Swimming in Italy

I'm just back from 3 weeks in Europe (mostly Italy), and I took the opportunity while I was there to photograph a couple of recent makes.  Embarrassing myself in front of people I don't know is definitely easier than doing so in front of the neighbours!  These photos were taken in the back garden of a house where I stayed in Sicily.

First up I'll show you the bikini bottoms I sewed using McCall's 7168 and two colours of swimsuit fabric from Tessuti fabrics (this gorgeous fucshia lycra is my red; the pink isn't showing up online). The top I'm wearing with them is a RTW top that I got at a very good price a few years ago because it was an orphan - no pants to go with it - and it's very satisfying to be able to make the bikini complete!

Not perfect by any means, but I've had swimwear sewing failures in the past and these feel like a terrific step in the right direction. I'm happy with the way they look on, and stoked that the colours match the bikini as well as they do - though sadly they don't fit me comfortably.  

Basically they feel too tight - like shapewear tight, particularly around the waist - and I also feel like my bum is hanging out at the back :(.

The first fit issue (tightness) came about mostly because I assumed I was the same size as usual with McCall's (and maybe swimmers are different, or maybe recent patterns are different) - I couldn't find finished measurements on the pattern tissue or instructions so I really should have measured the pattern pieces to confirm the size.  Oh and also because there is something odd going on with the waistband, but more on that later.  And the "bum hanging out" feeling (yes, there will be relevant pictures later in this post) comes from my cutting back the leg opening on the pants ie absolutely my own fault. The legs of these bikini pants were initially too low cut in the front for me, and the gusset area was too wide, but in retrospect the original length was probably just right for me in the backside :(.

Anyway, let's backtrack a bit to talk about the pattern and the sewing.

The pattern is the very cute McCall's 7168, which has been made up beautifully by lots of other bloggers and no doubt many non-blogging sewists too.  It includes loads of variations for the top half of the bikini - strapless bandeau, halter neck, flounced top, long flounce top with tummy coverage or triangular bikini bra - and three options for the bikini bottoms (panelled high waist bottoms, panelled gathered high waist bottoms or simple bikini bottoms), and the sewing instructions are detailed as you'd expect from McCall's.  Here's the main photo from the pattern envelope:

I cut out the high waisted gathered pants (like the ones in the above photo) in a straight size 14, but since the waist band looked narrower than my waist (and narrower than the top edge of the swimmers it would join to) I cut it a couple of sizes bigger and just a little smaller than my waist.

The gathered sections of the swimmer are sewn to an ungathered layer of swimsuit fabric and also later enclosed by the lining, so the sides become quite thick. The front and back panels without gathering are supposed to have just a lining layer, but I thought these areas needed to be more substantial so made the entire lining from swimsuit fabric.

 

 

The gathers go all the way to the seam allowance, so if you're concerned about where the leg seam is going to end up sitting this is something to be aware of - on me the front leg seam was a few centimetres below that natural crease between thigh and hip - and if you zoom in on the pattern photo above you'll see that the original swimmers extend below this crease on the model too. 

A comparison with my favourite RTW bikini bottoms also showed me that the crotch width was a couple of centimetres wider than my usual size, so I'd recommend checking this width for yourself if you sew these up.

To confirm how much I wanted to remove from the leg opening I tried the pants on inside out at the stage where the panels had all been sewn together, and used a washable marker pen to draw the "natural" leg lines that I wanted to become my new seam line.  You can probably see the vestiges of blue pen marks in some of my inside out photos if you look closely! 

I'm happy with the new seam line in the front leg (and crotch) but I wasn't sure where I wanted the seam line in the back - in retrospect I should have left that area alone instead of extending my pen line all the way around.  Actually I think the fit would feel a lot better if I had more tension in the leg elastic around the bum area... I used the prescribed length of swim elastic inside the folded over leg seam, but it's slightly longer than I needed. 

And this is what they look like on, from behind:

Not my favourite view!

