Classic Linen...

Linen is a classic look, isn't it, and so is navy with cream... perhaps a bit boring for some tastes, but definiteley useful in the me-made wardrobe. So here is a new maybe combination but more likely separation of linen pants and linen-cotton mix jersey top:



Quite hard to photograph together with the top so white bright and the pants so inky dark!


The top is made from V1310, the relatively recent Chado Ralph Rucci pattern (the one with the photo of a severe looking model in a column-like burgandy skirt and loose white top). After my recent ooh-this-feels-too-tight issues in a "semi-fitted" Vogue size 12-graded-to-14 dress, the ultra loose fit of this (also "semi-fitted") size 14 Vogue top was unexpected, although I guess part of that may be down to my fabrics.

tucked up hem

free hem

The top is cut on the bias, and the pattern calls for a bias-cut self-lining, but that would have been too hot - besides, I only had a single metre of this fabric, and it had turned itself from a neat rectangle of fabric to a wonky trapezium in the wash. So facings is all I could do.

Being cut on the bias, my neckline was very keen to stretch out. I tamed it with narrow transparent elastic, the sort I usually sew into the shoulder seams of knit tops, and made it very slightly gathered. I topstitched the facings in place with a sliver of facing showing all the way around to give the neckline a decorative edge, but I don't think you can really see it...

spot the serger tension error!

Time: About 2-3 hours

Cost: $12 all up: fabric about $12 on sale at Lincraft; sewing and serger thread $0 (already used in other projects); pattern $0 (second use); and elastic $0 (leftovers).

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The pants have been lying around as an UFO in my sewing area for ages...  I'm sure they were originally ironed and carefully draped somewhere for attention "soon", but by the time I got back to them they were a scrunched up mess. A happy surprise amongst the crumples - the fly was finished, top stitched, and even nicely basted together to wait for the waistband to get sewn on. When I tried them on I remembered why they had become a UFO - they got too tight midway through the sewing! They should hopefully get a bit looser in the near future... if I get myself out of this chair and do some exercise :-)

No, but seriously, that's the best looking view of the pants! And the colour is about right.

With my camera sitting on a chair on the coffee table in the middle of this room, I am getting some leg foreshortening happening and I do not like it:

 

Anyway, you can see that they nearly fit me already (and I only did the getting out of the chair part so far!) and that the stripe matching is OK.  I had to change tops because my camera wasn't coping.

I've made these pants before (here in grey wool and here in black stretchy stuff) because the pattern (V1098, an Anne Klein pants and jacket pattern - ooh and I made the jacket in yummy turquoise cashmere a while back) seems to generally fit, and is one that's easily taken out or run in along the side seams. And I've got to the point now where I just grade the waistband up or down to fit the width I've sewn the pants :-).

Here you can see the details: belt carriers, a neat fly, waistband drafted to fit and cut to match the stripes as well as possible on the curve:

And the sign apparently means Beware of the Dog!

Time: I don't know - too long!
Cost: About $30: fabric a lovely big remnant from Tessuti - call it $25; sewing thread $3; pattern $0 (fourth use); 2 buttons $0 (part of a vintage buttons gift); and zip $2 from a little local haberdashery.

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Has anyone else been having troubles with Blogger lately?  I've been struggling to sign in for about a month (this is a known problem in the Blogger forums but the solutions haven't worked for me to date, so I'm using a strange workaround) - but worse still, over the past week I've found I can't reply to comments! Please accept my sincere apologies for what certainly may look like rudeness. On the subject of replies though I read in a Blogger forum that many people reply to comments by emailing the commenter directly - is that right? Is that what works?

Anyway, thank you very much for reading my ramblings, and if you do comment I will TRY to reply.. .

What is Sewing Success?

How do you define a sewing success?

Exhibit 1. 
This top was made from fabric selected by my 5 year old daughter as a birthday treat and then sewn into a top (as requested) within a week of purchase, with instructions for "no ironing!" followed strictly. The fabric is from Tessuti Fabrics, and the pattern is # 151 from BurdaStyle issue 11/2010 (also made in textured Japanese cotton for summer here and in riotous winter colour here) with the gathered raised waist turned into pleats and centre back zip omitted. The bodice is lined in a soft lyocell fabric for comfort, and the whole thing sparkles and shimmers beautifully in the sunlight.

But this is a top that will not be worn because the style is wrong. Apparently 5 year olds wear tight stretchy tops; looseness is for dresses and little girls.  So that's a fail.


What about this?

Exhibit 2. 
This is a top made for Mr Upsewlate to test out a pattern I put together based on one of his favourite long sleeve t-shirts. The fabric is cheap stuff from Lincraft (and I've used it before for a quick & dirty top for myself) but soft and cottony with a nice weight. Remarkably for a cheap fabric the stripes run pretty straight (and have been matched on side seams, sleeve seams, shoulder seams as much as possible - of course). The neckband and sleeve bands are made from a coordinating rib knit.

You'd think that basing the shape on an old favourite would be smart...hmm. Apparently this top fits better than the original (now you tell me!) and feels comfortable on, but obviously the shoulders are way too broad and the sleeves are also too wide and too long. I think this will get worn but I will always be conscious of those ridiculous shoulders, so this is a fail too.

And this?

Exhibit 3.
What can I say... I think you know the answer already. I hate it on me! I do like the neckline and the shoulders / sleeves but that's it.

This fabric was an interesting remnant from Tessuti fabrics that I held onto for ages because it didn't really seem to be my style - I don't like brown and I don't wear 70s. The pattern started with the top from Vogue 1310, the recent Chado Ralph Rucci pattern, which I turned into a dress (and obviously it's not cut on the bias). I made this dress as a tester for a planned winter dress which I am now very unsure about.

It's better on my dress dummy, and the zig zags are reasonably symmetric and reasonably matched on the side seams, and the neckline and shoulders are properly stabilised with clear elastic, and the self-fabric lining matches pretty well on the zig zags too - but all that doesn't make me want to wear it. Another fail.



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So I think for me sewing success is about wearability - part and parcel of that is whether it's been sewn neatly, whether the fit is decent, and whether the fabric / colours / style look good on. I don't require my sewing to look perfect on the inside so long as the imperfections aren't evident to my eye from the outside of the garment, but I don't think I'd be happy wearing noticeably wavy hems or puckered seams - I don't want people to know from 50 paces that what I'm wearing is homemade.  I don't require immaculate fit because I haven't had much experience of it to date, but I expect to get more picky as I become a better seamstress.


I see that the success / fail metric varies a lot across the sewing blogs. Some of us are happy to make something we can wear, but others are really tough on themselves.  Do you think some seamstresses are seeing errors that the rest of us don't even notice??? [That's my hypothesis....] And what about finish? Should RTW be the yardstick for garment finish, or should we be aiming for couture perfection?  I haven't ever seen couture IRL, but my David Coffin trousers book shows there can be couture seams with no finishing - so how does that reconcile with my serger ownership aspirations? Can I still justify one?