Vogue 8877 in an Unnatural Animal Print

This print is not the sort of print I would normally wear, and these are not the sort of colours I'd normally wear either, but when I came across the fabric in the remnant bin of The Fabric Store on a visit with Nic, I found it strangely irresistible.  I may be making a heinous style error (who cares!) but I love it, and I think it's going to "go"- or at least "pop" in a way I find appealing - with lots and lots of the duller characters in my wardrobe :). 

Speaking of the duller characters, in these photos I'm wearing my new top with a grey merino dress (Vogue 1338, blogged here), and I'd just taken off an aubergine boiled wool jacket (Vogue 8930, blogged here) - Vogue trifecta for the win!  I feel too self conscious in the grey merino dress by itself, but I realised today I'd be perfectly comfortable and cosy wearing it with an extra layer. 

Here's Vogue 1338, photographed a few years ago:

and Vogue 8930 looks like this on:

What's with the hands on hips all the time, hey?

This top is view C of the Vogue 8877 sewn from a single fabric, sewn in a size Medium (12-14) and with a narrowed neckline. As I've mentioned before, this pattern is intended for wovens but can also be sewn with stretch fabrics.  The dropped shoulders and curved bust seam are potential fitting challenges, and the first time I sewed the top (from a cotton lawn, never blogged) I thought the fit was a disaster.  Version number two was a t-shirt (loved it, and the fit was of course more forgiving in a stretch fabric), version three was made from linen - no fit issues that time around for some reason, and version four was a merino wool jumper. 

Version two, the crazy bunnies t-shirt:

Version three in white linen:

Version four as a merino travel jumper:

This time around my fabric is a white cotton waffle weave with purple, yellow and grey splotches printed on one side. The fabric doesn't really drape, so Vogue 8877 wasn't the ideal pattern - but I wanted to make something oversized and sweatshirt-related and V8877 seemed like a decent representation of that idea. 

To be honest the only hint of sweatshirt I've really managed is that ribbed neckband!  It's a bit subtle, isn't it! 

And speaking of unnoticeable, that curved bust seam isn't even visible in this print, is it - it would have been a good idea to pick it out with some piping, but the idea didn't occur to me till I saw these photos.  

So this is version 5. Apart from the rib neckline, the only change I made this time was to play around with the hemline.  Again, I don't think you can really see it, but I cut into the length of the front bodice and curved the sides down to the (original length) back. I included a really deep hem this time too with what I thought might be noticeable black top stitching but it just blends into the print. Who'd have thought? Turns out subtle doesn't work with fake animal print! 

I'll leave you with a couple more photos of the new top - I can't think of anything more to say about it! 

 

 

Happy sewing, and see you soon!

- Gabrielle x

The Crush and the Wrap

I've got two garments to share with you today, both finished a while ago and even photographed a few weeks back: a stripey wrap skirt that I'd hoped would be suitable for the office (that word "hoped" gives you a hint...), and a very simple boxy merino wool top that has turned out to be a bit of a wardrobe crush for me.


Let's start with the crush:

I've got a favourite, favourite bright green knit top that I wear all summer with jeans, skirts, trousers, you name it (you can see it on me here in day 21 of Me Made May from a few years ago) - and as I was reaching for it to wear out a few weeks ago, I realised (a) it was way too lightweight for winter, and (b) I needed to sew myself a winter version. The original number is RTW from ages ago and a very simple boxy shape, so I decided I'd just trace around it. The need was such that I couldn't even waste time with paper - I traced it straight onto my thick black merino wool with PINS! A few hours later (and a good part of that devoted to measuring all the symmetries; nothing is more annoying than a simple garment cut off grain, and I didn't want one side larger than the other either) the winter version was done.

And not only do I love this top (as is or layered; with jeans, skirts, trousers etc etc) but I also really want a few more of them... I wish I'd bothered to do my tracing onto paper now! I've got in mind a cosy quilted white version and am mulling over a houndstooth wool version too.  Yes, I will need to get out the paper and trace my summer top all over again, but I think it'll be worth it.