You can also see that the join between the gathered panel and the flat panel gets quite bulky, especially at the leg opening where you turn all those layers over a piece of elastic:

The waist band is sewn onto the paneled pants the same way you might sew a neck band onto a top - except that the waistband also includes elastic.  The pattern didn't indicate the sort of elastic to use, but I've never seen wide swimwear elastic so I used a regular firm non-roll elastic, the sort you'd use for a skirt or pants.  The pattern provides a guide for the length of elastic to cut, significantly longer (around 13 centimetres longer in a size 14) than the waistband length. The waistband and elastic are intended to conform to the body when the pants are worn, but both my waistband and waist elastic feel too tight on.  Of course I should have checked these measurements on myself - my fabric and elastic may have a different amount of give and recovery to those assumed by the pattern. 

I think I might unpick the waistband to remove the elastic - maybe that will make the swimmers more comfortable. Hmmm - perhaps I need a whole new waistband in my larger girth... 

I'm not 100% thrilled with these because they aren't comfortable to wear, but I know what I need to fix (waistband, leg elastic!) next time.  And these swimmers do at least look the way I wanted them to, which is at least half the challenge, right? 

Next up, a simple top photographed in a stunning spot - I hope you won't mind seeing some travel photos!

See you soon

- Gabrielle x

Swish: Vogue 1466 Donna Karan Skirt

Swish: that's the word I want when I think of this skirt:

No, not the posh, stuck up sort of "swish":

OOPS... 

The other kind - the movement kind of "swish"!

I wore this skirt to work the other day for a trial run and if felt amazing, the fabric echoing the movement of my legs as I walked or swayed (just to get some more of that swish).

Just soooo swishy... and cosy too!

Although it feels amazing on, there is one problem with the way I've made this skirt, and it's at waist level.

I really don't know why I do this, but when I measure myself before cutting out, very often I will stick my stomach out. Crazy! And I don't realise I've done it till I sew up the garment and discover everything fits except the waist, which is too big.  So I cut this skirt out as a size 14 with a size 16 waist - and should have stuck with the straight size 14.

I'd like to think it's not as glaring an error as it appears in these photos - but even if it is, well I have to admit I wear RTW with bigger fit issues!

It's also a tad shorter than I'd like... I would have loved an extra 5 or so centimetres of length to get to midi length, but I simply didn't have the yardage - from recollection I had 1.5 metres bought for a top for my son*, and the pattern pieces looked to fit IF I trimmed the skirt length by a centimetre or so.

* his polite response along the lines of "thanks, but you don't have to mum" meant "I don't like it"

But the hips fit nicely, so there is that:

And it's a really easy skirt to sew!

 

I did make one addition to the pattern: I added a lining to the skirt, simply using the flared skirt pattern pieces cut a few centimetres shorter: 

The lining fabric is a soft sort of mesh, which I really like as a lining for knit skirts and dresses (like this one).  It doesn't add much in the way of bulk but it stops the bumps of underwear lines from showing and makes the skirt feel more upmarket than its unlined cousin. Oh and no need for hems or seam finishes, as it doesn't seem to unravel!

As you can see, I didn't finish the seams on my outer fabric either - that also doesn't ravel :). The outer fabric is from Tessuti Fabrics, I think a cotton elastane mix. It's a really lovely weight in a skirt like this - not too heavy, not too flimsy. The colour hasn't come out correctly in these photos though (that bright winter sunshine!); it's a khaki rather than a brown, and goes really well with the Donna Karan drape jacket I showed you about a month ago (blogged here).

Basically it's a great pattern, lovely fabric and a user error or two combining to make a skirt I love :). So many photos, and so little to say!!


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Pattern: Vogue 1466 (skirt), Donna Karan

Fabric: cotton-elastane, mesh lining from Tessuti Fabrics

Notions: elastic, hidden within the waistband

Final verdict? This skirt is going to get a LOT of wear. The pattern is a really good one - I'm considering making the skirt again, and I've already got the jacket cut out from some gorgeous dark blue boiled wool from Tessuti Fabrics.  I wish Donna Karan was still designing and doing patterns!

My next post is probably not going to be for a few weeks - but I hope then to be able to share some swimmers with you. I've had an orphan bikini top for years, and have FINALLY got around to sewing bikini bottoms to go with it using the ruched, high waisted bikini bottoms from McCalls 7168.  So far they seem a bit tight but we'll see...



Happy sewing!

- Gabrielle xx

Like a Glove (Vogue 1314)

Yesterday was an incredibly balmy day in Sydney, so I took the opportunity to get out at lunchtime and snap some photos of my recently completed Vogue 1314 dress.

