perfect thing for our 100 degree heat this time of year.

Here's the tank and skirt together. I love the pieces for the effect of a dress. And it's so cool and comfortable to wear!

A detail of the tie at the waist...

In addition to this summer, I'm really looking forward to bringing this outfit along on our next tropical vacation. The pieces can be worn like this or separately, so it's really versatile.