Pattern: traced from RTW
Adjustments: none
Fabric: thick merino wool from The Fabric Store
Rating: ACE!!!!

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And now for the skirt, view B of Vogue 9172, shown with the same top.

I'd seen a couple of versions of this skirt sewn up online - from memory I think participants in an online sewing comp all had to sew this up? - and it looked like it would make for a great work skirt.

I sewed up version B of the skirt, which is the longest version and supposed to hit below the knee with a demure wrap (judging by the drawings on the pattern envelope). I guess the length is correct on me, but the wrap is not nearly as office-friendly as I'd hoped. The wrap width is quite narrow and the resulting split is very high, so this skirt is never going to come to work with me.  I don't even want to imagine how revealing the split would be when I was sitting down!

I cut out and sewed in the side seam pockets, but their outline showed in the skirt front and I felt they wrecked the sleek lines of the skirt (as well as creating unnecessary bulk) so they were quickly unpicked.

As one of the reviewers noted on Pattern Review, this skirt doesn't include much ease. The pattern description is that it's "semi-fitted" but if you're used to sewing Vogue's designer patterns you might want to go up a size with this one. I sewed a size 16 this time around whereas I'd normally sew a 14 in Vogue skirts/ pants - it feels tight on me despite the stretch fabric, BUT in these photos I'm a several kilos heavier than usual (I changed doctor and my new doctor lowered my daily thyroid extract dose to the point where I was rapidly putting on a heap of weight and feeling like shit. Luckily when I got my blood re-tested recently I was able to prove this had brought my thyroid levels way, way, WAY too low, so my dose is back up and I should be back to normal again soon).

Apart from the height and width of that split - I should have measured first, I should have adjusted... - I think this pattern is a good design. I really like that it's fully lined, and the separating zip hidden on the inside of the wrap is a clever detail. If I made this again I'd use a much lighter weight zip - my heavy duty zip shows through the front wrap layers and creates too much extra bulk on the tummy. I'd also leave off the pockets (as I did this time), and would double the width of the wrap and extend the zip down a few inches. Oh I think I'd change the angle of the front wrap pieces of the skirt and taper in the side seams to better match the tech drawings for this pattern - the skirt is much more rectangular and the wrap much less than the drawings would suggest...

I'm happy enough with my execution of this skirt - I've lined up the stripes the way I intended, the zip looks neater than expected, and I've paired stretch outer with a stretch lining - but unfortunately this skirt is a wadder for me. I know it looks OK from a few angles, but it's too risque for my office, and I just don't feel drawn to wearing it outside of work.

Pattern: Vogue 9172, view B
Adjustments: skipped the pockets
Fabric: striped, stretch medium weight polyester from The Fabric Store and stretch lining from Darn Cheap Fabrics (via last summer's Frocktails trip to Melbourne)
Notions: separating zipper from Spotlight
Rating:  off to the charity shop

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Finally, to add a bit of colour to this rather drab post, can I show you some of my recent fabric purchases?  I recently found some lovelies at Tessuti Fabrics: lovely mulberry lace remnant and coordinating stretch viscose for a planned dress, and a gorgeous geometric remnant in some of my favourite colours (hmm not yet sure if this will make a top with a square neckline or a rectangular skirt). 

No promises now, but I took flat photos of a bunch of other clothes today and I'm going to make an effort to blog again before another month passes.

In the meantime, wishing you more sewing successes than failures!


See you soon




Gabrielle xx

Jungle Top (V1454)

I think Jungle January just arrived in Sydney...