I say recently completed, but all I had to do was attach a binding to the neckline - the rest I'd finished months ago, because the dress as I've made it is an incredibly quick sew.

But months ago I was a few kilograms slimmer, so even though I've let it out, this dress is now more glove-like than intended. Actually, thinking back, it was always more glove-like than intended, and that's because I used the wrong sort of fabric!

Vogue 1314 by Tracy Reese is supposed to be a close fitting, lined dress with draped horizontal folds of lightweight jersey from just below the bust to the hips, and is supposed to be sewn with lightweight jersey / sheer knits, and lined with lightweight stretch lining. The technical drawing for the pattern looks like this:

My fabric is a tight sort of a knit fabric - it IS a stretch fabric, but doesn't have much stretch.  It's certainly not lightweight, and it's not drapey.  This means the fit you see here is different to the fit I would have got in the same size with a regular lightweight jersey... but even so, obviously my dress looks quite different to the technical drawing: mine has a high waist seam, no draped horizontal gathers, and darts in the neckline. 

My dress is basically the lining pattern from Vogue 1314 in a size 10 at the shoulders and upper bust, and size 12 from the bust down, albeit with a waist seam (at too high a spot) and neckline darts to improve the bodice fit.  I've used the lining pieces from this pattern to make a dress before - this one, also overfitted (hmm, what is this thing called 'Learning'?), and I think they make a fine dress BUT it's one that feels too bodycon for me at the moment.

Here's what the side / back looks like - the back view is very plain and just makes my bum look huge, so I hope you'll excuse my leaving that view out:

And a bit more about the sewing... I was trying to remember the purpose of that waist seam in the lining pieces, and wondering why I'd omitted it last time I sewed this dress, so I went back and checked the pattern. It turns out there isn't supposed to be a seam at the waistline! There's a waistline marked on the lining piece, and last time I sewed the pattern I cut the lining pattern pieces at that waistline so I could add some length to the bodice.  No wonder the waistline on this dress looks so high - it's a whole seam allowance higher than it should be if it was even supposed to be there!

On the positive side, I did remember to add length to the skirt, and I love the length I've ended up with in both the sleeves and the skirt. Both have raw edges, just because I liked the way it looked. I'm also really happy with the neckline darts which I pinned in place while I was trying the dress on, and with the contrast neckband, made from a rectangular scrap of navy blue ponti. 

I'm not sure if the shoulders are the right width or a smidge too narrow on me, but I'm not really fussed if they're a little narrow.  I suspect the shoulder width would stretch in a drapier fabric too.

I really like the shape of this dress, and I absolutely love the fabric colour and the bodice fit, but when I look at the photos of myself in this dress all I see is my stomach and my backside.  Crazy!  

I suspect this is one I'm going to grow to love though - and I'm already thinking of sewing the pattern again as intended, in a thin drapey fabric. 

Back soon - happy sewing!

- Gabrielle x

A StyleArc Duet, Featuring Fay and Esme

All my plans went out the window - here's what I've actually sewn up next; a StyleArc Fay skirt and a StyleArc Esme top (shown with the mini water gun I found in the garden when I was taking these snaps):

I picked up the Fay pattern from a pattern and fabric swap at a Sydney Spoolettes get-together at Home Industry in Balmain a few months ago.  It wasn't quite my size, but the pattern is such a simple one that I thought it would be easy to make wider (it was).

The Fay skirt is described by StyleArc as being a Fabulous figure hugging pull on skirt, and works in jerseys, pontes and similar stretchy fabrics.

The skirt sews up as a double layer of fabric, so I didn't want to use too thick a fabric - but on the other hand, I thought a thin cotton jersey might be too clingy.  I didn't have anything suitable in my stash (the stretch fabrics don't tend to stay in my stash for long!) so I had to buy something - and how unimaginative of me, I went for black! This is a stretchy polyester from Tessuti fabrics (sorry, no idea of the name of this one), with a nice density and weight that I imagine would work well for active wear.

It was a little tricky to photograph - so apologies in advance if you can't see much, but there aren't really any details to show you:

The pattern came in a size 10, which corresponds to a waist measurement of 75 centimetres and a hip measurement of 98 centimetres. My waist is currently 80 centimetres and my hips 101 centimetres, so I just split this difference (5cm, 3cm) between the 4 seam edges and added the difference (1.25cm at waist level, down to 0.75cm at hip level and below) to each edge.  Easy :). I left the length as is - the skirt is drafted to be about 65 centimetres long, and that looked like it would be an OK length on me.

