Sew Wrong

McCall’s Fall Preview

Well, it’s like night and day between the fashions showcased at Simplicity and McCall. McCall is like a breath of fresh air to Simplicity’s dowdy fashion flashback collection. The clothes from McCall are stylish as well as easy, which is something Simplicity missed this season.


It’s not overly fitted, but it’s still sleek and stylish at the same time. You can never go wrong with a classic sheath dress, which is pretty popular right now and will continue on into fall, it seems. 2844 could have learned a lesson from this pattern.


Now this is how a work wardrobe is done. Chic, classic lines, and polished. Nothing like the frump-fest over at 2866.


If the runways are any indication, bows will be big big big for fall (see my previous post on the subject here). Depending on whether or not to cinch the waist, these tops could be dressed up for the office or down for brunch. A little youthful looking, but on trend. I might give view C a shot.

Make sure to check out the new jacket/coat patterns that they added to their collection. Now I’m not sure if I’m going to do a different coat or not for the Great Coat Sew-Along! Which reminds me, I better get going on that…

View all the new items at McCall here.

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Tie ‘m in a Knot, Tie ’em in a Bow

Now here’s an area I’m a little wary of for fall: the big bow.


Do they look feminine and flirty? Or saccharine and silly? I guess it really depends on the size of the bow and well as the color and presentation of the garment.

I might give the woman’s answer to the man’s tie a shot with Butterick 4985.

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Getting Biggy With It

If the fall runway shows were any indication, big oversized sweaters will be a dominate trend when the weather turns cool.


It’s almost as if the woolen sweater has replaced the wool coat. The lengths are reminiscent of such, and the drape of the knits seems that they would be warm and comfortable to wear.

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Simplicity Fall Preview

Well well, Simplicity, I am not at all enthused. Your preview consists of very elementary, shapeless garments that don’t seem too original or on trend.

Exhibit A:

I had no idea leg-o-mutton sleeves were back in style. Truly, a great throwback to the 80’s and the wonderful fashions showcased on The Golden Girls. How flattering. The tanks could be kind of cute, though.

Exhibit B:


Another shapeless maternity-like top, but this time with bell sleeves, ooh! I get that layering is supposed to be big for fall, but a square neck top layered over a turtleneck? I question the styling as well as the taste-level of this pattern. The necklace adds a whole other layer of dowdy on top of it.

Exhibit C:

In case you couldn’t get enough of the maternity top, there’s always the maternity dress to choose from. Seriously, why don’t we all just wear sacks instead and accessorize with a piece of rope for a belt? Oh, that’s because it would have more shape to it instead of the dresses above. I don’t even want to go near the dress in the upper right corner, or the collar shirt layered with that burlap mess.

And lastly,
Exhibit D:


Just a sloppy, shapeless mess. I’d never be caught dead wearing any of these ensembles to work.

I know these are supposed to be meant to be easy, but easy does not mean wearing shapeless garments that do nothing for your body. I’m not saying that everything has to be form fitting, but a sack is a sack is a sack. And easy also doesn’t mean that you have to sacrifice style, which I think is the underlying problem for the patterns presented above.

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There’s Bound To Be Problems…

…when you don’t make a muslin.

First of all, how does one make a muslin for knit fabrics? You can’t use regular muslin since it has no give.

Do you go and splurge more money on knit fabric that has identical stretch, or do you just buy a yard or two more of the fabric for your project to make a muslin? Both options are not cheap.

These are the questions I have resulting from my Fandango Dress, which looks like it might be a Fandang-no. The pattern in question is, of course, Simplicity 3678. I guess I should have known better than to pick a pattern that crosses over at the center front, like a wrap dress. Those patterns and RTW never work on my, ahem, small chest. But the picture looked misleading, and I thought that the neckline wasn’t that low.

Hah.

Let’s just say, if I bent over, it was a free show. Can I also add that I’m making a size 10 top, which has a bust that measures to 32.5″. Not to be too personal, but I’m a 34″ chest, and this pattern still doesn’t work on me and I have bust to spare!

I tried adjusting the front by having the fronts cross over more than specified in the pattern. It was a little better than before, but still required some tacking down on the top front cross piece so that it wouldn’t gape. But I have some options:

1. Totally take apart the top (pleating, top stitching, facings, shoulder seam stabilization) and start over, cutting the top down from a 10 to an 8. There is no guarantee that it will work out better.

2. Keep on going, but wear a cami underneath the dress whenever I wear it. Extra layer, extra bulk, extra hot. This is supposed to be a summer dress.

3. Add some sort of faux “cami” by placing some fabric underneath the neckline to make it look like it’s layered. This would prevent whatever boobage I have from showing .

4. Use the remaining fabric from the skirt to make a knit shell that I would be able to wear under my black blazers to work, thus making the shell more wearable than the dress since the dress would only be a summertime item and not a year-round garment.

I spent $20 on this gorgeous fabric.
Number 4 is looking pretty good right now.

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