On the Saturday of the Frocktails weekend, I met up with Christie (Clever Tinker) and Rachel (RachelSews) to get a tram from the city out to Fitzroy to visit Clear It and The Fabric Store. And then a bit later on we met up with Sarah (FabricTragic), who'd offered to drive Christie and Rachel out to Darn Cheap Fabrics in Heidelberg.  Having seen so many lovely pieces of DCF fabric blogged as clothes by Lara (Thornberry) I was very keen to tag along, and Sarah was absolutely fine with it :).


Deep gulp of air. Darn Cheap Fabrics - wow.

I don't know if that weekend was a special one, but DCF was incredibly full of fabrics I wanted.  It was tough to choose just a few... They had Dolce & Gabbana silk organzas and silks and crepe de chines, they had the famous pineapple print, they had crazy pinocchio fabric, they had jungle print polyester...

I bought the jungle print, some grown up looking cream and blue silk cotton, a 3 metre length of fake pearls and some stretchy gold stuff for a dress up party, and a couple of D&G silks (red and white polka dot silk chiffon, another silk chiffon featuring squirrels and other critters on a blue background, and some pretty floral silk organza).

Breathe out.

So back in Sydney, full of sewing inspiration after a night of decadent and desirable frocks, I got cracking - cheapest fabric first, of course! And this DKNY top pattern, Vogue 1454 from the Spring/Summer 15 pattern range, is what I sewed up:

It's a boxy, loose-fitting, pullover top with no closures or fastenings. There are side slits that are just the right height if you want to use your pockets without flashing your stomach, and there's a back flounce or peplum which is longer than the front - I like it very much, and I want to make it in a solid colour like the original :).

In the next picture you can see how the side slit works out, as well as the length difference between front and back:

That back flounce is sewn on in a curve, like sewing just the back half of a circle skirt, and makes for smooth, graceful lines on what some like to call a "butt canopy":

I like the length of the front on me - it's hip length, and long enough to cover my stomach even when I lift my arms! 

Now you've seen what the top looks like sewn up, let's talk about the sewing details.

I sewed a straight size 12, and the result is a top that's very loose and boxy - however, the top is described on the pattern envelope as being "very loose-fitting". To date I've found the Vogue designer patterns to be a bit more roomy than the Vogue basics, so if you've yet to try out a designer pattern that's something you might want to bear in mind - the difference is probably less than a full size though. 

The pattern comes together very easily, with the hardest part being the narrow hems around the split  - and of course they'd be super easy with the sort of fabric that irons crisply - and I was able to knock the top together over two late evening bursts of sewing.

In terms of fabric yardage, this pattern is also a winner. The pattern envelope suggests you'll need 1.4 metres of 150cm wide fabric; I had 1.5 metres of this width. For a size 12 I was able to cut the pattern out with two quarter folds to the centre of my 150cm width, and although I did need about 1.4 metres of length I've now got a decent rectangle of fabric left over - maybe enough for a simple bag lining. 

And if you're wondering how close the pattern is to the original designer garment, I'd say very!

I spent a bit of time searching this top out among past seasons of Donna Karan and DKNY, and it looks to have come from the DKNY Spring 2014 collection - which doesn't seem that long ago to me because we haven't yet had Spring 2015 here in Australia!  Here it is on the runway:

 

It looks the same as the pattern to me, though perhaps a bit larger - though I'm not sure if that's just because the models are very thin under the tops? Here's a back view of the top as shown on a retail website:

All the DKNY versions of the top look to be made from crisp cotton, and on the retail sites it was listed as 97% cotton and 3% elastane - I think I want my next version of this top to be cotton too! 

Final thoughts? Well obviously I love the pattern, but I'm not sure I love this fabric on me - I don't mind its polyester-ness, but I'm not convinced this is *my* green. On the positive side, I may be on my way to a Jungle print conversion...  

Up next I'm planning to blog my frocktails outfit. The weather was stunning yesterday so I went out for blog photos, embarrassed myself horribly (I even ran into the whole family of a good friend of my son's, arghh!) BUT I think the photos are going to be alright.



See you soon

- Gabrielle xx