And I like the finished skirt - so simple, but quite a classic-looking skirt!

The sewing of this skirt is ridiculously easy.  I had a cold when I was making it so I took my time so as to avoid silly mistakes, but second time around I suspect it'll be a half hour piece of sewing...

The only thing I need to do differently next time is to make sure I'm not pushing my stomach out when I measure my elastic around my waist - I have no idea why I do this, but it means the skirt is slightly loose at the top. Oops!

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And the Esme designer knit top pattern is one I bought from StyleArc's Etsy shop ages ago, then felt compelled to sew quickly after seeing a few lovely versions on blogs, including Sarah's here.

It's described by StyleArc as “The Wanted” garment of the season. This knit top has a fabulous bias cut collar that can stand fashionably high or turned over. Make it sleeveless or with sleeves for the cooler months.  

Obviously the pattern is designed for knits, but when I pulled out the pattern pieces in my size (10) I thought it looked looser than the tops I usually make from knits. And I didn't have any suitable knits in my stash anyway, so I decided to give it a go in a non-knit fabric.   

The fabric I've used is a reasonably thick polyester brocade-style material (I think that's what you'd call it, though it doesn't have loose threads on the wrong side) from The Fabric Store. It's a fabric that has quite a bit of body - I hoped this would help the collar sit nicely without any floppage - and that I don't love, so no great loss if the top was a wadder.  I think I've used the wrong side of the fabric as my outer, but that's the side that I preferred.   Oh and I might also have the print upside down!

The fit is OK in a woven - I can get it on easily enough, it's loose everywhere but the hips, and the collar does what I want it to do - but I've missed out on the drape I would have got from a knit.  I'd love to give this a go in a chunky sweater knit...

You can see what I mean about missing out on the drape of a knit fabric in these next photos - my fabric tends to bunch up and stick out in the front when I raise my arms.  Ah well, next time I'll have to use a knit, won't I!

I'm calling this a success too.  Not necessarily my most flattering top, but another quick sew, and with its loose shape and dolman sleeve, a good layering top for winter.  I ended up wearing this top with jeans all day after taking the photos, and it was surprisingly warm and super comfortable - I like it!  

Happy sewing

See you soon


- Gabrielle x

Raglan Sleeve Tops

We finally got our winter weather, and I remembered why my sewing and blogging grinds to a near halt every winter: I get too cold. So I'm now trying for a bit of practicality: I've found a heater for the sewing area and I've sewn a couple of tops I can layer.

Top number one is view A from Vogue 8952, a "very easy" pattern.

Please excuse my dodgy photos with their weird shadows and varying colours - I got these tops photographed between working from home the other day and picking up the kids from school, and for the sake of speed they were taken in my hallway, which seemed to confuse my camera's light setings.  

I'm actually wearing the top as I type this - it's not a perfect fit (slightly too tight across the bust, and too much fabric in the upper arms / too low an armscye) but it feels great on and goes really well with the jeans I practically live in :).  That's good enough!  And I sooo love this colour... Anna, can I please have a membership form for the Orange Fan Club?

And there are shoulder darts, and the neckline fit is fabulous!

Pattern: View A from Vogue 8952, size S (8-10)

Fabric: orange viscose/ spandex jersey from Tessuti Fabrics - I think it's this fabric type, but in a colour more like this

Thread: Gutermann 100% polyester, colour #16

Adjustments: well yes, there were a few, but they all related to having bought insufficient fabric! I originally bought the fabric to make my son a long-sleeved top, but it turned out he preferred the idea of a blue linen collared shirt.  But enough fabric for a top for an 11 year old skinnymalink is not quite enough for this pattern, so I reduced both the flare and the length of the top (by folding out some width and shortening at the shorten line), and shortened the sleeves (again at the shorten line).  Removing length in the middle of the arm has made the sleeves narrower than intended in the middle and lower parts of my arm, as the sleeves are tapered and I've ended up with the narrow wrist width a few inches above my wrists. The cuffs were added at the very end when I realised I had enough scrap fabric to add some cuffs and regain the sleeve length. Finally I hemmed the bodice using a generic version of steam-a-seam. It makes for very easy hemming but the hemline feels a bit stiff - I'm hoping it will lose the stiffness in the wash.

