Another Kwik Sew 2565 Quartet

Yes, more of them. But a basic T shirt is pretty versatile and they make great layering pieces. I finished this group up yesterday after a marathon session of coverstitching.

This time, I was able to get some picture of me wearing them, with various levels of success. But then, I never claimed to be a professional model or photographer!

This one was made from a remnant I had left over from another T I made several years ago when I first got the pattern. The original is long gone, but I had just enough for another version. The fabric came from Emma One Sock and is a cotton and lycra blend.

The fabric for this one came from Gorgeous Fabrics and is a very soft rayon. I think this one may end up as a layering piece. Although rayon is nice to work with and very comfortable to wear, it tends to be clingy.

Another fabric from Gorgeous Fabrics. This one is a poly matte jersey. The color in real life is darker, what I'd refer to as an American Beauty Rose shade.

This fabric is from Jo-Ann's. It's a bit thin, so will be another layering piece, but I really loved the print.

I think I've located a current Kwik Sew pattern that's pretty similar to  my TNT 2565. I haven't sewn it yet but it may be worth trying.

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. 

McCall's 6069 View B,OOP

I missed my first deadline for the wedding on Thursday, but the second deadline of New Year's Eve isn't until Monday at 8:00 pm, when we head out for dinner. Based on progress so far, I think I'm still on target to have a new outfit. Here's where things stand as of yesterday evening:

Which is a long way from how I started the morning...

I need to finish the waistband, hem the sleeves and skirt, and add some lingerie guards. Not too much, really. Most will be done by machine.

To recap, I'm making the sleeved version of this dress.

It is coming together quickly, but the "one hour" designation is a bit of a stretch!  I do like it though and there are enough variations that I can see making it again.

Butterick 3257 is Done (plus new projects)

I finished this vest a couple of weeks ago--a little more handwork could be put into it but it's very wearable as is. So let's call it done and move on.

I've worn it at least 3 times--yes, that's how much I like it! I wish I knew how to get more of this fabric because it looks great and was so much easier to handle than I expected.

I added a little extra detailing to the vest. Probably no one but me will see it but I'll know it's there. And now, so will you.

You've already seen the lining...

But I added a little something extra to finish off the edges of the armholes and hem...

This is basically a Hong Kong finish.  I used a mini check rayon blend suiting left over from another project; it's a rayon blend suiting that I just love. I probably could have just serged the edges, but this is so much nicer, don't you think?

After I applied it to the raw edges, I folded back the allowances and top stitched through all layers where the binding joined the outer fabric. I slip stitched the edge down on the hem but didn't have time to do the same to the armholes. Ahh, well. Looks fine from both sides and I like the more dimensional look of the bound edge not being tacked down.

And on the the next projects!

• I had one last big piece of the mini check suiting left, so I cut a Loes Hinse Boot Skirt from it. The picture below is the longer version but I'm making the shorter one, View C. To avoid having the skirt "velcro" to my legs when I wear tights, I underlined it with leftover charmeuse from the vest.  This should be a quick project.    

• A young couple that DH and I are friends with are having their wedding celebration Thursday night at a local hotel, so I decided that I would need a dress for that. So at December's Material Girls meeting, I cut out a cocktail dress from some EOS buttermilk jersey I had in the stash--it features a lace print and the fabric is dusted with tiny metallic gold dots. And if I don't get it done, I'll improvise something else for the wedding and wear it for New Year's Eve instead.  I'm using McCall's 6069, a popular cowl dress that's been all over the sewing blogosphere (unfortunately now out of print). I'm making View B, the sleeved version.

• I also still have that Kwik Sew 2565 t shirt cut out and ready to go. I actually had this traced and cut at November's Material Girls, but I decided that the torso should be double layers because the fabric has some sheer bits. I got that done at December's gathering. 

Oh yes!! Before the day is done,  Happy Holidays to you and yours!