Sewcation

In the past, when I’ve needed a break, I’ve hit the road. That is still my favorite way to unwind, but for some reason, I’ve been procrastinating about going anywhere. That’s totally unlike me. When I sat down and had a talk with myself, I realized that I what I most wanted was several days alone to do nothing but sew (emphasis on the “alone” part). I had amassed a stack of new patterns and fabrics and until Cinderella’s mice take up residence in my sewing room, it’s up to me to put them together.

I’m making headway. The apron is done and ready to ship. Yesterday, I knocked out New Look 6577, the cowl neck top:

Is it perfect? No, but it’s everything I needed a muslin to be because I learned a lot from it. We’ll start with the fabric, which is some glittery metallic spandex-y stuff from the clearance bin at Joanns. It worked well for this top and wasn’t awful to sew, but now I have glitter from one end of my house to the other.

I can’t decide if I like this pattern better than the Easton Cowl. This one was a bit more complicated because it has pleats at the shoulders to help drape the cowl. It also has a pleat within the armhole, which continues that cowl draping all the way down through the abdomen. I am tempted to take that armhole pleat out.

[I will say that standard garment 5/8” seam allowances are much easier to work with than 1/4'“ seam allowances given in the Easton Cowl pattern.]

This top also has a shaped back. I might redraft the back bodice piece to make it straight rather than shaped. The upper bodice fits well, but I didn’t like the fit around my hips. I think that letting out the back shaping would help that. (The model on the pattern envelope is about 12” wide, which should tell you something. I am not 12” wide.) As Zede Donahue likes to say, “Knits should skim, not cling.”

I really like the length of the sleeves. Fussy sleeves—and especially cuffs—drive me nuts. I had to flatten the top of the sleeve cap again to get it to fit, which I shouldn’t really have to do in a stretchy knit. Once the sleeves were in the top, though, they fit beautifully.

One thing I won’t do again is interface the edge of the cowl. I should have done that with the Easton Cowl, but this fabric didn’t need it. I think the top edge of the cowl would drape better without it. And I like the way the back facing is done. I’ve seen similar facings on some of my Liz Claiborne tops but hadn’t quite figured out how they were done. Now I know.

I am at the upper end of the New Look pattern sizing, so I was pleasantly surprised at how nicely this top fit. One of the views on the pattern package is for a dress. If I can find some suitable fabric—sans glitter—I might try a dress version. I have that dark green Lurex that I also rescued from the clearance bin, but I think it might be too heavy and stretchy for anything other than a top. It might work for version 2.0 of this one, though.

While I was in town yesterday, I picked up two yards of black ponte from the clearance rack at Hobby Lobby. My obsession with ponte continues. It will be today’s project—I am going to make the Love Notions Tessa dress from it. I learned my lesson with the Laundry Day Tee and went up a size when I traced the Tessa dress. This should be a quick sew, and if I end up with a Little Black Dress, so much the better. I have a whole collection of LBDs because I wear them when I play for funerals. (Morbid, but true.)

I also bought the Upton Dress pattern:

This one might be a stretch even though the pattern is labelled for Advanced Beginner. Jenny, at Cashmerette, has got it dialed in when it comes to designing for curvy bodies, so I have hope. Her explanation of making an FBA for a shirtwaist dress was my first introduction to the concept. (I can’t find the link right now, but she has other good ones on the Cashmerette site.) I would like to try the version of this dress with princess seams in the bodice.

I’m giving myself one more week to play around with patterns, and then I need to get back to gardening and food preservation. I’ve also got a couple of serger classes scheduled for August, September, and October that need some prep work.