I'm happy with the top and am going to wear it to bits, but if I make it again I want to leave the sleeves at their regular length and also raise the armhole a little and give myself a bit more width across the bust (if I can be bothered, ha!).   I'd make the same reduction in length and width of the body of the top though, as the length seems good to me and I don't want too breezy a top in winter.


Top number 2 is the top from Vogue 1389 by Donna Karan (rated "Average", but the top is definitely an easy sew):

I'm very happy with the fit on this one - out of the packet the fit seems pretty good, though I'm wondering when I look at these photos whether I've underestimated my size... I sewed this as a straight 12, forgoing my usual "grading up" to a 14 from the waist down, and the horizontal creases in the back of the top tell me yes, I do need the extra width.

The cut of the raglan seam and underarm sit quite high, but not uncomfortably so.  This gets rid of most of the underarm wrinkles you saw on the orange top above - though there are still just a couple which may be more about needing to size up at the bust.

As you'd expect from a sleeve design invented for maximum battlefield mobility, the sleeves on this top work beautifully for dancing, catching a ball or whatever you want to do with an arm in the air.

I don't love the floral print - it's something I bought to sew a dress for my daughter with, but she didn't like it (am I the only one sensing a theme here?) - but who knows, I might yet come to love it.

And regardless of how I feel about the print, I am definitely going to be wearing this top.  I LOVE the neckline and the lines of the pattern, and being quite a slim fit it will definitely layer well under my jumpers and cardigans.

Pattern: View C from Vogue 1389, size 12

Fabric: cream / floral print jersey from either Spottie or Lincraft (I can't remember which!)

Thread: Gutermann 100% polyester, colour #111

Adjustments: I had plenty of this fabric so I've sewed the top exactly as instructed, just giving myself extra room at the waist and hip level.  As with my orange top, I've used a generic version of steam-a-seam for the hemline and it (again) feels a bit stiff, so when I make this top again (yes, I'm already planning to make it again) I'll just do a regular twin needle finish on the hem instead.

As you may have gathered, I love this pattern. I've also sewn up the skirt and am planning to make the jacket too - I think the pattern is a really great professional wardrobe builder. The wrap-around side seams on the top are really cool and I think they'll look great in a plain fabric. The neckline sits nicely, the fit is good, and I like the length of the top and the sleeves.


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Now for some geometry.

Sewing these two tops got me thinking about raglan sleeves. The last time I sewed myself raglan sleeves was with this Papercut Undercover hoodie (sans hood), and I remember not being over the moon about the fit (though I wear the top heaps, so the fit is obviously no longer bugging me much).

Fit depends tremendously on your particular body shape and the fabric you use - and whether you use a size that is tight or loose on you - but I was curious to see how these three patterns compared in the shaping of the raglan seamline and thought you might be interested to see how the patterns compare too.


Vogue 8952 has curved raglan seams and a shoulder dart. The sleeve front and back armscyes are different shapes, as are the bodice front and back.  I think the curves and darts in these pattern pieces have the potential to give a very close fit.

 

Vogue 1389 has simpler looking curves but very different shapes and seam lengths for the front and back raglan seams.  The front seam length is of course shorter because the neckline is significantly lower at the front, but I'm guessing some curvature has been added and length removed for clever Donna Karan fitting reasons.

The Papercut Undercover hoodie top is close to symmetric, front to back, apart from the front neckline being a little lower than the back. This gives a boxier shape than the above two patterns, more of a "T" shape.

Here's what the Papercut raglan top looks like on (on the same day, with the same lighting, same goofy poses - ie ideal test conditions):

The looseness of the top makes it lovely and boxy, but the relatively flat curve in the front raglan seamline also results in more folds when my arm is by my side than I get with a more pronounced curve - well at least that's my impression!   But it IS a loose top, and the seamlines look very nice when my arm goes up.

I wouldn't say any of these three designs is "wrong" - but they are certainly different. 

For now I think the Donna Karan is my favourite (the floral top) of the three raglan sleeve patterns, but perhaps I should wait and see which of the tops gets the most wear.  Do you have a favourite raglan sleeve pattern? And do you like your raglan sleeves loose or fitted?

Thanks for reading

See you soon

- Gabrielle xx